Winter - finally?

Tuesday, we received our first appreciable snowfall of winter.  It appears Mother Nature was a little late this year.  There were countless appocalytic forecasts that preceded it's arrival.  The area where I live was supposed to get 6-12 inches and areas north and west were supposed to get up to 24.  This led to the usual run at the grocery stores for the necessary toilet paper, milk and bread.  I bought in given the overwhelming agreement from the various forecast outlets.  I prepped for it by getting my snow blower set up, buying gasoline to be sure I had enough and finally, getting all my snow jackets and such together. I believed that this truly would be a big storm for Maryland and the New England states for this time of the year.

As can be seen from the photos above, upon waking up on Tuesday, I looked outside and saw that this much anticipated storm had indeed been a dud.  Needless to say, the storm did not match the hype here in the state of Maryland.  The storm may have left a couple inches at best.  But, those couple of inches plus the the frigidly cold temperatures may have been enough to kill off insect larvae and soil bacteria that had begun to grow due to our 70 degree weather the previous week.  I truly believe you need snow and cold weather lest you are overrun by pests and unseen bacteria during the summer. 

So, I am grateful we at least got this which may have helped in that regard.  It did cover the yards very evenly as seen below.  And, it was a icy snow which may stay around for a couple of days.  All good things in the eye of the beholder.  

Even though it was an icy mix for part of the day, the winter rye (below) stood up to the inclement weather rather well.  Rye is generally a pretty rugged grass so I am hoping to find the rye still alive when the snow has melted.

And best of all, my winter garden cover also survived untouched from this late storm.  I haven't looked inside yet as I am waiting for the weather to improve.  The temperatures inside have been at or near freezing so they may be okay. 

Given I have picked three salads worth of lettuce and spinach already, I have hopes of getting a second or third cutting of them before I have to convert the space to Spring and Summer crops.  
Until the weather turns this weekend, I will have to turn my attention to getting my Tomato and Pepper plants off to a good start.  So, until next time, Happy Gardening everyone.