Winter's White

At this point, we've pretty much given up. It's amazing how one bad New England winter can really wear you down to the bone. There's over 3 feet of snow in the backyard and about twice as much around the house where we've plowed. Yesterday, we had to hire professionals to remove upwards of 4 feet of snow from our roof, further contributing to the pile up. Ice dams had formed all around our roof and the excess moisture was beginning to seep into our house - evidenced by our bedroom ceiling, which will have to be repainted.


It's ironic then that I'm dreading the approach of spring. Our ground tends to thaw rather slowly while our springs tend to be pretty wet. These things alone can cause many basements and yards in our area to flood, including our own. You add 3 feet of melting snow to the mix and well...you have a potential disaster on your hands. Needless to say, I am hoping for a very dry spring accompanied by a slow gradual thaw.

On the gardening front, I'll be sowing the first of my seeds this weekend (I really haven't been in the mood get to started lately). The leaves on my Meyer lemon tree are beginning to show signs of yellowing again. Now I'm starting to believe that this may be due to a moisture issue. There's a real possibly that most of its leaves will be gone by April. If that happens, then I'll have to prune the tree back aggressively to ensure new growth and say goodbye to any chance of a good lemon harvest next fall. Hopefully I'll be able move my citrus trees to the hoop house sometime next month as I'm sure the added sunlight would benefit them greatly.

How are the rest of my fellow New Englanders holding up?

The Calm After the Storm

It's been a while since I've posted an aerial photo of the backyard. This morning presented a fine opportunity to do so. I've always loved the morning after a great winter storm. The world outside just seems so calm and peaceful.


Poor Bobby. Despite the fact that he's built like a horse, even he had trouble maneuvering through two feet of snow.

On a side note, I was able to brush all of the snow off my hoop house when I got home tonight. Luckily, everything still appears intact.

January Blizzard

It has finally stopped snowing. This latest storm started around midnight last night and continued throughout the day. My company had put me up at a downtown Boston hotel last night so that I wouldn't have to brave the early morning commute into the city. Indeed the drive home this evening was anything but easy. When it was all over, our town received about two feet of snow.

I was anxious to see how my hoop house had fared through the blizzard. It seems to be holding up well despite the fact that there's about a foot of snow on top of it. I'll wait a day or two before brushing it off as much of the snow will naturally drift off and the added layer will also help to protect the hoop house plastic against high winds, which tend to linger around following a storm like this.

To all those currently digging out from beneath this January blizzard - May your feet stay warm and your backs stay straight!

December White Out

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas weekend! It started snowing late this afternoon here in Eastern Massachusetts and isn't expected to stop anytime soon. The grocery store was buzzing today with folks trying to stock up for the storm. We're expected to get around 18 inches this time around. Winds are expected to get especially rough around 3 AM tonight. Hopefully, the hoop house will be able to withstand them.


When nature calls, you do what you have to do, right? Poor Maggie is not particularly fond of the snow. I'm sure my taking this picture was just adding insult to injury.

December Snow

I guess it was bound to happen. The drive home from work tonight was anything but smooth. It's during these times that I wish I lived in say...San Francisco, where it's never too hot and never too cold. All in all, it could have been worse. We should only get about 3 to 5 inches from this one.

I guess I shouldn't complain too much - the snow should offer additional insulation to the hoop house, especially around the base. Sleep tight everyone!

Snow Falls in January

This morning, we woke up to another 6 inches of heavy wet snow...so heavy that it pulled many of the pine branches down low to the ground. I had to duck in order to get to my compost pile. So much for the January Thaw. I wonder how long it will take for this latest batch to melt.


I'm trying to remind myself that in couple of months from now, all of this will be gone. There's still so much to do and think about before our last frost date. Hopefully, I'll find the time to work on my garden plan soon.



And while the world looks pretty bleak outside, a lemon tree still manages to flower.

Second Snow Storm of the Year

We woke up to more snow this morning. There was a bit of fog in the air as well. Perfect weather in my opinion for a nice fire and some comfort food.


My reinforced hoop houses are doing a much better at withstanding the weight of the snow this time around. By noon, we had about 8 inches on the ground. The metal frames did not move an inch, which is a good indication that the PVC cross bars have helped to stabilize the structures.


Also by noon, the temperature outside had reached 18 degrees F, while the sensor inside my hoop houses registered 30 degrees. Not bad if you ask me for a snowy and cloudy day. I dusted the snow off the tops of my hoops houses just to be on the safe side but left most of the sides untouched. I'm hoping that the white stuff will act as a kind of added insulation for the next couple of days.


As I was outside doing my day's chores, a rather large flock of crows settled into the tall pine and oak trees in our backyard.


I couldn't help but wonder where they were headed off to. Hopefully somewhere warmer.

Good to be Home

I love coming home, even if it's to bitterly cold weather. For the past couple of days, I was in Tallahassee, Florida for work, which I have to say wasn't nearly as warm as I thought it would be. This weekend will be a busy one for us. Tomorrow, we're off to find ourselves a Christmas tree and some decorations, then off to a holiday party. It's been years since I've had a Christmas tree, and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that we might not have gotten one this year if it wasn't for Jonathan. (Bah humbug.) I'm looking forward to it though.

I also have to make a run to Home Depot tomorrow before it snows again on Sunday. I was a bit deflated earlier this week to find that a couple metal hoops had buckled and separated from the wood frames they were strapped to on my hoop houses. We had 6-8 inches of very heavy wet snow, which I guess was too much for them to bear. I'm hoping that by attaching a metal or wooden bar across the center of all three metal hoops, there will be enough structural support to keep them from buckling again. Also, I will have to be diligent about sweeping snow off of my hoop houses for the rest of the winter. The plastic, on the other hand, seems very strong. I'm already considering investing in a full-size hoop house next year. I'm just concerned that my mini hoop houses aren't big enough to trap enough heat during the day to really make a difference at night. Tonight's low is expected to be in the teens ( 18 degrees F, not factoring in windchill). I'm a bit nervous to see what my crops will look like tomorrow morning.

Finally, I came home to a couple more gardening catalogs. Hopefully, I will have time to look through them this weekend. I'm particularly interested in perusing through the DripWorks catalog. I know next to nothing about setting up a drip irrigation system for the garden. Hopefully, I will be better versed by this spring.

The Morning After

The gardener.

First Snow

And there you have it...the first snow storm of the season. Winter is officially here. Strange how I feel as though I can relax now and focus on next year's garden. Now that the winter veggies are tucked in for the season, my next project will be to set up an indoor seed starting operation and purchase the materials needed to make soil blocks (which I'm finding is not cheap). I have so much to research and learn. But then again, that's part of the fun!