I have two huge parsley plants and a lone surviving collard, plus some spinach plants. Mulched them all with straw yesterday and am hoping the cold didn't get them. Last night was the first night I put up the foam panels on the glass and put the gas heater on low for the greenhouse. Sixty degrees in there this morning, which is where I try to keep it in the winter. That furnace has been on pilot for weeks, so I'm not complaining.
Sunny

I picked leaf lettuce Friday and ate it all weekend. I will have to check this morning to see if there is any left. It tasted really good; I haven't been eating it but the forecast made me harvest some. I thought it might be bitter because of little rain. I have turnips but don't like to eat turnips. They were planted late as a ground cover. Also wondering if they are any good because of sparse rain but all turnips taste bad to me. My friend's sister likes turnips; I will have to give her some to try. My water was sputtering this morning. It could be ice. I hope that is it and not some worse water problem. Staw bales on top of the pressure tank house is how I deal with freezing.

Helen, don't you drip water from your faucets? When it is supposed to get down to 20 degrees at night, I put a pan under faucets and drip them slowly. Then I use the water for coffeepot or watering plants. I also open my doors under the sinks. I've never had frozen pipes. The straw on your pressure tank sounds good.

Since I don't make fireplace fires very often, I'm thinking of putting a foam panel the size of my fireplace behind the glass doors. Even though the damper is closed, I still feel I could be losing that expensive heated air. Has anyone done this?

My aunt used to whip cooked turnips with whipped potatoes, add butter, milk,etc. and they were delicious. Not nearly as "turnipy" tasting that way --
Sunny

I looked up the nutrition of turnips and compared them to potatoes. Potatoes have more calories but also more nutrients. I have to have butter and salt on both which makes them not as good for me. I much prefer potatoes.

I got the purple top seed cheap at MFA late and planted it because someone in the store said people plant it over winter as a cover crop. I just threw the seed in and then had to thin it. I wish I liked them they are easy to grow for sure. I am going to try again. I'll try the whipped potato idea. I know a woody radish and bitter lettuce because I grow and eat those all the time. I wouldn't know a good turnip from a bad one. It may be my turnips grew too slow when it was dry.

I don't think I have ever liked turnips the few times I've tried them. I never really cared for green beans unless there was a lot of bacon involved. Late in life I found I like them stir fried in olive or canola oil with just a few bacon bits.

There is a story my father -in -law told. Years ago there was a wake. The old man was dressed in his overalls and neighbor men came to the house like they used to do before people were embalmed. The daughter who was mentally handicapped had turnip stew on the stove and the visitors did not want to eat that. They all chipped in and sent her to the store for bologna thinking she would make sandwiches. She put the bologna in the turnip stew and he remembered that disappointment 50 years later.