New England FEB 2015

Molly, take photos!

When they widened the road they put the extra snow in the middle of a road that wasn't needed since there was another way around, but then this truck came and pushed it back onto the front yards of the 2 houses that aren't used this time of year:

That car in the photo sitting in it's driveway is now partially buried.

They also put a bunch of snow in the empty parking spot on the left at the end of my driveway:

That's funny that you  mentioned checking the roof.  We were just talking about that here at work this morning and those of us with homes on hills can't get out to check.  The drifts are over our heads and just the normal snow is about waist deep.  We're hoping to figure out how to look before the next storm this weekend.  It's supposed to be the heavy wet stuff.  This is the house next door to me:
That roof looks OK so I'm thinking mine does, too.  But I can't see the back, altho I'm thinking the back would look something like the house in the previous driveway photo.  Not bad due to so much wind.

Here's my SFG, it's in the windswept part of the yard:

No seed planting for me yet.  Soooo not in the mood.  

CC

Wow, CC. At least you can see your beds. Mine totally disappeared a long time ago.

Why is the news saying there could be 8" of snow tonight? I'm not seeing that on NOAA.... And then another biggie on Sunday? With rain included, so that the present snow will be really heavy?

I spent an hour roof raking last night and will do the same this evening. Then shoveling that off the deck. I have to wear snow shoes to roof rake from the snowbanks. How can this all possibly melt by planting time?

I counted 104 "Call me for roof shoveling" ads under just one category of craigslist last night. I didn't even include just walkway shovelers or snow plowing.

NHGardener wrote:Wow, CC. At least you can see your beds. Mine totally disappeared a long time ago.

Why is the news saying there could be 8" of snow tonight?

You can see my SFG's coz the wind blows the snow to the back yard.


I thought of you this morning while watching the weather.  Apparently there's a cell that's only going to hit eastern NH and the south coast of Maine soon.  Up to 14" somewhere in there but they aren't sure exactly where.

Snow shoes?  Are you kidding me?  Crud.  My list is getting longer: I need xcrountry skis, snow shoes & a snow mobile now.


CC

How about a sled & a team of huskies?  At least you could get back & forth to work quickly!

Love the paint the snow pic, CC.

And, Molly, you can keep the temps!  Did DH complain about the cold when he came in?

A view of my gardens today, after 79" of snow this winter......

Above:  My composters, 2 of them, are out in this mess.

You can see the top of my green frame for the bed I cover with early greens.


The tall fence poles are clear designating my 9 raised beds.






The view of my flower garden with birdbath completely buried.  Will I ever see green again?  I hope so.

OMG! QB, 79" is taller than *I* am! Your photos are amazing.

Wow, QB! If it wasn't for your posts, you'd have to use a looooong stick to poke around for your beds--they're completely buried!!!

NHG, DH absolutely LOVES the cold. It was no sacrifice to come outside in his shirt-sleeves; he probably found it refreshing.

CC, I'm glad it looks like you don't have a heavy snow-load on your roof, the winds did you a favor in that respect.

Ed, I don't understand what you mean by "pushing it for scallions", are you thinking of waiting to start them in March?

The scallion seeds I have say 4 weeks before LFD if seeding out.  So I figured with a roughly mid-May LFD that I was probably going to be starting them too early end of March but I wanted to try an early start anyway for the first set of seeds.  Since I will likely do hoops I figured it might be ok.  Is the 4 weeks before LFD incorrect?  Or is it impractical to seed them out in this zone and I should go back to starting them inside?  I have found the last two years when starting them inside and transplanting that they seemed to stall on me for about 2 to 3 weeks after transplanting (though they did fine after that.).  That's why I was going to try just seeding them out.

Thanks,

-Ed

Can you find the raised beds in this picture?

Raised beds?  What raised beds?  Is that your garden or a pasture?

And I'm guessing that your fence is 4 ft tall...?  That's a LOT of snow.....

edfhinton wrote:The scallion seeds I have say 4 weeks before LFD if seeding out.  So I figured with a roughly mid-May LFD that I was probably going to be starting them too early end of March but I wanted to try an early start anyway for the first set of seeds.  Since I will likely do hoops I figured it might be ok.  Is the 4 weeks before LFD incorrect?  Or is it impractical to seed them out in this zone and I should go back to starting them inside?  I have found the last two years when starting them inside and transplanting that they seemed to stall on me for about 2 to 3 weeks after transplanting (though they did fine after that.).  That's why I was going to try just seeding them out.

Thanks,

-Ed

Why not try it both ways and keep track of what happens--start a little inside and then start a little outside--one all this dratted snow melts and you can see your beds again.

Just out of curiosity, what variety are you planting? There's a bunch of different types of bunching onions and the 4 weeks before LFD may be ok depending on the type and if you're only after the greens and don't mind small bulbs.

I'm starting my seeds this weekend.  Don't know what yet other than leafy greens.  So glad I have some used MM in the garage.  I'm beginning to think I won't see my SFG beds or compost pile til late spring.

BUT, the good news is, looks like pretty much all rain for the Cape this weekend!  I actually bought some snow shoes yesterday at Job Lot and will be checking out my roof tomorrow.

I'll fill my pockets with panty hose balls full of salt.  Can I use a leaf rake or a hoe to remove snow if need be?

CC

(I'm thinking of changing my handle to Miss Miami Much = MMM...  )

Wow CC, nice find at Job Lots! Pretty too!

I can't believe negative temperatures at night 2 nights this week, as we near the end of February, with no relief in sight except for above freezing on Sunday.

It's really getting time to start some seeds, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to get my potting soil soon and at least start one tray of celery and I believe the green onions from Ray Praxxus. And maybe even some of the flowers that I want to plant this summer. I really don't feel like starting them at this point, it's hard enough to look out the window at this point, but you can't go back in time if you plant too late....

I bought this really cool book a few years ago: "Week by Week Vegetable Gardener's Handbook". You input your own LFD and FFD (and then use common sense to figure out if your season is long enough to where you need to find the middle-point from where you switch from one to the other) and then it helps you to know when to plant what, whether indoors as seeds or direct-sowing outside. It's been a great guide so far.

That sounds great Molly. Kinda like hand-holding for gardeners. It's so complicated to keep track of exactly when to plant what, indoor or outdoor. That's always given me a nervous breakdown in the spring.

Judging by the amount of snow on those other roofs, my guess is you're OK, CC. I'd be wary of using anything sharp (like a hoe) on the roof, and I don't know that the tines on a leaf rake will do the job. A snow rake isn't expensive, providing you can still find one to buy.

The scallions are White Lisbon.  I had written down the start dates from all the seed packets when they arrived, so I was going by what I had written down for the 4 weeks before LFD for the scallions.  But I just looked back at the seed packet itself for the scallions to double check and actually they say 4 to 6 weeks before LFD (I must have written down 4 weeks to be conservative before all this snow hit.)  So I feel a little better about the end of March if I can get the boxes clear and thawed and warm enough by then.  I literally am planning next weekend to shovel my way to the garden (I am within about 6 feet already) and clear off the boxes and put down covers to start the process of warming them.  They must produce some warmth themselves because the snow is at least a foot lower over the 15 inch high boxes themselves  (almost 4 feet of snow around them otherwise.)

-Ed

I'm curious to see how that's going to work, Ed. Keep pictures if you would (of your early-bird snow-shoved pre-heated/thawed) beds and post back. I can't imagine myself doing that; my inclination is to let Mother Nature melt away the superficial snow and then help her along by adding plastic, etc., like you mentioned, but my beds are rather close together in a confined space and I'd be doing a lot of shoveling to get them cleared out.

mollyhespra wrote:I'm curious to see how that's going to work... but my beds are rather close together in a confined space and I'd be doing a lot of shoveling to get them cleared out.  

What if we just cleared one?

If there's no heat source, I don't understand how this could be beneficial.

camprn wrote:If there's no heat source, I don't understand how this could be beneficial.

I would use clear plastic or some windows over the box and pray for sun.

CapeCoddess wrote:

camprn wrote:If there's no heat source, I don't understand how this could be beneficial.

I would use clear plastic or some windows over the box and pray for sun.

... and at night?

The way I look at it, if temperatures get to more normal by the end of March, the effort I will put in next weekend to allow for a month of bed thawing and warming should put me right on schedule.  By clearing the snow off the beds and covering them with plastic, it should start the thawing and warming of the mix regardless of the fact that the rest of the yard has multiple feet of snow cover.  Until the snow is gone, I doubt the beds will heat up above freezing.  I doubt the snow melt will be done before at least mid-march if left to its own.   The snow is not so high that it will cast shadows on the garden.  So to the boxes once cleared it will seem no different than a year without the snow cover.  

If I want to minimize the amount I do, I can just do my two 4x4 boxes as those are the ones receiving the earliest plantings.  But I will probably do the 4x10 while I am at it.  I probably won't get every bit of snow off because my grids are made from solid core electrical wire pulled tight and I don't want to have to fiddle with that or try to get under it.  But if I get down to the grids and then put the plastic over it, the snow below should melt pretty quickly.

One thing I am unsure of is whether to use plastic I have that is pretty thick but somewhat translucent (grayish looking) or if I should use black plastic.  Any idea which would cause the beds to warm more in the sun?  I am thinking black because it will absorb the rays but on the other hand the translucent wil allow the rays through.

Thanks,

_Ed

Ed, if you have clear plastic, that would be best. Place a few large stones under the plastic. Those stones (thermal mass) will get solar gain and give off some warmth after the sun stops shining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_gain


My garden!