Is this winter?

It's just refusing to act like winter in these parts of the Mid-Atlantic.  Temperatures have been 10-20 degrees above normal for the last week and are forecasted to stay about there untile the end of this week.  Several of my plants are responding to the warmer than normal weather by putting on buds. Hopefully, that won't affect their growth in the summer.  It has, however, been a boon to my vegetables which I will gladly accept.  As can be seen in the pictures below, all the plants have grown quite a lot since my last check in last week.
Here is my Gourmet Blend cut and come again lettuce.  I will be checking this about mid-week as it shouldn't be allowed to grow too much more or it will stunt future growth.  It will also affect the taste as it goes beyond prime picking time.

I also have some Black Seeded Simpson lettuce that is showing signs of life recently.  It's still a longshot but who knows?

I have Lolla Rosa lettuce that is also responding favorably to the season.  It's the square in the upper right part of the bed.

The middle three rows are spinach plants which are showing robust leaf growth this past week.  They may be ready for picking by the end of this week if the temps stay as forecasted.  Only time will tell.

The top left bed has carrots and the middle top bed has onions, both of which are showing growth.

So, for it being the middle of winter here, the beds are doing much better than I even imagined. Granted, there's been a much milder span of very mild weather, but that's the beauty of gardening. Sometimes, the seasons work against you and at other times, like this period, they work for you. Nothing is guaranteed in gardening.  You just have to roll with what God gives you.  

I have started my Broccoli, Cabbage and Cauliflower seeds in my seed starting area this weekend.  

It's hard to believe we are less than 12 weeks out from planting the early Spring plants.  I goofed last year and failed to get them started on time so I ended up buying some plants - which didn't work out too well.  It was one of those failures that taught me a lesson.  Gardening does that to you if you aren't paying attention.  

I will take pictures of the plants when they emerge.  That's all I have for this week.  Can't wait to see if I have lettuce to harvest this week.  That would be a huge bonus.  Until next time, Happy Gardening!    

2016

Simple enough of a heading, eh?  2016 - a new year and a new garden.  I usually make this long list of plants I want to grow and come up with plans on how I want to grow them and where I will place them in my three beds.  This year - not so much.  Veggie gardening is actually quite simple so I have no idea why I have complicated it so much.
See, you as the gardener have to master the basics.  The vegetables have to do all the hard work. After all, they are the ones out in the elements that must endure pests, fungus's and good old mother nature and all she brings to bear.  So. you have to really be great at the basics.  And the most basic of all items is your soil.  A good soil will bear good plants and a great soil will bear great plants.  I believe a plant derives much of it's strength and resiliency from the soil it resides in.  That's why two neighbors can and often do, get widely different results.
Soil can be tricky for sure.  I'm not sure I have the best soil I can get but I do believe I am moving in the right direction.  Last year was the third year I planted a cover crop.  I can't say enough about cover crops.  My plants last year were much more vibrant and certainly more productive.  I never gave away so many tomatoes as I did last year.  I am going to have to rethink how many of them I am going to grow this year.
My soil is the result of several organic practices that I have adhered to over the last 5 years.  It takes time to develop an organic based soil.  It's been a long time since I used any types of chemicals on my plants.  That was my first step and it had pain associated with it.  When I first started, I lost some plants to wilt and other diseases.  Painful as that was, I can now say that I haven't seen that type of loss in my gardens for the last 3 or so years.
Having gone through that, the goal now is to enrich the soil with the nutrients and structure that will support the plants through almost anything that can be thrown at it.  It sounds like a scary proposition but, in reality, it isn't.  One of the many gifts of doing a cover crop is that when you cut the plants down, you are leaving the root structure of the Rye in place in the soil.  Those roots add a certain framework for the plants to burrow around and establish deep and firm roots themselves.  They also retain existing Nitrogen that is in the soil, meaning that the nitrogen will be available in the spring to your crops.  Without the rye, nitrogen will leach to varying degrees from the soil over winter.  As the roots of the cover crop roots decay over the summer, they slowly release nutrients to the soil and thereby the roots of the new plants resulting in more vibrant and productive plants.  It has been very noticeable over the last two years to both me and my neighbors.
It's mid January now and the cold of winter has taken hold in the mid-Atlantic region.  I have done my seed inventory and determined what seeds I definitely don't need to buy to augment my gardening this year.  There are some I need but I can wait for the time being.  One thing I will do in the next week is seek a source of organic manure.  While I don't use a significant amount of it, I feel that it is a good augmentation of my compost and peat moss that I use throughout the summer season.
There really isn't a abundance of things you can do in the garden if you aren't growing winter vegetables now.  I need to prepare my tools and I also need to clear the area where I start and grow my seeds. My wife and I went to a well known garden supply store here in Baltimore yesterday that is curtailing their garden operations.  I was able to get some structures from them that I intend to use in my garden  although I haven't quite worked out how yet.  We shall see.
Well, that's all for now.  Until next time, happy gardening everyone!