Harvested carrots and lettuce On Dec 1, 2023
I decided I better pull out the second crop of carrots before the ground freezes sometime in December. We got 6-10 inches of snow the past few days and even more out in the open. If I had waited, I might not have gotten them out.
The first carrots I planted in late spring by direct seeding and harvested most in September. They kind of stalled out in July but came back in September when the temps were cooler. I did a succession planting of more carrots in August-Sept.
In the garden on Dec 1, the remaining carrots were covered with 12′ of snow. So I dug through the snow till I saw the row cover I had put over them when the nights got cold in November. I pulled back the row cover exposing the carrots. It brings such joy to see how well they did. I think they got so long because I had planted them in a 12′ deep raised bed that I made to grow potatoes one year. The carrots loved the extra depth.
And over in the greenhouse, I had transplanted lettuce starts in early September. I kept the greenhouse windows completely open to keep it cooler and a fan to help as well. Then when it got cold at night, I covered the lettuce with some row cover to protect them. I also buttoned up the greenhouse to keep the cold out but did open the door and some windows in the day when it was warmer. Yesterday I harvested the last of the lettuce. Some had bolted and gotten bitter. The chickens got them. But a lot was still good and hadn’t bolted so that is now in the refrigerator.
I always start lettuce seeds in January inside under lights and put them out in February in the unheated greenhouse. I just grow cold varieties in the winter and use row cover to keep them above freezing at night. So we have lettuce all the way through May. Then the greenhouse gets too hot so don’t grow anything in summer. I did a 2nd succession crop of lettuce in late August-Sept when the temps start to drop. Success! Nice to see some green (lettuce) and orange (carrots) so late when everything is covered with snow. Now the garden is truly done!
giantveggiegardener 
Such fantastic carrots!!
Pam
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Jannine, those loooong carrots make me so jealous. What’s your secret? What type of carrot are they ?
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I think they got so long because I had planted them in a 12′ deep raised bed that I made to grow potatoes a few years ago. The variety is “Atomic Red” carrots. I have never grown them so long in shorter beds so I think it’s the deep bed.
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Ok, the DEEP bed. I am on the right track. I cut the end off a cracked “cattle cube” and planted loose soil in it two years ago. I took the other end and planned to use sand in that one simply to encourage growth and live with the fact that this bed would take a LOT of watering. Never got it completed, but I plan to in time for spring, and maybe the new gardener who may be taking over my gardening area. Thanks for all your help Jannine. Merry Christmas
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Done?! Is it ever ‘done’?! Was that the last of the carrots, or just some of what remains? Will any that get stuck in the ground when the soil freezes get ruined as they freeze?
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Good point about being ‘done’ but I won’t go out in the garden now that winter is here in earnest. That was the last of the carrots of the season-I mean I’ve been harvesting all fall, so it is time. The soil will freeze rock hard sometime this month in December. And you can’t get the carrots out when that happens and they are ruined.
However, I can grow (with row cover protection), greens in February in the greenhouse but not direct seed. I start the greens inside under lights and transplant in the greenhouse.
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It is difficult to imagine such a harsh (by my standards) winter after such productivity.
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Great photo! You and the carrots! ❤️
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