“Heavenly shades of night are falling, it’s twilight time…”
Which means bed-time for the lush garden at Loganita Farm, with wake-up call set for March. But the garden is a light sleeper, awakening often throughout the twilight of 2013 to keep you freshly served.
The summer plantings by our prolific grower, culinary gardener Mary von Krusenstiern, maintain the menus plentifully at both The Willows Inn kitchen and the Beach Store Café. For example, she’ll harvest summer-planted leeks, kale, chard, and specialty greens through the end of November, for daily deliveries.
Many other custom-grown items remain fresh in storage throughout the winter – pie pumpkin, fingerling potatoes, shallots, and specialties such as caraflex cabbage (cole slaw, anybody?), escarole (a not-so-bitter endive, from the daisy family, no less), radicchio (Italian chicory), and kohlrabi.
Meanwhile, bed is made and the covers turned down. Lush usually refers to a cover of healthy green plants, and many of our hardy ones – such as the Swiss chard pictured here– survive mild frosts, even heavy snow. They lie dormant through winter, beneath row cover for wind protection and extra warmth, and provide the first greens of March 2014.
“Fingers of night will soon surrender the setting sun…”
[Lyrics from “Twilight Time” by Buck Ram. Copyright: Tro – Devon Music Inc., Edward Kassner Music Co. Ltd., Duchess Music Corp., Porgie Music Corp.]
Easy to see why Swiss chard often is referred to as Bright Lights, or Rainbow chard.