A touch of the hairy vetch

Although it is winter and getting cold here (a chilly 55 F for a high today...yes, I'm rubbing it in for you Northerners), we have not been neglecting our gardens. They've actually been rather productive.

We are experimenting with a cover crop in our main bed this year. This is a winter hardy crop that will help add organic matter and nutrients back into the soil, help crowd out the weeds, and in the spring will act as a mulch for our transplants. There are a lot of different cover crops out there, so I did a little internet research on what would be the best for us. One of the plants we chose was hairy vetch. While I was Googling this particular plant, Lisa came up behind me and said, "that sounds like a personal problem to me..."

We also retrofitted our raised beds to make a cold frame:


The plants are loving it in here -- we're growing lettuces, scallions, cilantro, parsley, chard, and kale. I hope we can keep it going all winter long. We have garlic growing in our side bed too -- last year they didn't do so hot so hopefully this year will be better. We have been getting a lot of rain though...