The joy and sorrow of winter gardening
Published 10:13 am Monday, December 29, 2008
Yesterday my family celebrated Christmas late with a rib roast served with carrots and parsnips dug from my garden. After scooping aside sloppy snow and chipping away at the frozen soil, there were those parsnips, a bit of vegetative buried treasure. If you’ve never grown parsnips, they need a good cold spell to bring out their crisp, sweetness.
Those parsnips are about the only bright spot in my winter vegetable garden. Most years, my kale, beets, chard and maybe the celery would have survived the mild temperatures. This last blast did a number on those veggies, even with a thick layer of insulating snow. I haven’t had the heart yet to investigate what shape my beets are in.
The ornamentals are in a sorry state too. Of course, the situation is far more dire there because some of these plants are old friends. The snow flattened one hebe and snapped branches on rhododendrons that were planted not long — I’m guessing — after the house was built in the 1950s. The hydrangea leaves are wet, black and mushy. Not a good sign.
Your tales of woe?
