January 11, 2018

winter tunnel clean up

I opened up my winter greens tunnel this afternoon, but it wasn’t a pretty sight. All the romaine lettuce was wilted and rotting. I guess the week of sub-zero temperatures was too cold for it. Plus it looks like a mouse had gotten in. There was a mouse nest and the iceberg lettuce and spinach were eaten and torn up. There were a number of holes chewed in the row cover and pieces of it were in the mouse nest. Arugula, mustard greens, and a rosemary plant looked OK. The…

January 11, 2018

adding support at top of winter tunnel

A January thaw and lots of rain ahead. For the next two nights our temps won’t fall below 40F. Quite balmy! I plan to open up my collapsed winter garden tunnel tomorrow. I’ll dig it out from under the foot of snow. I’ll plan to put that top support pole on (the one I didn’t get to all fall and caused the tunnel collapse). And I’ll leave the tunnel open for a couple days during this “warm” spell. It’ll be a nice change for the winter greens to have some…

January 7, 2018

winter “gardening”

Well we got just over a foot of snow last Thursday, bitter cold temperature, and then I got a winter cold (achoo). Tis the season. Over half of my winter tunnel is crushed from the snow load since I never got that top support put in. Other than these sad things, there are fun gardening things going on too. My Belgian endive is doing great. I dug several roots last fall, stored them in the fridge ’til mid December, then planted them in a pot with a paper bag over…

January 4, 2018

snow day

We are being hit with a blizzard today. Over a foot of snow is predicted. I added food to the bird feeder this morning and it’s rapidly being covered up. Juncos, blue jays, titmice, and song sparrows are braving the wind and digging down for the seeds. There’s been a chickadee and a bluebird coming to the feeder too, but I wasn’t able to get their photos.

January 1, 2018

Happy New Year!

Wow, things are looking up! It’s New Year’s morning and only 41 days and counting ‘til I start planting! In 5 weeks – Feb 12 – the onion seeds go in. It’s a brutal cold week – not above freezing for several weeks and nights often into negative numbers. But I’m going to start moving on my garden plan, organizing seeds, and cleaning seedling pots. I have to admit that I escaped from the cold for a few days. I’m returning today from a few days in southern Florida (Naples…

December 11, 2017

winter garden

My garden is snow covered from an early storm. We got about 5 inches of heavy wet snow yesterday. My winter tunnel collapsed at the ends. I didn’t put the top support on. I’ll do that soon. I use duct tape and attach a PVC pipe along the top apex of each hoop to keep the hoops from collapsing inward. I’m also missing a hoop at the left end. I opened up the tunnel today and loved the feel of the warm humid air that escaped. It’s great how the…

November 9, 2017

first frost

We got a hard frost last night. All my garden plants have a coat of white crystals. It was one month late, almost to the day.

November 8, 2017

today’s garden work

We are expecting a good freeze tonight – our first – so I spent some time getting ready. – Picked the rest of the pole beans, 3 lbs (!), and took down the vines and poles (and later made 5 jars of dilly bean pickles) – Harvested the last of my peppers and pulled the plants – Picked a couple small winter squash and a big bunch of lettuce – Set up my winter tunnel over a bed full of greens by covering low hoops with garden fabric and higher…

November 3, 2017

balmy (hot!) fall

I can’t believe it’s November 3 and NO FROST yet. This is over 3 weeks later then our average date of Oct 10. It’s a very odd season here in the northeast. We’re up in the 70’s today.

October 26, 2017

winter tunnel

My winter tunnel is pretty much full of greens. The lettuce is edible size and I’ve started thinning it. Spinach and escarole need to grow a bit. But it’s ready for winter. When temperatures fall, I’ll cover this bed with a layer of plastic and a layer of heavy row cover. Hopefully I’ll be able to eat these greens all winter.

weeks and counting until my last spring frost

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