Overwintered: Signs of Life in my Zone 6 Vegetable Garden
I am not affiliated with any companies or content creators I mention in this article.
Winter is almost at its end here in my small zone 6 garden. If you are hot house-less like me, it is too soon for anything but starting seeds indoors.
Nevertheless, the usual cold weather culprits are out and about. The irises are pushing out new leaves, and the forsythias are forsythying about in all their yellow glory. But my focus for this post is the vegetables and herbs that have survived the winter and are showing their faces.
I have right around 25 hard neck garlic plants that are currently growing very well. I was worried about the back-and-forth weather we have been having lately, 65+ degrees swinging down to the low 20s, but they are pushing through. This is my first time growing garlic.
I purchased the garlic as heads last fall from the good folks at Edible Acres. Most were eaten (they were beautiful and delicious, I couldn’t help myself) and the remainder was planted.
German chamomile has managed to move its way around my garden after some went to seed a few years ago. It has currently settled in a very large plastic pot. I plan to let it live here and interplant a few taller flowers to compliment the low-growing German chamomile.
Some mixed lettuce seed has made an early reappearance. I enjoy letting some lettuce go to seed every year and letting it pop up where it pleases! Last year I grew Baker Creek’s “Rocky Top Mix Salad Blend”.
I lost the majority of my Kale, but several mulched stocks have made it through, with a few throwing out some foliage! I believe this variety was Baker Creek’s “Russian Red”.
The almighty chive, they bow to no man (in my experience you have to seriously try to kill chives). Chives are also always one of the first things to pop up each year for me. I have had this clump for close to 4 or 5 years now, taking it from pot to pot and finally to the ground two seasons ago.
This will be my first time overwintering sage, I am looking forward to seeing how it grows this year.
I have three different varieties of blueberries, “Powder Blue” (a Rabbiteye varietal that is just squeaking by on the zone chart for me), “Pink Lemonade” (which seems to be a Rabbiteye and Highbush mix), and the third is a Highbush cultivar whose name I do not remember.
Not much to look at now, but they are full of buds. This is their third year in this spot. They are roughly 4-year-old plants.
We will sneak one flower in just for fun. This is Columbine that has sprouted from a seed pod I buried there last season. Usually purple/pink in color though I am interested to see what genetics these new guys end up with. I am hoping that incorporating more flowering perennials will help the biodiversity and attract pollinators to my garden.
The No-Show Award goes to my ramps. They have not peeked out of their leafy bed yet. This will be year 4 or so for them, and I looking forward to documenting their growth this year!
