ON THE GARDEN PATH by Carolyn Herriot

Over the winter months, “What’s for dinner?” in our house means “What shall we harvest from the garden?” So many vegetables thrive in the winter food garden that we plan lots of menus around them. Here’s a sample of some of the meals we enjoy from October to April, months in which food gardens are usually considered unproductive.
A typical winter salad consists of a little bit of many things growing in the garden. I tear up young leaves of red Russian kale, Dutch curled kale, perpetual spinach, chard, arugula and corn salad, toss in some finely shredded tender baby leeks, and add chopped parsley, cilantro and scallions. I finish the salad by throwing in some mixed seeds or nuts, toss it with a tangy vinaigrette dressing, and garnish with calendula flower petals. Who could resist the appeal of such a vibrant salad?
Collards, perpetual spinach, beet greens and green curled kale are sweetest after hard frosts. We use them for steamed greens in lasagnas and cabbage roll type dishes, or add them shredded to casseroles, soups and rice dishes.
The patch of arugula, which self-seeded from a spring sowing, means we have tasty greens, mild and nutty when young, hot and spicy when mature, for sandwiches and salads. Arugula is also great sautéed with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes, the way Italians prepare it.
Corn salad provides mild greens, perfect for adding to sandwiches and salads. Individual leaves can be picked or the whole central rosette cut. Corn salad seeds freely around the garden, providing lots of fresh salad greens throughout the winter.
The strong celery flavour of celeriac root enhances casseroles and soups. Celeriac is much easier to grow than celery, and is sweet and crunchy raw for veggie dips. When cooked with the potatoes, it adds exceptional flavour to a hearty leek and potato soup.
Lutz beets are large, sweet when baked, and perfect for pickling. There’s the added bonus of nutritious beet greens. Beets survive mild winters, but may need a protective mulch in colder climates. Top your winter salads with grated beets followed by a handful of mixed seeds or nuts.
Parsley grows close to the ground in winter, so the flavour is concentrated and enhances many winter dishes. Winter-hardy lettuces fare best under a protective cloche or cold frame. Winter Density and Valdor are hardy green lettuces; Rouge d’Hiver and Brunia are hardy red lettuces. Leafy Chinese coriander, or cilantro, will overwinter and even survive snow dumps with no protective covering. It adds a unique note to stir-fries, salsas and omelettes.
The milder kale varieties, red Russian and Dutch green curled are tender enough to
eat in salads. Coarser kales, such as Lacinato and Winterbor, provide greens with a stronger flavour. Redbor kale is as worth growing for a stunning purple accent in the garden, as for tender steamed greens.
Nothing beats Swiss chard for succulent greens; Fordhook Swiss giant is reliably winter hardy. Steam or sauté the succulent stalks and you will hardly be able to tell the difference between these and celery.
If you plant leeks in May, you’ll be harvesting tender leeks from fall through winter. Even when there’s snow on the ground, leeks can be pulled from the garden for dinner. The same goes for Jerusalem artichokes, which can be dug as needed, and are wonderful raw, in vegetable dips, as well as sweet and nutty when drizzled with olive oil and roasted for 25 minutes.
We look forward to spring for the tasty shoots of purple sprouting broccoli, and the succulent greens of First Early Market cabbage. Cauliflowers, broccoli and cabbages take root and establish over winter, and burst into growth when the soil warms up in spring.
The pleasure of harvesting nutritious winter vegetables from your own backyard will make the effort of planting from July to September more than worthwhile.

From A Year on the Garden Path A 52-Week Organic Gardening Guide by Carolyn Herriot. $29.95, Earthfuture Publications, Victoria, BC. Available at Banyen Books, Duthie Books or at
(www.earthfuture.com/gardenpath).