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[Auxin]

I'm curious what gardeners here harvest when its below freezing.
Its been absurdly cold here for december but despite that my leafy veggie harvest of tuscan kale, siberian kale, and turnip greens continues (under row covers). The red russian siberian kale isnt as hardy as tuscan kale so I'm eating it first. With it hitting 0°F my rutabaga greens and chicory all died back... it wasnt so cold last year and I harvested rutabaga greens throughout (imagine something between storebought kale and turnip greens).
My cabbages did ok under cover in the low 20's but when it unexpectedly hit 8° and stayed there they froze solid and I dont think cabbage is still alive when it thaws? Fermented into kimchee fine tho, different texture but edible!
When not frozen solid the henbit is growing, but not near harvest yet... its a small plant but big enough for oatmeal an it grows like a weed. Any plant my dog doesnt step on when its frozen just keeps growing when it thaws out
Who else grows leafys in winter?

What has me stumped is spices.
Ironically winter is the only 3 months of the year I cant harvest winter savory, same with oregano, thyme is really borderline now and not growing, most other spices are long gone, my little rosemary and lavender plants are still harvestable but I dont want to stunt them and theyre a bit sharp to be the dominant spice. What spices are harvested fresh when the nights are below 10°F?

[PermieGing]

Wild mint (idk what variety) is native to my area and is found all around the lake i live near. It grows like a weed, because it kinda is lol
Its not the most versatile spice, but it is great for the holidays!

Henbit is also a weed here, and is about the only thing that is still alive in my lawn! Lol
(My dads lawn, if it were mine, it would be being used to grow foodstuffs)
I knew it was edible, but never really considered eating it, aside for a few times lol.
My dog loves it

1 Like Sunshine likes this.

[Roze]

Here the nights are also really freezing, sometimes below 3°c  but my herbs tolerate that, some of them are blossom like Rosmarinus officinalis or the Lavender, the rest of them still are still growing, like Lemon balm, parsley , thyme, all the mints, the Lonicera and others..
My gooseberry's already have some fruits. The Collard greens and Phaseolus lunatus- green beans are in perfect conditions

To my amazement Physalis is growing and with some beautiful flowers on it, I didn't know that they tolerate low temperatures..

My lemon tree is also  blossom with white little flowers, the Citrus × sinensis still have some oranges on it..

Despite all this I really miss spring!

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[Auxin]

It sounds like I need to take a closer look at the mints!
Henbit should have been a clue to that, and now that I think on it I saw some life on the local feral catmint variety in a wildlife refuge a week ago, after a series of record low freezes.

*Starts imagining mint flavored chilli*

[Roze]

which mint varieties do you have? you know that if you mix some mints or herbs in the same space they will combine characteristics of each others? 

[Auxin]

I only have what appears to be Agastache rugosa, the minty one and not the licoricey interspecific hybrid that resulted from people growing it with anise hyssop. It dies down to ground level each winter and I grow two because sometimes one dies all the way. Amusingly I got the seeds from a 'master gardener' who thought it was hyssop (they look nothing alike). I got some hyssop seeds from a different person now, so with luck next winter I can see if it really is evergreen in zone 7... that is, unless this new person is secretly a 'master gardener' in which case the seeds might be for peppermint or something
I dont think hyssop and A. rugosa can cross, but if they do it might be interesting.
The local catmint seems to go from a bush to a diminutive ground cover in winter, but its naturalized to flood plains and I mostly do dryland gardening so each year I just steal a backpack full from the local skunks and badgers.
Tomorrow I'm going to the local botanical gardens to see whats still green, then I just have to figure out if the labels are correct. The 'master gardener' has elecampane marked as red veined sorrel and has had a ornamental dwarf Salvia nemorosa hybrid labeled as Salvia divinorum for 5 years now

Anyone know if Salvia przewalskii stays green in to winter? S. miltiorrhiza doesnt, but przewalskii is far hardier and has slightly more of the nifty anti-oxidant salvianolic acid analogs in its leaves (and slightly less of the medicinal tashiquinones in the root).

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[Sunshine]

I have a big patch of spearmint along the side of my house and fence. It gets a little over 5ft tall at the season peek and despite being mowed back, it comes back with a vengeance each year from the main root. I think it has died down already this year. I'm in zone 5b/6a.

[PermieGing]

Im in zone 7b, and whatever mint is near me grows like mad!!!
It spreads ferociously through stolons, which can be a bad thing lol, especially if its native.

I have some flowers with seed in them (seeds are sooo tiny) if anyones interested

[Roze]

I love all the mints but Mentha cervina and Mentha pulegium  have something special about it. The flavour is intense and is great to cook with.  But in low temperatures they stagnate..