A couple of days ago was beautiful here so I went out and took out the last of my carrots and beets from last year so I can start some new ones for this year. I’ve been taking them out all winter even though it has been really cold here. The secret? I covered them last fall with about a foot of straw and they have been doing nicely under all that insulation. The ground never froze. Here are the carrots after I pulled off the straw and just before I dug them out.

The next picture is the freshly dug out carrots and beets. Notice I grew both purple and orange carrots. I planted all these last spring!

This picture- they are cleaned up in the kitchen. I love those purple carrots-really sweet tasting. They are purple on the outside and orange inside. Awesome!

And lastly is a picture of the chard from last year doing nicely. I will leave it in and cover it back up and will uncover it when it warms up. Chard is one of those vegetables that will come back each year if protected. And another bonus is the rabbits don’t know it exists under all that straw!