Gardeners in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina know that winter can be a productive time for growing certain vegetables and herbs.
When you read this article, it may be hot, humid and buggy outside, but plant those seeds and seedlings now for an extended harvest of cold-loving garden plants from late fall through early spring.
Locally, winter garden plants are leafy greens and cabbages, root vegetables, snap peas and certain herbs.
Leafy greens include collards, turnips, mustard, kale and Swiss chard. These are southern staples and are often slow-cooked with a hunk of fatback or smoked ham hock. Although it is true that these greens are sweeter after the first frost, you really can’t tell the difference after adding plenty of seasonings, so harvest at any time.
Collards, a southern staple, can be grown during the winter.
Greg Pryor/Provided
Another bit of advice is to harvest individual leaves throughout the season instead of cutting the whole plant at once. These plants will be productive throughout fall, winter and spring if trimmed in this way.
Other leafy greens such as lettuce and spinach are often eaten raw. The crunchy (and flavorless) iceberg lettuce is not commonly grown around here, but varieties such as arugula, black-seeded Simpson and mesclun are popular and prolific.
Mesclun (which means ‘mixture’ in French) is a spring salad mix that typically includes radicchio, sorrel, frisée and oakleaf lettuce. The seed packs will most likely be labeled ‘mesclun’ instead of ‘spring salad.’ Again, collect individual leaves instead of the entire plant to prolong the harvest.
Cabbages include all varieties — broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kohlrabi and other “cole” crops. (‘Cole’ means ‘cabbage’ in German.) Besides green and purple cabbages, consider other varieties such as bok choy and napa cabbage. Unlike leafy greens, the entire head of cabbage is harvested.
Cold-loving root vegetables include beets, radishes, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, onions and garlic. Keep in mind if you have dense soil with a lot of clay, longer root vegetables will be stunted or deformed, so buy short varieties. Also, be realistic regarding how many seeds or seedlings you plant – how many rutabagas are you really going to eat?
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