It may have been a little slow in coming this year, but winter is finally bringing some real cold. And by real cold, I mean that the temperature is taking regular dips below zero degrees (Fahrenheit). At this point, most people aren’t thinking about their gardens, and what they could harvest from them tonight. There are a number of possibilities if you have a hoophouse or cold frame. If not, though, the options are extremely limited. One is a plant most people have never heard of (machè). The only other that I know of, is thyme. To be harvestable in this weather, a plant has to not only still be alive, but also be able to be harvested while the plant is actually frozen, without turning into mush when it is brought into the house and thawed. Most plants’ leaves wilt while they are frozen and revive once the temperature rises above freezing as long as they are still connected to the living plant. (This is part of what having a cold frame or hoophouse helps with; the sun usually warms the interior to at least a little above freezing each day, allowing for the plants to actually be harvested). Thyme leaves don’t even wilt when they are frozen.
We are expecting even colder weather tomorrow, and the outside thyme may get to the point where it more closely resembles dried thyme than fresh, but it will not turn to mush. Sage is similar, and can be harvested when frozen, but gets dried much sooner than thyme.
(And the thyme in the hoophouse will still be green, as long as the voles don’t get to it.)
