Freezing Water

Over the next couple of days, we're supposed to get some extremely cold weather for this early in the winter, with lows in the single digits.  This area is just going to get a glancing blow from the weather system that is moving across the country, and we shouldn't get the snow predicted for other areas.  But this forecast does mean it's time to remove the pump and fountain from my pond, and to put out the pond de-icer. 

Keeping the Greenhouse from Freezing

Earlier this fall, I set up my pop-up greenhouse out on the patio, as I do every year.  At first, I move in only the most tender plants, and just zip the doors shut at night.  As the weather continues to cool off, I keep the doors closed all of the time.  Then, before the first hard frost, I add a second insulating layer of plastic, by hanging a layer of bubble wrap inside the walls and roof of the greenhouse.  I also put in plastic containers of water, painted in dark colors to absorb the sun's heat during the day and re-radiate it at night.  Real solar greenhouses have very large containers to hold a lot of heat; I just have 1-2 gallon containers, such as milk jugs.

Preparing for Upcoming Frost

Over the weekend, I emptied out my little garden fountain for the fall and put it away in the garage.  One night this week the forecast shows it may get below freezing, so I need to make sure that everything in my garden is ready. All the plants I plan to save over the winter have been brought indoors, or put in my pop-up greenhouse.  I've taken cuttings of coleus and other plants to root over the winter and repot for next year.

Results on Overwintering Plants

Pop-up greenhouse

Last fall I moved a number of plants indoors for the winter, and others into my little pop-up greenhouse.  Those I cherished most, or were most in need of warmth, like the lemon tree, geraniums and  the jasmine, ended up in the house.  Other plants that went into the greenhouse for the winter included one pot of mint, a potted patio tomato, the papyrus plant from the pond, petunias, rosemary, basil, parsley, and the stacking planter of strawberries.

This greenhouse is just a layer of heavy plastic, and is unheated, so it has been an interesting experiment to see what difference it could make in helping plants survive the winter.

April Ice Storm

Ice-covered flowering pear tree

This morning, we looked out to find that everything was covered in a quarter-inch layer of ice.  Every flower, every wire, every blade of grass was encased.  My flowering pear tree, which had been looking so lovely with the most flowers it's ever had, was weighted down so that the branches curved to the ground. 

March in the Garden

Leaf lettuce

This is a photo of the leaf lettuce I planted in my little plastic green-house back in December.  It's taken it a lot longer than a late spring planting outside normally would to get rolling, but now I've got plenty of fresh mixed greens for myself and my bunnies.

Snow Days

Snowy bird bath

The winter storm system that just blew through Kansas gave us more than wind and cold.  We actually got snow this time, and lots of it!  Our official total here for this storm was 14.2 inches. 

I've read that 10 inches of snow melts down to the equivalent of one inch of rain. That makes this snow enough to do some good, but won't come anywhere close to making up for the drought.

Winter Sowing

Getting ready for winter sowing.

Today I started planting my garden for the summer--way earlier for outdoor planting than I would have ever thought possible before!  Over the last several months, I'd run into mention of "winter sowing" using plastic milk jugs like tiny greenhouses, and found fascinating descriptions of this method of starting plants.  It is supposed to avoid the all-too-prevalent problem of damping off, and gives the gardener seedlings with healthy root systems that do not need to be hardened off before planting.  I decided to try it for myself.

Late Fall Gardening

Late November harvest of bell peppers

I know the posts have been fewer this month, but I've been busy actually doing all the things I described earlier.  That's a lot to do, and in much shorter days!  It's a real relief as I finish up each task, and can look around to see that I'm getting things buttoned down for the coming winter.

Now that we've had the time change from Daylight Savings Time, it's getting dark by the time I get home, so I have very little garden time except on the weekends.

Getting Ready for Winter

Peas, marigolds and parsley in late October

There are a number of things as a gardener that I do each year to get my garden ready for winter. Any hard work I do now, will save me even more work in the spring.

As flowers and vegetable plants die, I remove the dead plants, so they don't harbor insect pests or diseases over the winter.  Perennial stems I cut back to ground level. A few things that offer valuable food for local birds, such as coneflowers, I leave until spring. Healthy plant stems and leaves can be shredded or chopped and added to compost, but anything that may have had any disease or pest problems should be put in the trash. I also watch out for any kinds of seeds.  If your compost pile doesn't get hot enough, disease organisms, weeds, and seeds may not be killed during the composting process, and you'll just be multiplying these problems.

Winter Weather

It's been quite a winter so far this year. We had three snow storms even before the new year. The snow that fell on the Saturday before Christmas has not yet completely melted. Usually, snow melts off within a few days.

My dog has really enjoyed the snow. It seems to send his energy level sky-high. It was such fun watching him bounce through the snowdrifts, and shove his face in up to his ears.