We finally got to have our Christmas dinner with the family and for veggies, I decided to harvest some of the carrots that are in my greenhouse.
This is a first .. not just the first of the year but the first time that I have ever harvested carrots in the winter.
(Note: we just got a “January thaw” and all of our snow is gone)
The carrots were an experiment, one that I decided on too late in the summer but I wanted to see what would happen and if I’d want to do it again. (Note: I’m in zone 5b, in Ontario Canada)
Winter Gardening
To get the carrots mature enough for their winter hibernation and big enough for eating, I should have planted the seeds in mid-July at the latest.
I was about a month late and, so, my carrots were still quite small before going into dormancy.
The goal for 2023 is to have them at a healthy size by mid-October, when their growing basically halts. That will give me good-sized carrots throughout the winter.
Protecting them from the cold, I will repeat this year’s strategy:
Plant them inside the greenhouse
Cover them with leaves
Add a cloth row cover for a second layer
Now, I could just plant them outside and just cover them but, then, I’d be dealing with snow and, well, I’m lazy and want to avoid that.
The benefits
The highlight of our meal, today, was being able to say that the carrots were fresh out of the garden, harvested just 3 hours before.
