Rainfall
- 5th: 0.17"
- 6th: 0.66"
- 10th: 0.41"
- 18th: 0.22"
- 28th: 0.41"
- 31st: 0.5
- Total: 2.37 inches
Snowfall
- 10th: 1.0"
Temperature
- range of nighttime lows: 14 to 38°F (-10 to 3°C)
- range of daytime highs: 26 to 69°F (-3 to 21°C)
Greenhouse temps: for the lowest overnight temps of the month
- 9th: outside 16°F (-9°C), greenhouse 25°F (-3.5°C)
- 20th: outside 17°F (-8.3°C), greenhouse 26°F (-3°C)
- 21st: outside 18°F (-7.7°C), greenhouse 26°F (-3°C)
- 22nd: outside 14°F (-10°C), greenhouse 22°F (-5.5°C)
- 23rd: outside 16°F (-9°C), greenhouse 24°F (-4°C)
Greenhouse Notes
- With the temps, I'm looking at two things
- the lowest temps
- persistent low temps
- So far, the cool weather veggies have fared well. Only the potato plant died.
- There hasn't been any frost on the greenhouse plants. I reckon because they are protected from dew, so they are protect from frost (?).
- As an experiment, I've just planted some of the empty pots with lettuce, to see how well they germinate and grow in the greenhouse this time of year.
Garden Notes
- Freezing temps have pretty much killed everything off.
- Except the kale and collards.
- And I'm harvesting well-mulched turnips for both us and the goats.
- One pleasant days I continue to work on bed and aisle clean-out and mulching.
- I haven't made a big seed order so far this year. Rather, I'm buying select packets at the stores I shop at. Most of them now carry a choice of organic and non-GMO seeds, so a little here and a little there is easy on the budget while building my seed collection.
Harvested
- kale
- turnips
- lettuce
- chickweed
- Jerusalem artichokes
- dandelion root
- hopniss
Planted
- lettuce (greenhouse)
- Egyptian walking onions (hoophouse)
- thyme (hoophouse)
Photos
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Photo was taken Jan. 5th of our last summer tomato, ripened inside, with some of our greenhouse lettuce. |
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| The only thing alive in the garden: kale and collards |
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| Turnips store will in the well-mulched ground. |
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| Hopniss (sometimes called ground nuts) are good boiled or in stew. |
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| Greenhouse greens: chickweed, lettuce, and kale. |
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Also broccoli! This is actually from a plant I had last winter. Somehow it survived the summer, even with a lot of neglect. |
We're in a warming trend (yay!) Yesterday was our warmest day this month, but we're not sure how long it will last. We're still grateful for it.
How is everyone else doing? Anyone making garden plans for next year?
13 comments:
Historically before Walmart and shipping avocados from Mexico was expected spring was often called the "Starving Season" as the root cellar was pretty empty, wildlife was winter thin and wary.
A lot of my friends say "I'll can my food" but get quiet when I ask if they can make or restore used up disposable canning lids. Seems the "Supply Chain Issues" is still remembered.
Carrying over and even growing some root crops and kales could be very important.
"Trash" sheets and such that thrift stores recycle can be "bought" for pennies on the pound or a box of Dunkin donuts doughnut holes. I've used them early in the season and late in the fall to protect my crops from frost. Often my winter squashes need just a week or so more growth for a nice harvest and the old ragged flannel sheets carry them well.
A Crimean oven can be installed in the greenhouse floor to use the mass of the soil as a thermal battery to carry an evening burn of trash wood (I've used green pine storm blow downs) to keep the temperatures safe for the plants.
https://www.notechmagazine.com/2014/03/crimean-ovens.html
Materials, mostly shovel work and some sheet metal or flat stones.
A hoop greenhouse is not the best system for growing. Most of the sunshine comes from one arc and the rest of the "Glass-Plastic" is a very poor insulator. Hoop greenhouses overheat easily surprisingly even on "Cold Days".
The old style Chinese greenhouses insulate all BUT the Sun Arc glazed areas. Are often earth bermed and have Crimean oven style heaters to keep them in growing temperatures.
Movable insulation panels are used on the sun arc glazing AND even Shade Screens to keep from overheating.
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/12/reinventing-the-greenhouse
https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/chinese-greenhouses-for-winter-gardening-zm0z17amzmul/
Good for you, getting lettuce and tomatoes so far into winter! I still have kale and cabbage, but not much else right now. Looking forward to seeing your spring garden!
Michael, very good points. Do you tell your canning friends about reusable canning lids like Tattlers? I've been using them for years and no longer have to worry about the price, availability, and waste of disposable lids.
I agree about hoop houses. That was my first experiment in greenhouse growing, and I was disappointed with the results for the reasons you mention. Even so, I learned some things that we were able to apply to the glass greenhouse. Now I use the hoop house for shaded raised beds (rather than tear it down.)
I'm not familiar with the Crimean oven, but you got me curious, so I'll look it up. Dan has talked about building a rocket stove in the greenhouse as a heat source, but so far I'm telling him to wait. Last winter and this have been very good for testing out what I can grow without added energy inputs. So far my test veggies are doing great, and I'm happy about that.
Daisy, hopefully next winter's greenhouse will be even more productive! And I'm excited about finally having a good place for starting spring seeds. :)
I feel like I'm living in a desert when reading your precipitation amounts. I don't remember the last time we received rain but it was probably before Thanksgiving and other than maybe a few dustings of snow that didn't completely cover the grass, we've not had a drop. But then, that is fairly typical for us not to get rain until March but we usually get a fair amount more snow than we've received this year.
I haven't yet started figuring out the garden. I think we are going to scale back just a bit by planting wider rows so I can more easily cultivate out weeds for longer before we mulch and we still have a lot of seed left over from last year. But as always, I would like to at least try something new just to see how it does.
Can't believe you actually had a fresh tomato in late January! Looks lovely with that lettuce. I so enjoy reading about your and Dan's efforts.
Ed, I didn't realize you don't get much winter rain where you are. I can see how you need snowfall to make up for it. I hope March makes up for it.
Year two of your new location garden should be better than the first!
Sue, I was surprised it ripened like it did! It was looking a little shriveled, but when I cut it open it was perfect. I picked it green in November. It was one that missed our scattered frosts.
The first pic, so very colourful! Love hearing about your growing progress, greenhouse and otherwise.
Garden plans are out, and seed ordering is being planned, but we are getting some glorious winter weather this year, so enjoying that for now!
Rosalea, there's just something about a beautifully ripe tomato in January. :) Good for you for enjoying your weather! Planting season will be here soon enough. At least I hope it will, lol
That lovely little broc made me smile. Maybe if I try growing it under glass i could keep it from being devoured by insects before it even gets a chance to produce. Your greenhouse is going to be such a great addition to your whole food system, and probably increasingly so as you experiment with crops and timing.
Quinn, so far it's been an asset, even though I didn't plant a lot for it this winter. The broccoli is the only brassica I've tried in the greenhouse, but I should try more. Most of my cabbages get destroyed by cabbage moths, which has been discouraging. About the only insect problem I've had in the greenhouse so far, is aphids.
How wonderful it must be to extend the growing season with a green house.
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