> Do Americans really have no vegetables in winter?
You're not going to find many local vegetables in Vermont in the winter. True, we're south of Paris, but the ground is frequently under 50 centimeters of snow and ice, with occasionally nighttime lows of -20°C or below during cold snaps.
Under these conditions, about the only winter vegetables that you can grow are mâche and maybe claytonia. Basically, you plant them in the fall, and allow them to overwinter in cold frames, or in hoop houses with row covers and a few degrees of artificial heat. You can't harvest the claytonia until the temperature goes above freezing, or it will wilt. The mâche can be harvested frozen and then thawed out. And it's a great salad green—tasty and attractive, without being bitter. I've grown both, and it was fun, but not terribly practical.
To read about some really epic winter farming in the northern US, check out Four Season Harvest: http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables... Eliot Coleman has thought longer and deeper about this than just about anyone around here, and his book tends to suck geeks right in.
But even Eliot Coleman has given up on January farming in northern New England. He can do it, and he can make money, but he prefers selling tons of salad greens and sweet baby carrots for the December holidays, and then spending January vacationing someplace warm. Mâche is pretty awesome, but it's not enough by itself.
+1 for mâche. If anyone is trying to get more greens in their diet but need some sort of alternative to lettuce and spinach, give it a try. Tough to find, but worth it. Nutty flavor, not at all bitter like arugula.
You're not going to find many local vegetables in Vermont in the winter. True, we're south of Paris, but the ground is frequently under 50 centimeters of snow and ice, with occasionally nighttime lows of -20°C or below during cold snaps.
Under these conditions, about the only winter vegetables that you can grow are mâche and maybe claytonia. Basically, you plant them in the fall, and allow them to overwinter in cold frames, or in hoop houses with row covers and a few degrees of artificial heat. You can't harvest the claytonia until the temperature goes above freezing, or it will wilt. The mâche can be harvested frozen and then thawed out. And it's a great salad green—tasty and attractive, without being bitter. I've grown both, and it was fun, but not terribly practical.
To read about some really epic winter farming in the northern US, check out Four Season Harvest: http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-Harvest-Organic-Vegetables... Eliot Coleman has thought longer and deeper about this than just about anyone around here, and his book tends to suck geeks right in.
But even Eliot Coleman has given up on January farming in northern New England. He can do it, and he can make money, but he prefers selling tons of salad greens and sweet baby carrots for the December holidays, and then spending January vacationing someplace warm. Mâche is pretty awesome, but it's not enough by itself.