December Update: Winter Container Greens and A Mini Hot-house

My goal was greens into December. We did have a nice week of warmer than normal weather but I think we under-estimate growing cool weather crops in our gardens. Fall and winter, in Maryland, doesn't mean pack the garden in. Most of it, yes, but not all of it. Lettuce and other greens do well.

I took these pictures today. The container lettuces have been out in the cold and frost with no protection. You can see red romaine, a red leaf lettuce and the green in the back is cilantro. Notice the colors of the cilantro caused by the cool weather. I am still eating mixed green out of the garden.

December Lettuce in Containers - The Rusted Garden Blog

I have a video that shows you how to build the PVC plastic painters cloth greenhouse that you see in the picture below. It is working extremely well. Unlike the container greens which I pick as leaves, I am planning to pick the greens below as a whole head. I will cut the leaves off and leave the roots in the ground. If it stays warm enough, the roots will send up more leaves. The greens you see were transplants from my container greens.

PVC Greenhouse Greens in Winter - The Rusted Garden Blog

Finally, a picture of some 'Red Russian' kale seedlings. I planted them in November. They will over-winter pretty much just how you see them. Come spring I will have plenty of baby kale. I will transplant them to the main areas of my garden. There has to be 50-75 plants in this space. That is way too many. But I only need about 1/4 of them to survive for great early spring greens.

'Red Russian' Kale Planted in Winter for Spring Greens - The Rusted Garden Blog

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