My second attempt at a winter vegetable garden has been more successful than the first. I can’t really take credit. Success came down to an unusually wet and cool September followed by months with only light freezes.

The bar is admittedly low. Merely surviving the winter is a success. Months of root growth will pay off later for annual flowers. Any harvest is icing on the cake.

My approach to growing vegetables is more than a little random. I don’t have room for a full-on vegetable garden and don’t want more than I can eat or easily give away. Mixing produce in with flowers works for me.

Spinach is my biggest success so far. Freshly-picked leaves have been turning up in salads, omelets, and such for more than a month. The early start made the difference. Plants were nearly mature before the first frost.

Peas, beets and turnips are alive and well. Whether the peas produce pods remains to be seen. I’m hoping to harvest enough for at least one serving. Fresh peas are hard to beat.

The broccoli has done well too. Last time, the heads were small tiny. As with the spinach, the plants were much larger going into winter. Heads are still on the small side due most likely to poor soil quality.

The jury is still out on the Brussels sprouts. Previous attempts to grow these have been epic fails. No stalks yet this time, but something is going on with the centers. It’s still early. Brussels sprouts have a really long growing season.

I’ve started alyssum and three varieties of lettuce from seed in two rounds, about three weeks apart. Most of the Red Sails and alyssum went into pots, mostly because the lettuce is so pretty. Bibb, ‘Salad Bowl Green’, and leftover Red Sails are scattered around the garden.

Barring bad weather or animals, looks like there’s a lot of salad in my future. I’m growing tomatoes and peppers from seed too. I even got seed for a miniature corn that produces full-sized ears. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll definitely keep you posted.

Thanks for stopping by!