the exploration of winter veggies continues ..

parsnips .. 

size 9 parsnip ..

a while back .. during the summer .. i thinned the parsnip patch .. a few weeks later i pulled one to see what they were doing .. well, they'd been busy .. !!! .. that parsnip was as long as my shoe size .. ! .. a beautifull specimen, my friend, phil, might have said .. i was thrilled to see such a parsnip emerge .. i think i might have even done a little happy dance .. these the first parsnips that i've grown .. parsnips aren't a vegetable seen in many gardens .. and, although i've eaten a few they aren't my favourite veggie .. there are people who love eating parsnips .. (to each their own) .. from the time kathleen planted the seeds .. in a lovely curving pattern .. i'd watched these guys grow and tended them throughout the summer .. what a wonderfull reward for such a pleasurable task .. 

it's said that parsnips sweeten with frost .. so, of course i'd like to find out if that's true .. we've been attempting to stretch the harvest out over time .. the outcome of that 'experiment' is that there are now only a few waiting for a frost .. once i saw how beautifully they were growing it was hard not to pull them .. i have to work on my patience, in that regard .. it seems to me that there's a window of time when any vegetable is at it's 'best' .. i'm on the road to find out when and where that window is ..

brussel sprouts
 

brussel sprout's top ..

after transplanting the brussel sprouts into the garden they grew amazingly quickly .. before we knew it they were filing up the bed .. wonderfull beings .. standing tall and beautifull in bed #3 ..

'red ball' brussell sprout forming ..

since then i've learned a bit about how brussel sprouts grow ..

for instance .. different times when i'd been down to the garden i noticed that the little crotches .. where leaf meets stem .. were always filled with water .. at first, i was a bit concerned thinking that that water would be detrimental somehow .. (how quickly our mind moves into ignorant speculation .. ! ..) ..

then .. a little later, i read that brassicas actually enjoy a good shower .. that they like water .. that it's good to keep their soil moist .. when i went back to the garden .. armed with this new information .. i could see how the little sprouts really did seem to be enjoying the water that gathered around them .. as if it were a necessary element in their growth ..

then .. summer turned to autumn .. there was plenty of moisture while we were diligent in watering the garden throughout the summer .. but then october was turned out to be quite dry .. and i noticed that the moisture in the crotches of the sprouts had dried up .. knowing what i did about what brussell sprouts like i made a point of watering all the brassicas in an attempt to keep them happy .. we'll see ..

kohlrabi ..

kohlrabi is a vegetable that i was introduced to by the mother of a friend from junior high school in winnipeg .. susie's heritage was ukranian .. her mother was a wonderfull vegetable gardener .. kohlrabi was one of the many vegetables that thrived in her garden .. at first bite kohlrabi made it to my 'favourite veg' list ..

i've yet to have what i would call 'success' in growing it myself .. it's another mystery to solve .. kohlrabi seems to be more an autumn vegetable than a winter one .. at least so far as my observation have been up to now .. they grew quickly from seed .. and in fact i harvested three of four beauties right at the beginning of their strongest growth .. the ones that are left now .. perhaps a month or so later .. are completely different .. whereas the younger ones were tender and sweet .. the texture has changed as the kohlrabi has matured .. the sweetness remains .. certainly good enough for stews and soups .. or stirfrys .. more to learn next year ..

cabbage ..

look at this cabbage forming .. it's beautifull .. ! .. again, i've worked in gardens where cabbage were growing yet not paid much attention .. now this winter garden provides me with the opportunity to do just that .. pay attention as they grow .. i've been watching the cabbages more closely since i realized they were folding their teeny tiny leaves into a 'head' .. it's a slow process .. fascinating to watch ..

whenever i do a walkabout the garden i touch the cabbage heads to see how they're doing .. i can feel how loose the leaves still are .. as images of dense, almost translucent cabbages, come to my mind i think there's a long way to go before these little guys will grace anna's stand .. they're called 'january king' ..


the purple sprouting broccoli is .. i believe .. a late winter early spring crop .. west coast seeds suggest harvest is february to may .. this is another of those vegetables that i've grown fond of over the past couple of years .. it' so wonderfull to have fresh, crunchy sprouts at that time of year ..

the cauliflower mystifies me .. i'm watching closely but so far don't see a lot happening .. cauliflower are also an overwintering crop .. like the broccoli their growth slows down in the colder weather .. apparently they can handle temperatures of -12 to -19 degrees .. i haven't seen any little cauliflowers forming yet ..

during the next few winter months i'll continue to put any produce i harvest out on anna's stand .. there won't be many and the timing will likely be inconsistent .. so first come first served .. enjoy ..