Category: Just because

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Insulating blanket of FUN

We woke up to a snowy world! Briar has seen snow before and enjoyed it but was hesitant at first this morning. She got over that soon enough and subsequently went insane with happy bouncing.

Briar examines the herb bed. Only seeds there except a single low growing oregano from Judy under the bucket. You can see the plant window in the background.
Briar passes outdoor stratification native wildflower seeds in little pots. Heck of a cold stratification this time!
The front yard raised beds with Salvia greggii in front.
One of our four rosemaries.
The garlic!
Snow whiskers! You know it’s cold when your breath freezes on your snoot!
Lots of little plants safely under the snow now. I feel a lot better about the impending -9°F etc coming up in the next few days now. Below: safety. Above: bouncies!!
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Snow and melting even at 18°F in the sun

The kale looks kinda wilted even under its glass cover.
Kohlrabi seems fine.
Spinach seems fine.
Not sure about the sugar snap peas.
Garlic has pretty snow and melted refrozen ce

Standing cypress seedlings look pretty wilty in the front yard but I have not checked the backyard ones yet. Lettuce, cilantro, and cabbages I’m unsure how they look (sort of like the sugar snap peas, they could go either way once it warms up).

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A soft, sheltering blanket begins

Hopefully we will get the additional forecast snow to help everything from the single digits forecast for Sunday and beyond!

The new onions especially need some protection. This is an experiment to see what they can handle since I should be able to get more if they die.
The backyard strawberry patch already has a lot of leaves, dead grass, saffron leaves (the green grass-like leaves), and the snow, so I think they’ll be fine. I’ll cover the front yard strawberries before it gets below 10 F.
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A new glaze of ice today

There are some very slippery invisible spots on the roads and sidewalks! Briar and I had to walk very cautiously.

“what did you do to the ground,” asks dog.
A little cabbage from last year.
Kohlrabi ice!
Iced garlic!
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Window rearranging

Some guest plants are departing, so the Salvia greggii cuttings are moving into the plant window where it’s safer from the cat.

The extremely innocent young cat who definitely did not nibble and step on several seedlings causing the current fortification of the plant window and abandonment of the table as a plant staging area.
It looks like two or three of the five cuttings have “taken”, based on the new growth.
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Plant window ventilation

No more cases of damping off since Wes has added the fan for me. Many plants were ready for watering! So I think the fan is helping dry things out.

The plant window has some permanent residents like various succulents and a venus flytrap, but is mostly full of young plants right now.
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Anybody need any loofah gourd seeds?

Wes and Paula cleaned off last year’s loofah gourd harvest. We have almost two pounds of seeds. That is almost a kilogram for our science readers. Wes was annoyed we did not get tare for the bag but it’s a very light bag, and I didn’t want seeds everywhere. Let me know if you want seeds. We might be able to supply you…

Wes has some sort of plan for the loofahs themselves. There is a whole rubbermaid tub full of those. This is from maybe half a dozen plants.

Loofah gourd seed weight in pounds and ounces.
Loofah gourd seed weight in science units.
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Mulching the peach tree

Paula came over this afternoon for a masked visit outside. We put down cardboard around the new peach tree and covered it with cedar mulch.

Paula insisted I have to be in the picture. Thanks for the picture and help, Paula!! You can see our rock and sedum garden in front of it.