Have you been wondering why the veggies in your garden aren't doing so great? Can you blame them?! It was nearly 80 degrees this weekend, and tonight it's forecasted for 19 degrees! My husband may repeatedly remind me that flukey weather is indeed 'normal' for around here, but i have a feeling the plants disagree with him as much as i do. Fluctuation is one thing, but these drastic changes can't be good for plant souls.
I've pretty much harvested everything but some cabbages. I have a lot of little germinating things that are bound to get frost bitten, and there are tons of volunteer herbs coming up as well as early wildflowers. The volunteers will have to stick it out by themselves, but i plan on 'covering' the germinating seedlings and other small greens that i'd like succeed. No more 'tent city' for me, though. Last year saw some 'near record lows' in early January. I went a little overboard.
A simple scattering of a layer of leaves from my backyard will be all the covering the plants get from me this year. My neighbor has a leaf blower that i'll borrow to uncover the plants once it warms back up, and the chicken poop left behind will be a little pick me up for the veggies. I'll also be sure and water the gardens well to fill the plants' vascular systems with water. If you have a mister and the freeze is imminent, you can mist your plants all night to keep them from freezing to death. This is a good strategy for keeping citrus alive, as well.
I may not be harvesting the bushels of salad that i was this time last year, sigh: but i have the very first cabbage success growing out there and some other lovely veggies doing their very best to grow despite the weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you so much for your feedback, especially if you've cooked one of my recipes or tried one of my tips: let me know how it turned out!