Whipsaw!!

The weather here is whipsawing quite dramatically due to an earlier polar vortex and many fast moving lows.  Just yesterday (Saturday the 17th) , we had what initially looked like a benign cold front coming through overnight with some frozen precipitation.  Well, it actually was a little more widespread than anticipated and which covered the area with ice on all surfaces.  In fact, we had a very tragic accident on I-95 in the downtown Baltimore region. There was a tanker truck that flipped over a barrier and exploded into flames and then there was a corresponding 67 vehicle pileup.  2 people were killed and over a dozen were injured.  I was just grateful I didn't need to drive yesterday. Our weather today started out much warmer as it was 55 at noon.  So, I took advantage of the weather and went out to check on my plants that I am attempting to grow through the winter.  After uncovering them, I was quite pleased with their progress.  As can be seen, most of the plants are healthy and seemed to have survived yesterdays low temps.

Long term though, I have my doubts about the lettuce but everything else looks healthy enough.  Of course, the goal is not to produce plants in the winter but rather, to produce early mature plants in the Spring.  Again, it's an experiment to see how well what I have set up will work.  We haven't hit the really cold winter weather yet so I am still not making any predictions.  

As I was watering these plants and taking pictures, the horizon suddenly turned an ominous dark grey.  So, I hurried up and covered the plants back up again as I began to feel a light rain hitting me along with a distinguishable drop in temperature with strong winds starting to whip the trees in the neighborhood.  To give you an idea of what happened, here's a picture of a lighted tree we have in our front yard.  I have 3-7 lb stones trying to hold this upright but our winds have been very tenacious to say the least.  

I will have to go out and realign the tree again.  I probably have put it back up 5 times this year. Crazy weather to say the least.  

We have a saying in Maryland that if you don'l like the weather, wait an hour.  We are prone to wide variations in the types of climate activities in this region due to the effects of the Appalacian Mountains just west of Baltimore.  There have been countless times when a system comes out of the west and dissipates completely or weakens considerably before moving into our region.  It can be a double edged sword as it sometimes results in periods of little rain and periods of little snow.  We need the snow to kill bacteria and harmful insects that otherwise will survive the winter.

That's about all the activity there is in the garden at this time.  The experiment is proceeding and the winter rye is still hanging in there at this time.  I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season

Until next time, Happy Gardening!

  

Awww... the 70's in December

What do you do when you are supposed to be in the dormant period of your gardening but the weather is acting like it's late fall?  That question came to me today as we reached the low 70's today.  Yes, it was 70 degrees on Christmas day here in Baltimore.  I walked out to take a quick survey of the garden between downpours and I must say that the winter rye crop has grown quite a bit since we started this unusual run of warmer weather.  I am not complaining mind you.  The extra rye will help in the spring.  But who would have thought we'd be in the 70's at this time of the year.  Crazy eh?
I began mentally listing what I could do with the time I have off from work.  Usually, I have stopped most of my work and am looking over my seed stock to see what - if any - seeds I need to get to be ready for early March.  But, given the extra bonus period of nice weather, seeds are the last thing I will be spending my time looking at this weekend.
The first thing I am going to do is walk my garden to see if I need to do any maintenance and general pick up around it.  It was a crazy fall so I think I may have left a few things to Spring.  Guess I'll get to that now.  Cleanup would be a top priority.  I have some leaves from last year that I should probably throw in the couple of composters I have since they are still actively working.  That would also clear up the area behind my garage and set it up for next year.
The second thing I am going to do is remove any leaves remaining in the beds so that I can just cut the rye in the early spring.  That will give me a leg up on the whole process.  Not a bad bonus considering it's winter.  At least I guess it's winter.
And the third thing I am going to do is get my weeder out to trim the grass around the bed borders. The grass has been growing the last couple of weeks.  That has resulted in a blush of growth around the borders which looks unsightly and is a possible source of bacterial growth in the spring.  If I leave the grass and probably embedded weeds to the Spring, the first cut I do of them will broadcast weed seed and any bacteria in them into the garden beds.  If I cut them now, the cold of winter will kill off the bacteria and probably most of the weed seeds too.  So, my choice is to address the issue now when I can let nature do the dirty work for me.  Always a plus.
Given that the forecast is for intermittent rain tomorrow, I will have to pick and choose times to get these completed.  But, get them done I must.  If you have a garden that is currently laying dormant, you too may want to consider doing a few maintenance items to save yourself time in the spring.  If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment and I will respond as soon as possible.  Here's hoping you had a wonderful Christmas.  Until next time, Happy Gardening!