A Salad’s Days Need Not Be Limited by Winter Cold
Your garden can supply fresh-picked vegetables year round, even if winters are bitterly cold. The secret is to plant the hardiest vegetables, and give them a little protection from cold.
Leeks, spinach and parsley are among the more cold-resistant vegetables. They all flag a bit following bitterly cold nights, but perk up again each day once the sun warms the air. The outer layer of leeks’ sheath-like, edible stems turn somewhat ragged with these wide swings in temperature, but just peel those layers and use the tender, white interiors. Spinach and parsley also begin to look ragged, but taste good.
Even primitive protection can keep plants alive and lush longer into winter. How about miniature A-frames made of clear plastic and straps of iron, then set end to end over rows of plants? Or clear plastic on top of wooden boxes set around plants. Even if protection from these structures is not airtight, the air within still will warm slightly more than the outside air each day, and cool down a little less during the night. Any sort of covering also lessens the battering leaves suffer from wind and snow.
Mache, also known as corn salad, is a fresh salad green that will survive and grow right through winter, sometimes without any protection. Give these plants just a little protective covering, and the tender, spoon-shaped leaves will taste like an early spring right in winter. Arugula, also known as rucola, or rocket, is another cold-hardy salad green that you might be able to pick all winter, even without protection.
Leaves of plants growing in sheltered nooks near large trees, the house or garage, often remain green and delicious long after their counterparts at more exposed sights. Any structure, even a low stone wall, soaks up heat as the sun beats on it by day, then releases this solar energy gradually through the night, to the benefit of nearby plants.
The direction in which a sheltered nook faces influences how well nearby plants survive winter. You are least likely to harvest your winter salad from plants with northern or eastern exposures. North is just too dark; if plants facing east freeze at night, they might fall apart if warmed too quickly by morning sun. Western and southern exposures are better, even more so if bordering a terrace that also can soak up heat.
Even when spinach, lettuce, mache, or parsley die in very cold weather, their roots often stay alive. Come spring, these roots stimulate growth of new leaves, which will be the first harvest next season. Those first pickings in spring, as well as the last pickings in fall, make some of the best salad fixings the garden has to offer.
