I should have titled this post, 'colder than-all-get-out' salad! Its a nippy 3° outside, but with the sunny afternoon today, the high tunnel was downright balmy! It is supposed to get down to -15° tonight, so I will likely loose what's left in the high tunnel. Ah well, it's about time to freeze it off anyway.
However, I want to take salad to the Prairie Spinners party on Friday night, but temps like this call for special harvesting techniques. Basically it means taking a cooler out to the HT, letting it warm up to the inside temperature and then harvesting directly into the cooler. Before leaving the HT, I sealed the top and bustled back to the house. Without some serious insulating, the salad would have frozen by the time I got back inside. Its kind of a goofy process, but it means we will have green salad with swiss chard, spinach, lettuce, beet greens, baby beets, carrots and violas for Friday. For fresh greens at this time of year, I will do just about anything.
Salad 'a la Coleman Cooler'
9 comments:
Its beautiful! I love the violas!
The greenhouse I buy from uses a dbl tunnel technique and so far, so good. I got spinach on Sat. and hopefully will get kale for a demo on this Sat.
But they haven't had lettuce! I am so envious!
Stay warm --- we are to get to -23. Don't ya love Iowa???
Thanks!
We use the dbl tunnel technique too, but this -20° stint will probably finish it off. There's no additional heat out there, just passive solar.
Even had to shut off the water to the house tonight, as a preventitive. This nonsense could make me nostalgic for Texas!
this cold is RIDICULOUS. Gah.
And may I just say that the thought of fresh local greens on Fri is making me postively salivate. Have I told you lately how much I love you? (is that enough to guarantee a bit of greens on my plate?!?!? :))
Are you kidding? You, who made me beautiful wool slippers that are keeping my feet warm?
You can have all the greens you want!
Ooh, I'm so jealous! The fresh spinach we bought from you at the Downtown Winter Market just didn't last long enough!!
What is Prairie Spinners??
Glad you enjoyed the spinach, Karen. Wish I had more to share!
Prairie Spinners is a group of central Iowa fiber nuts that get together monthly to share their love of spinning, weaving, knitting, all other things fiber and food.
You must REALLY be getting tired of the cold weather to even consider being nostalgic for Texas! LOL! Just to make you a little envious, it's about 68 out right now, but supposed to get really cold tonight - might even freeze! :-P
A friend in DM said we live in the Banana belt of Iowa. It's about 10 degrees warmer here than in DM? Geez.
Turned of your water?
We've been getting up every hour to run the tap. We're up anyway with diaper changings, feedings, bad dreams, etc.....Lily thinks Holly is a changling and it has her a little freaked out and a lot excited about faerie magic.....it's the hair.
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