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nilajones

Frozen / cold weather brassicas?

NilaJones
10 years ago

Hello folks, long time no see!

This might be a preserving question... depending on your answer.

Like a lot of places, we have had record cold this week. I normally eat kale, collards, chard, and arugula out of the garden all winter. But now they are frozen solid and weighed down by 6 inches of snow. It's been something below zero here (I don't trust the thermometer).

The chard looks done for. But what about the kales and collards? Will the leaves currently on the plants be ok when they thaw? Or are they now 'frozen vegetables'? Should I harvest and chop them while frozen, and bag them into the freezer? Or leave them on the plants and they will be ok? Or leave them and they might be?

Our usual lows are in the teens or twenties, and the leaves stay on the plants and are healthy when they thaw. But I don't know how to garden in THIS weather!

Thanks for the advice, cold-climate friends :).