Winter Flowers

Dwarf iris re-emerging from the snowdrifts

The day before the winter storm came, I saw some of my dwarf iris just starting to bloom for the year.  Then they were covered by over a foot of snow, plus all of that shoveled from the drive next to them.  As the snow finally melted off in the last couple of days, there they were again, and in greater numbers than before.

I was so glad to see that the crushing weight of all that snow hadn't stopped these pretty little flowers from providing their annual show.  They are always among the very first flowers to come up and bloom each year, generally just after the snowdrops, and I would have hated to miss them. This year, they even beat the snowdrops, as those flowers are still under snow. 

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.

Early December in the Garden

I got a bit done in the garden over the weekend, as the temps on Saturday were pretty pleasant.  We'd had a tiny bit of rain Friday evening, though not enough to really do much.  I checked on the garden square I've been keeping sheltered under plastic.  The peas are struggling, but the parsley seems to be doing fairly well. I clipped a handful of it for the bunnies, who were delighted to munch on that in addition to their lettuce.

In the next raised square, I had set up a wind break on the north side.  The lettuce there is still not completely gone, though the cold nights have been hard on it.  But I am still able to harvest a few leaves along on most mornings for the bunnies, as well as carrot tops.

I also opened the greenhouse up for a bit to air out, and watered the plants inside.  Since it is only a single layer of plastic, and unheated, the plants inside are not kept that much warmer than outside, but it does make a difference.  The parsley, mint, and strawberries are doing best at this point.  The lettuce I'd planted in one large pot has shown no signs of growth yet. I watered everything, and sealed the greenhouse door back up before dark.

Leaf Mold

I'm looking forward to getting out tomorrow to finish raking leaves.  After raking them up into piles, I use my lawn blower/vac to grind them up into small pieces.  You could also use a mulching mower, and collect the shredded leaves into the mower bag. Then I bag them up in large trash bags, moistening them a bit as I go, poke a few holes in each bag, and tuck them away in an out-of-the-way spot in the back yard for the winter.  In about 6 months or so, those chopped leaves will have become leaf mold, an incredible soil conditioner for my garden.

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.

Fall Garden Update

Sweet and hot peppers picked November 9th

This is a photo of today's harvest.  Even though it's November, and we've had several frosts, the sheet of heavy plastic I put over the pepper plants a few weeks ago has been enough to protect them from frost damage.  I use heavy transparent plastic, generally a painting tarp, and weight it down around the edges with bricks to keep the cold air out.