Winter crops, what will survive frosts and freezes?

Carrot and parsnip should overwinter with some mulch.

If you have enough space; brambles, strawberries, asparagus. The last two make spring worth waiting for, for me.

 

It seems like my Oregano will make it rhough this winter so far as well as my parsley. ot too worried about parsley but it is tough stuff.

I am going to start some rosemary from seed inside. Not gonna try and get it to grow outside until it is a lot warmer.

 

I live in zone 4, have oregano vulgaris (common oregano) and Greek oregano in a raised bed with other herbs and, each year, they come back strong despite many days/nights well into the MINUSES! In the fall, the herbs all get mulched with a heavy layer of dead leaves that are removed when new growth begins showing in Spring, have yet to lose any. If in pots/containers, you just might try burying those.. in a spot in the garden..right up to the container's rim, then mulching heavily for time being..you'll be amazed at results! On the rosemary: those plants are TOUCHY, do NOT like their "feet wet" once potted up or planted! Cut potting medium with sand; make sure drainage is excellant and DO NOT overwater or you'll end up with root rot and/or a case of powdery mildew on plants. Rosemary is of a Mediterranean origin, can thrive alone on humidity, so monitor your plants well once you put them outside..especially there! Now..for your problem with peas, etc.: think about erecting a very cheap hoop house over existing plants til they get acclimated and going well. White quarter inch PVC piping can easily be bent in an inverted U over the babies, cover frame with heavy duty plastic, open ends on warm days for ventilation. By time young plants reach the top of "hoop", you'll be able to safely remove the plastic, reap the harvest when plants reach maturity and begin fruiting. This works beautifully if using a raised bed: can drive (electrical) staples, big enough to accomodate PVC easily, into bed sides to hold piping in place: once plastic/piping is removed, there's NOTHING sharp to get caught on. Another solution is using heavy-duty Remy blankets to place over plants..are very inexpensive; last several years, do the job of insulating very nicely! Hope I gave you some "ideas"... .

 

My sugar snap peas did bite the dust after a heavy snow and 5 days of freezing temps. I forgot to update that. I am thuinking about starting some here soon and some winter radishes in the hopes that we don't get a heavy frost or a long freezing period the rest of the year.

Thanks for the heads up on the Rosemary, I think I have over watered it and have a bad case of mildew but I will let it dry out. One part of it is in good shape so hopefully it will grow. I plan to start more from seed anyway.

 

this post may be no use to ya as im in the uk, but my cabbage, cauliflower, spinache, garlic and onions all survived a particularly harsh winter this year in a raised bed. someone once told me that the frost isn't so much a problem but if their burried under snow it will kill them, so i kept mine covererd and their looking really healthy now. i started all of this in august last year :-D

 

I found spinach today which came up from the relics of 2010. I'm thinking I may just leave a row this fall and maybe it will produce a spring crop in 2012.