When it is really cold outside, with temperatures in the single digits, we always wish for snow to provide some insulation for the plants.We got our wish today! It started to snow around lunch time and by 4:00 PM, depending on where you were in the area, between 4 and 5 inches of snow fell. Let me do the math... that's about an inch an hour. Fortunately, it isn't very windy so there is not a lot of drifting, so far. However, because it is so cold out, this is a very powdery snow, so it wouldn't … [Read more...] about Snowy Places
weather
Green Fields and Leaves and Blossoms of Gold
It is pleasant to think, just under the snow,That stretches so bleak and blank and cold,Are beauty and warmth that we cannot know,Green fields and leaves and blossoms of gold.-Fay Hampstead, American poet (1847-1934)Here is the snow all bleak and blank and cold. Green Fields from last summer LeavesBlossoms of Gold (False Sunflower)We've experienced 35 days of winter so far and have 54 more days until the official start of spring. Winter seemed to start later this year, with our … [Read more...] about Green Fields and Leaves and Blossoms of Gold
Serenity in the Garden, Excitement in the City
We woke up this morning to see that we had finally gotten our first significant snowfall of the winter. This is a picture of the raised bed vegetable garden, taken from about the same spot I took pictures from this summer. It was one of those wet, heavy snows that will probably be mostly gone in a few days, if temperatures go above freezing. This is actually normal weather for January, so we aren't alarmed or worried about it. We just shovel our drives, throw some extra bird seed out for the … [Read more...] about Serenity in the Garden, Excitement in the City
Rain or Snow?
When we have warm rainy days like today during the winter, people go around saying "if it was colder outside and this was snow, we'd really have a mess on our hands". I checked a few web sites and it looks like opinions vary, but an inch of rain converts to about 6.5 - 10 inches of snow.I am not much for this kind of speculation. When it is rain, it's not snow, and we can be thankful for that. I prefer rain to snow, except on Christmas day and maybe Christmas eve. And even on those days I prefer … [Read more...] about Rain or Snow?
A Brief Interruption of This Garden Blog to Talk About Rain
I know precisely when it started to rain this morning. At the exact moment when I pulled into a parking spot at work and put my car in Park. At that precise moment, the rain suddenly came down in a huge deluge as though a month’s worth of rain was all trying to come down at once. From a pure “cause & effect” standpoint, I might have believed that the mere act of me putting the car in park caused the rain, so close together were these two events.“Shoot,” I thought, “If I had not stopped at … [Read more...] about A Brief Interruption of This Garden Blog to Talk About Rain
Remain Strong
I listened to the weather forecast on the way home. They used the word “crashing” to describe how the temperature will change late Thursday to early Friday. As in “crashing down from the mid 60’s to the low to mid 30’s". That kind of alarmist reporting should really not be allowed. They should simply state the forecast. “Temperatures will change from highs in the 60’s to highs in the 30’s”. See, doesn’t that sound better, more normal? Like it happens all the time.And we were warned to expect … [Read more...] about Remain Strong
