The Winter Journey and greenhouse plastic

Thanks.  The BS was started from seed in Feb.  My sole brassica survivor from green worms.  I covered with tulle supported with repurposed wire coat hangers and ignored it for months. I was ready to toss a month ago when I noticed little buds!  It's still only 10" tall but what the heck.

Today DH will rent a pole chain saw and prune our tree.  that means I have to move the greenhouse and plants to safety.  Then, after clean up, set it back up again.  That's the problem with gardening in a small back yard.  Everything I do means I have to move something out of the way and back again.

This was taken when the tree still had leaves.  Just to show how crowded everything is.

Crowded but lovely.
Maybe it is the child in me that loves the movie 'The Secret Garden' but I love walled constrained gardens.

I love walls, period.  Much more than neighbors.  Only thing I don't like is when they shade the rare area (read, garden or swimming pool, if any) that I don't want shaded, or restrict the breeze.

Waiting for DH to get back with the chain saw so I thought I would sneak on the site.  The tree is at the east end on the yard.  Our neighbor to the west also has a Chinese pistachio tree that blocks all the west sunshine and is almost tall enough to shade part of our solar panels.  We will be trimming anything that extends over the legal fence line.  But there are also a few dangerous long heavy horizontal branches that are endangering her metal shed.  She has a sign on the front door that states that they don't answer the door and to leave a note.  Well I did.  Plus one hanging over our fence to tell her to read the note at the front door.  She works but is antisocial once home.  I certainly don't mind other single women asking my husband for an occasional heavy chore.  He's glad to help as long as he has the strength and health.

What I'm afraid of is that there will be a true emergency (prowler in her back yard, dog dying or drowning, fire) and she will just not answer the door.

Turan, the tree and brick patio are kind of neat in a child's heart way!

It was after dark by the time my husband finished trimming with a rental pole chain saw.  I dragged the tree cuttings out from under foot and both of us cut up and loaded the branches.  Half fell over the side fence onto the sidewalk and street.  Each branch that would have fallen over the back fence had to be tied.  Ouch, ache!

This one vulnerable box with 4 BS, garlic and a stubborn eggplant survived the slaughter:


This last branch was close!

Tomorrow's duties include cleaning up the area and moving the hothouse and pots back to their final winter spot.  A freeze is due this week.

One of the few "fatalities" from yesterday's tree trimming was the strand of Christmas lights on the patio gutters.  Love the look at night year around.  I planned to connect the new greenhouse lights to  this strand.  All considered, small price.

As DH loaded up the last of the small branches this morning to take them to the green dump, I told him that there would be gardeners weeping at the thought of tossing them.  We simply don't have room to store a small chipper for this once-a-year activity.  I know the BTE folks are sobbing. 

LOL!  Well, my chipper is going to get a massive workout soon.  We have a pine tree that bit the dust.  It's about 15-20 feet tall :-)  so I'm not crying too hard!

Got the hothouse Christmas lights up late afternoon.  Also quickly made a lean-to for carrots, onions and volunteer tomatoes.  Husband helped drape sheets and towels over the spaghetti squash.  It was breezy so the chill factor made me wonder if there was something crazy about me, out there in good clothes, frantically trying to save the plants! 

It was 30 degrees at midnight so we were much colder than expected.

Mmmm.... something I hadn't anticipated..... I can't unzip my greenhouse as the zippers are frozen   I stuck my hand inside and could feel the temperature difference so I'm assuming all went as planned but I won't know for an hour or two when the sun hits it, LOL!

Frozen zippers!  So how the heck are folks in really cold areas supposed to access thier greenhouses?  Bet they didn't mention that in the "description."

I put the compost thermometer in the potato bucket, closed everything up, and then realized I couldn't read it!  Duh.  It was 40* at 9 am.  I'll have to rearrange it today.

Did you check out the cold temps in other areas?  Brrr

I'm guessing our cold weather cousins are having a good laugh on us this morning!

My problem on forecasting is that we aren't near any of the stations they assign to us.  I'm guessing we were at least down to 25 or so, if we were at 30 at midnight and that had fallen 2 degrees since about 10:30.

I have learned a lesson:  denial is not particularly effective when you're gardening.  I just didn't want to pull my plants "just in case" we didn't get a hard frost for a while.  Growing until December is really as far as we go and denying that fact makes for more work.  Much easier to clean up in warm, dry temps than wet, cold, muddy weather (*DDDUUUHHH*)

However, the greenhouse is in perfect condition (once I could get in it).  I had installed a small electric heater at its lowest setting.  When I was in there last night it came on for about 45 seconds and shut off.  It isn't running all night, just as little as necessary and it did the job.   

I harvested my potatoes from my straw bales - this was a second crop grown from the baby potatoes I left in the bales.  I had a lot more than I thought I would.  I think I picked a little more than a dozen russets of nice size.  

How did everything survive for you?

I think everything did fine.  The one thing I am concerned about are the spaghetti squash, especially me proud beauty, as I call her.  I specially wrapped her in a fuzzy towel and covered the rest of the vines and fruits with sheets.

In the photo below, the city garbage cans are at the far end near the gate and air conditioner, and the wisteria is planted at that end in the flower bed.  Today's project is to winter prune the wisteria, collect the leaves.  Lay weed fabric on the dirt at that end of the bed and store 2 of the 33 gallon bins on it.  Plus build 1 or 2 leaf cages for leaf storage and also store on the fabric.  It is so cold out there with the breeze.  I've been stalling, waiting for the sun to hit this west side of the house.  Brrr

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:I have learned a lesson:  denial is not particularly effective when you're gardening.  

Yes it is!

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:It was 30 degrees at midnight so we were much colder than expected.

Mmmm.... something I hadn't anticipated..... I can't unzip my greenhouse as the zippers are frozen   I stuck my hand inside and could feel the temperature difference so I'm assuming all went as planned but I won't know for an hour or two when the sun hits it, LOL!

I'm not even looking under my row covers, because I don't want to open everything up to the colder weather outside than inside.

audrey.jeanne.roberts wrote:

My problem on forecasting is that we aren't near any of the stations they assign to us.  I'm guessing we were at least down to 25 or so, if we were at 30 at midnight and that had fallen 2 degrees since about 10:30.

I have learned a lesson:  denial is not particularly effective when you're gardening.

+1

Is this weather station near you?
http://www.wunderground.com/q/zmw:93611.1.99999

Audrey is in a foothill valley area.  No zip code to cover her micro-climate.  If I'm 32*, she may be 29*.  If I'm 110*, she may be 112*.

I think I did loose the spaghetti vines and leaves  from the freeze last night.  Question:  Can I pick the squash and ripen them on the kitchen counter?  The droopy leaves make the PM look awful.

sanderson wrote:Audrey is in a foothill valley area.  No zip code to cover her micro-climate.  If I'm 32*, she may be 29*.  If I'm 110*, she may be 112*.

Probably more like if you're 32* I'm 27* and in the summer if you're 110* I'm 105* (thank God, LOL!)

I have a computerized weather station my sweet husband bought me about 2 years ago, but it's still in the box    It's on the to do list but keeps getting pushed down by more crucial things needing done - rural life 

Stand corrected.

Nothing to correct  

27 degrees and falling at 9:51 PM

The ambient temps inside the greenhouse are 5-6 degrees warmer. Inside of my small table top with mini greenhouse, Christmas lights and a space blanket it is around 40 degrees (I am using a meat thermometer which takes a long time to come to a temp so I didn't wait for a perfect read)

In my 5 x 10 bed, there are 2 strands of lights and a small heater that kicks in when the temps drop and the entire bed is wrapped in space blankets and the temps are a little over 40.

So far so good.

By the way, I thought I had written a post about your squash, but it's not here. That usually means I started it on my other computer and forgot to post!

I've never had a squash recover when it looked like that and the fruit looks pretty immature. I don't know that they ripen off the vine, but someone told me earlier in the year that they could be cooked and eaten even if not totally ripe. I think it would depend on how green it was whether I would try or not.

32 or 34, depending on which new thermometer is accurate.  I just put the 32 in the greenhouse.  I'll see in the morning if the mini lights are doing any good.

No one has answered my question about removing the spaghetti squash and bringing them inside to ripen.  Oh, just saw your answer regarding the squash.

DH just told me that Squaw Valley is supposed to be 20* tonight!  We are supposed to be 28*.  Good luck!

You, I and Yolos are the only folks online.  Is this the way the Forum is in the winter?  Sane folks have put their beds to sleep and are doing other things, I guess.

It has always slowed down in the fall, but I don't recall it being this slow. In the past, it has picked back up after the holidays.

sanderson wrote:
No one has answered my question about removing the spaghetti squash and bringing them inside to ripen. 

Yes take it off the vine, bring it into the house and it will ripen eventually. The green pumpkin I brought into the house a month ago is now almost all orange.

Audrey, was that weather station that I posted anywhere near you?