The challenge of wind

This past Thursday (10-17), our area was buffeted by very strong winds due to the nor'easter that was off the east coast this past weekend.  Some gusts were in the range of 40-50 mph.  I really gave it no thought in regards to my new greenhouse.  That is, until I saw a panel from it lying next to one of my garden beds.
Upon discovering this, I went out to inspect the structure only to find that there were two panels that had become freed from the greenhouse.  I gathered the two pieces and put them inside the unit to make sure they weren't tossed all over my yard or worse yet, damaged.  I then attempted to locate the clips that were supposed to hold the panels in place.  These clips are best descrided as spring loaded paperclips.  And finding them proved callenging to say the least.
After my initial reconnaissaince trip around the immediate area surrounding the gardenhouse, I found about 6 clips.  I knew I needed to find more of these so I expanded the search.  Amazingly, I ended up finding more clips almost 20-30 feet away.  I then tried to attach the panel that was taking the brunt of the winds.  I put the clips back in place and secured the panel (or so I thought).  I then moved on to the next panel feeling like I had accomplished something.
Just when I finished securing the second pane, the previous wall piece made this horrible sound and then proceeded to fall out and begin a dance accross my gardens.  I hurriedly caught up to it and turned around and saw the second pane push out and fall to the ground.  So, with one in my hand, I ran accross the gardens and grabbed the second piece.  Defeated, I put the two pieces back into the greenhouse and analyzed the situation.
I decided to open the vent in the roof to allow the winds to flow a little easier through the structure.  Feeling quite proud that the greenhouse was going to make it out of these winds in relatively good shape, I began to look for those clips that weren't obviousy up to the task at hand.  While walking the area, I heard yet another noise.
I turned around and looked directly at my building only to see a roof piece wobbling furiously.  Then, all at once, it was launched like a kite into the air.  I stood there dumbfounded and amazed at the same time.  It moved up rapidly as I had visions of this piece landing in my neighbors yards, or worse yet, that it would land in the next block.
As quickly as it went up, it came down with suddeness.  I ran to try to catch it while thinking this was not going to end well.  But, it did,  Someone upstairs must have thought I had had enough.  I gathered this piece and laid it with the other two pieces inside the house.
At this point, I decided to let things just progress on their own.  Until the winds died down, I was fighting a literal losing battle.  I went inside and tried to keep myself preoccupied.
After a couple of hours, I went back to unit and discovered that another side panel had succumded to the fury of nature.  I put that inside on top of the others and looked for more clips.
My wife ordered new clips from the manufacturer which they said were improved. No further damages were sustained from the storm Thursday evening and by Saturday, the winds were much calmer. 
Upon receipt of the new clips on Saturday, I went out and reinstalled the panels.  Yes, the new clips seem to be more substantial so there is hope that this episode will not repeat itself.  Amazingly, throughout this whole ordeal, none of my plants were damaged.   All of them came through with no noticeable damages. 
I can only imagine what my antics looked like to my neighbors as I fought natures elements.  They already know that I am a bit over the top on my gardening but this episode must have cemented that in their minds forever.
I am that neighbor afterall.  Well, that's all that is fit to write about at this time.  Have a great week and Happy gardening everyone.
                     

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!