Winter Respite

Ah, the joys of a mild coastal winter. We are allowed these lovely episodes of gentle days that enable all of us procrastinators to get out and whack away on the projects we originally scheduled for fall... and then ignored. Southeastern Virginia is finally getting a bit of rain, softening the rock hard clay soil into a workable, plantable medium. Reluctant as I am to set plants out just in time for the true cold of "winter" here, it is the first planting opportunity we've had and the poor potted specimens are begging for root room. The garlic and onions are up! The mesclun mix and first romaine lettuces are ready for early picking/thinning.

The most amazing member of our winter garden are these fava beans! Winter bean plants? Who knew? www.tradewindsfruit.com/fava_bean.htm I'm just fascinated. I thought they would never be tough enough for our winters (northern gardeners are laughing, I know) but they have made it through two nights below 20 degrees and kept (slowly) growing. Shall we have early beans? Amazing.

Of course, all the remaining rare figs that were awaiting transplanting from the last greenhouse into the field - and who have been sitting out in their pots valiantly braving the weather without a house cover to protect them - have lost their tags in the heavy windstorms. Oh, bother! Now I shall have to wait until they fruit to figure out who's who. In some cases, these are the only remaining ones of their kind here on the farm. We moved most of the hard-to-find figs out to collectors and other nurserymen who were interested in continuing to propagate them, hopefully to continue and increase their availability in the trade. To me, there is no greater selfishness than someone who hoards plants when they could share stock with others. Unless someone out there knows the secret to discouraging slugs forever and just isn't sharing it with the rest of us.

The Centennial kumquats are ripe now, Meyer lemons and Key Limes are in full production. We have moved them inside the glass doors of the studio to avoid a couple of early cold (teens) nights but they really don't need the protection and during the day the screen doors allow lovely fresh air into the studio where the citrus are blossoming. Of course, to get any further fruit indoors, I'll have to be wandering about the plants with my little paintbrush, playing Ms. Bee.