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  • From: "" <herbthyme AT simcon.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] overwintering corn mache
  • Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 11:39:06 -0500

see no sign of them now and wonder what I did wrong. The year before we had
started the mache earlier and they overwintered without cover. Just
wondering if anyone has some experience with this in zone 5.

Should I have covered them with a row cover? Started them earlier?

Thanks for any info.

Denise
Zone 5, Illinois

Hi Denise!
I can actually, for the first time, help someone out on this list!! I love
it! I too am in zone 5, Northeast Ohio. And I also grow 2 kinds of Mache.
At the moment and for the first time, have a 7' x 27' raised bed that I chose
to plant lettuce in last season to try and winter over. I figure if Elliot
Coleman and his daughter both can do it, so can I!! Well, of course, they
have the proper set up and I on the other hand am pulling idea's out of you
know where! So, I placed hay bales all around the bed, on their side if you
will, so that they still filled up the area but was tall enough. I think it
took 15 bales to go all around the bed. Then my wonderful other half, built
a temporay structure that looks like a roof on a house with only about a 3/12
pitch. Just enough to help the snow and rain load run off! LOL!!! So, then
I stapled "agrabond" cover material to the top of the structure, and then
placed 4 mil. plastic on top of that. And then of course had to screw lathe
down to help keep the platic on and so that I was able to get in and out of
it to harvest. I guess I should mention that I planted 19 rows and 15
varities back in September. I was lucky that we had a nice fall and early
mild winter so that they could get a jump start on growing. Ideally, I
should have planted it back in August so they would really have a good start.
Live and learn! I was then going to replace the plastic with old glass
windows so that I could just lift them up, prop them up while harvesting.
Well, that never happened. Long story short, my corn salad has survied the
best, of course along with kales and believe it or not, the buttercrunch,
spinach, and a couple of mesclun mixes. I was just out there this past
Sunday to check and see if I had any to pick, or if it was just going to be a
sad sight. And low and behold, there was a ton of lettuce! I picked about
2lbs. which is great in my book! Granted, the corn salad is such a slow
grower for me, but it will be ready in the next couple of weeks I bet. I
could have picked some it, but I felt that it deserved to live a little
longer out there with the rest! I really believe that you need to have some
kind of row cover but then I am in Ohio and we had a lot of below 0 temps.
this winter. I am just so glad that most of it lived! Elliot says that
winter lettuce should be planted in August to give it a chance to get it's
feet planted deep enough before it starts to slow down. hope some of this
was a little helpful!


Courtney
Herb Thyme
Middlefield, Oh





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