Winter Check-In on My Garden: Garlic, Onions, and Leeks Surviving Under the Snow

🌿 Winter Check-In on My Garden

I went out to check on the garlic, onions, and leeks I planted in the garden—
a little winter survival inspection.

The garlic was completely buried under the snow, but I’m sure it’s fine.

The onions looked lively.

The tips of their leaves have turned slightly brown, so once the snow melts, I’ll give them some organic lime.
I’m planning to fertilize them again around February or March, when they start to swell.

The leeks were also hidden under the snow, yet they’re doing well.

They’re a bit smaller than I’d like, so next time I want to grow them a bit larger before the snow arrives.
I’ll try planting an early, cold-hardy variety.

There was one bok choy I had originally planned to pull out when clearing the leafy vegetable bed.
It was small, and I thought it wouldn’t make it.
But one plant had no insect damage, and its color and shape were so beautiful that I thought,
“It would be a shame to kill this one,”
and decided to leave it.

Its appearance has faded now, but it’s surprisingly vigorous.
Whether it’s still edible is another question, but it looks like it might survive the winter.

My thyme has dried up like a bouquet of dried flowers.

I can’t tell if it’s alive or dead, but I hope it’s still hanging on.

This area of Akita doesn’t get as much snow as other parts of the prefecture,
but the wind is bitterly cold.
Even within Akita, vegetables grown in my garden, my parents’ home, and my in-laws’ home all taste different,
even when we plant the same varieties.

I suppose this is what people call terroir.
The character of the soil and water, the amount of snowfall, the strength of the wind, the sunlight—
all of these shape the flavor and growth of the vegetables.
Even when we plant the same thing, each place produces vegetables with their own personality.

This snow, this cold, this soil—
they are what give my vegetables their flavor.

Right now, the plants are enduring the winter with all their strength.
I’m looking forward to seeing what they become in spring,
after surviving these hardships.