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As the cold season approaches, some Americans put vegetables like corn, peppers, green beans, and okra in the freezer. The tomatoes are boxed. Turnips, beets and winter squash are stored in refrigerators or cool areas of the house.
But American gardening expert Lee Reich says some vegetables can still be picked fresh from the garden during the cold season. They can survive in snow and dropping temperatures to the teens.
Many gardeners move closer each year to the goal of producing vegetables throughout the year. Reich has advice for those who want to grow vegetables in the coldest part of the United States and the world.
Vegetables for fall, eat in winter
Lettuce, endives, spinach and parsley are among the most cold-hardy vegetables, he says. Late summer seedlings of these vegetables can begin late in tomatoes, peppers and other warm season crops. The exception is parsley, which needs a long season, so it should be planted earlier in the summer. The plant may no longer be a thick, colorful green, but it is still tasty.
Other vegetables are fresh salads Completed. Arugula is quite resistant to cold. A few types of radish are still firm and have a strong taste.
One of the toughest and tastiest fresh salads, according to Reich, is mache, also known as corn salad. The soft leaves hide the fact that this plant can do well in very cold weather. Instead of planting mache, he just lets it crash. Winter the plants settle in early summer. But the seeds don’t start to grow until after the cool weather of late summer. Reich moves the young plants in early autumn.
Harvest protection
Over the years, its own fall salad greens have survived the cold under different protective structures. A year they were housed in houses plexiglass structures. Another year they took cover under very small glass talons held together by wires. And yet another year, he put them in bottomless wooden boxes covered with clear glass.
This year, Reich has put its lettuce and endive under hanging blankets. They retain a little heat but allow air, light and water to pass through. Some plant beds have metal circles covered in soft, clear plastic, which let in more sunlight, but not as much protection from the cold. For colder parts of the United States at the end of November, it’s not too late to make a protective blanket for these plants.
A good placement helps
In sheltered areas, the leaves of all salad plants often remain bright green and strong after plants in more open areas have turned green and weak. For example, spinach and lettuce planted with their backs against a house or garage the walls are not exposed to as much cold as the plants which grow further. And any structure, even a low stone wall, absorbs heat as the sun hits it every day. Then it releases this energy slowly during the night. It can help plants nearby.
In parts of the United States, in late fall, soft, edible leaves are the least likely to be found on plants, being exposed to the east. Leaves that freeze at night cannot set immediately thawing of the morning sun.
Although spinach, lettuce, mache, endive and parsley are alive, they do not grow. The weather is too cold and there is too little light. The leaves of these plants are just sitting there waiting to be harvested.
Very soon, temperatures in parts of the United States will be cold enough to put a permanent stop to the harvest of fresh vegetables for the season. Some regions even have an average low temperature of -28 Celsius.
The roots of most spinach, leek, parsley and corn salad plants, and perhaps a few lettuce plants, will survive outdoors. Their leaves will freeze. But in the spring, these roots will fuel the growth of new, healthy leaves and become the first crop for the next season.
Reich says that these first spring harvests and these last fall harvests “taste better than any salad you can buy.
I am Alice Bryant.
Lee Reich wrote this story for The Associated Press. Alice Bryant adapted it to learn English. Hai Do was the editor.
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Words in this story
gardening – run. taking care of plants on an area of land (see garden)
fridge – not. an appliance or room used to keep things cool (such as food and drink)
teens – not. in weather, temperatures between 11 and 19 degrees
salad – not. a mixture of raw green vegetables usually combined with other vegetables
Plexiglass – not. a brand of very resistant transparent plastic
garage – not. a building or part of a building where a vehicle is kept
thawing – run. to stop being frozen (v. thaw)
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