Last Harvest of 2011's Garden

On New Year's day I dug up the last of the carrots in one of the cold frames. I left them pretty much as long as I could since leaving them in the ground is the best storage for freshness. Unfortunately, a mouse (or two?) had found them first so the tops of several of them were missing. That's the risk of leaving them so long.

Some other things I like about leaving them in the ground as long as possible is that they don't take up room in the house; they don't dry out or go mouldy. Nothing like a nice fresh carrot!

Last week I harvested the rest of the lettuce in the cold frames too. There are still another 20 or so in the greenhouse. Actually they are in cold frames inside the greenhouse for extra protection. I'm overwintering them until they start growing again in the spring, probably late March. They will be one of the first harvests of the 2012 garden.