Homemade Garden Cloche Winter Experiment

The climate in my area is moderate for winters. Most years we do get a little snow that sticks around for 3 to 7 days. Our overnight low temps can dip into the teens for about a week in December or early January. This past year we had about 1 foot of snow on the ground for the better part of a week with temps not going above freezing for that entire period (lows in the low teens some nights). I'd say this was a bit colder than typical. I'm giving you this info as background for my recent experiment.

I had been curious about whether or not garden cloches would help my overwintering of greens for early spring harvests. So I decided to use homemade cloches over part of the Swiss chard but not all. I made my cloches out of plastic 1-gallon milk jugs, cutting off the bottom inch of each jug. In fall around the time of the first frost, I put these cloches on 11 Swiss chard plants. I left them on the plants all winter, removing them yesterday. Occasionally wind would blow them off, and I'd go out and put them back on. When it snowed in December and January, the snow piled up on top of each cloche. I didn't do anything to clear the snow. I left about a dozen Swiss chard plants bare for all of winter.

As I mentioned above, Tuesday I removed the cloches. 5 of the 11 plants survived the winter and are now thriving. (In the photo above, I'd just shoveled new compost around the plants and pulled out the surrounding weeds.) 

In the section with uncovered Swiss chard, about 6 feet away, only 1 of 12 plants looks like it has spring growth on it. Others of these plants may put out some growth in a couple of weeks, or they may not. I'm not sure yet. However, one thing is for certain, the cloches brought about new healthy growth much earlier in the overwintered Swiss chard. I'd say this experiment was fruitful for me in coming winters. Our kale and turnips overwinter without covering, but the Swiss chard has always been hit or miss.

Why do I like to do these experiments? I think I'm always looking for ways to improve in my work. With gardening, that means harvesting even more or for more weeks of the year. If we ever truly need to rely heavily on our garden, it's nice to know that we can get more Swiss chard when not a whole lot  else is producing. The bonus is the milk jugs didn't cost me anything and have now been set aside to reuse next winter. I may try this next year to see if I can get the kale or turnip greens to start spring growth even earlier in the season. Anyways, my little free experiment.

Cheap Eats Share Time: The Supper Edition

Food prices just keep going up and up. I thought we could share our recent cheap meals, however we make them cheap. Some of us (or our spouses) hunt or fish, some of us are phenomenal bargain hunters, some of us garden, some of us forage, some of us raise animals for food (meat eggs, dairy), some of us can or freeze, some of us bake or cook from scratch, some of us may barter or exchange with others, and some of us are the queen of use-it-all-up. Whatever your skill set that helps you create a cheap meal, share in the comments one of your most recent cheap suppers. Give details please, so the rest of us can think through how we might adapt your meals to our skills.

I'll begin with our dinner last night. My skills are I garden, I bake from scratch, and I make broth with meat bones (use-it-all-up). For dinner I made a cream of green soup and garlic-Parmesan toast. I used a basket full of greens from the garden -- turnip leaves, kale, garlic greens, radish leaves, chives, plus some garden-grown garlic cloves -- steamed in the microwave, then pureed with some water in the smoothie blender. For the liquid of the soup, I used a quart of homemade chicken stock. I thickened the soup with a combination of instant  mashed potatoes and a flour/water slurry. I seasoned the soup with salt and onion powder. Just before serving I swirled in a handful of mozzarella cheese for protein and flavor. 

To make the garlic-Parmesan toast cheaply I used homemade bread, garden-grown garlic, and a half-and-half blend of vegetable oil and butter (instead of all oil), along with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (protein and flavor). I estimated that this simple supper for 4 people cost under $1.50. We all had as much soup and toast as we wanted. However I realize that this might not suit a true meat and potato lover.

I don't hunt or fish and I'm less of a bargain hunter than I used to be.  I use the skills and opportunities that I currently have. But I'm willing to try something new or at least barter with someone who can do what I can't. I'm very interested in hearing how you all are putting together cheap meals these days. Please share so we can all benefit from your endeavors.