Low Tunnel Update

I harvested the last of my low tunnel winter radishes a couple days ago.  I really enjoyed having fresh radishes on my salads throughout the winter.

One that I pulled up was a real monster.  At first I thought maybe it was a turnip that had somehow been misplaced.



I cut it up and took at little taste.  Yep, definitely a radish.  It was still crispy, but was too hot for me, so I threw it out for the chickens.  The little ones were quite tasty though.

I haven't harvested any of the lettuce or spinach since early December.  They are safe under the tunnel and are alive, but they have gone dormant and there really isn't much to pick right now.  They are beginning to wake up with the milder temperatures we are having, so hopefully soon I can harvest some more.

When it gets warm enough to remove the cover, they will take off (from my experience last year) and I will have nice harvests of leaf lettuce very early, before any newly sown spring lettuce begins to grow.

Our spring tends to be very brief here.  Usually it goes from frozen to sweltering heat pretty quickly.  These low tunnels are working out well to give me a longer harvest period for these cool weather crops.

I am preparing to build a new raised bed that my onions and garlic will be going into this year.  I will cover it with a low tunnel early in the season and do a little experimenting there as I have read that this can help you get larger bulbs.  I will plant a row in the garden as well to use as a control.  We'll see how they do!