Goodbye winter crops. Hello compost.

Morrison Victory Garden - bare and in transition

Today was warm and sunny. I took full advantage of the 70 degree weather and began uprooting the winter crops and covering the garden in compost. Spring is coming soon and the MVG needs to be in prime condition for the plants and seeds.

brussel sprouts are ready for a steam bath

I harvested the last head of cabbage, an extra large cauliflower, a basket full of brussel sprouts, 10 pok choi, a handful of radish, and large pile of mustard greens.

final winter harvest

onions are slow but growing

The only items left in the MVG are onions, kale, and bitter melon vines. The onions will be ready in a few months and the kale is still growing well in both cold and warm weather. I plan to uproot all onions and kale once the summer crops are ready to plant. I am keeping the bitter melon vines up just in case there are any Mantodea egg sacks attached to the vines. I will keep the brown vines up until late April. I hope this gives any nymphs time to hatch, dry out, and feed.

largest cauliflower of the season (9" diameter)

I spread our homemade compost across the entire row crop area. We are expecting showers and rain in the next few weeks. I plan to mix in the compost with the rototiller once the rain has subsided.

adding homemade compost

RIC - I chopped up all uprooted vegetables and have placed them into the compost bins. Until next year winter veggies, you have made the MVG lush with color all winter long.

Rest In Compost winter greens

Winter harvest has begun!

Red acre cabbage says, "Happy New Year!"

Gold mark cabbage head

The holidays have come and gone but the victory garden is still here. December brought lots of cold rain which helped many plants grown to maturity. I harvested all of the red acre and gold mark cabbage except one. My mom cannot wait to stirfry the cabbage and make soup with the large orbs.

Dinosaur kale

Russian kale

The dinosaur and Russian kale are looking good. They will continue to grow as fast as we can cut and eat the long spiky green leaves.

Minowase radish

The mustard greens are loving the cold weather. The leaves are large and vibrant with red and green veins. The minowase radish are growing faster than I expected. Over half of the crop will be picked within the week and used in soups and salads.

Mustard greens

I am really excited to see brussel sprouts growing in the garden this year. The sprouts need more time to grow. I expect they will be ready sometime in late January or early February.

brussel sprouts

Pok choi is looking good!

The broccoli is slowly peaking out from behind the large green leaves. I am not a fan of the broccoli arcadia variety so I decided to try out a new variety. I think the broccoli romanesco variety adds an intriguing visual appeal to the garden and any dish. I just hope the taste is different when compared to broccoli arcadia.

Broccoli romanesco

Rest in compost: We had our first frost on December 21st. The frost killed off the bitter melon, eggplants, and pepper plants. I have pull up the plants and will chop and place them in the compost within the week.