As climate got warmer and warmer here, I began to be able to easily store savoy cabbages and winter lettuces in the garden. The cabbages were just wrapped in 2 layers of row covers and the lettuces were under a little plastic tent, like a mini hoop house, and I harvested all winter. Twice I had to use extraordinary protection when dips around zero for a night or two were predicted in a polar vortex. This involved packing hay over the row covers and covering that with plastic for the cabbages and putting several layers of row covers over the lettuces but under the plastic and then packing hay over the row covers. Both times the veggies came through perfectly.

But this January, I had to do the same for over three weeks while we had the kind of cold we hadn't had in at least 10 years, nights in the single digits and days in the very low teens. For part of that time there was some snow cover too, but the coldest nights--zero and just below--came after the snow cover was mostly gone. When I finally was able to get a look at the veggies I was astonished to see that they were in pretty good shape. The cabbages look quite good--some damage to outer leaves--and the lettuces needed a little cleaning up of dead, limp leaves but they'll regrow fast.

I'm thrilled. And completely astonished.