Monday, March 6, 2017

Out And About

The ice has moved out of the bay for now, hopefully for good. Out on our recent walk, the gravel roads frozen like concrete, hurt your eyes blue sky above, we noticed a neighbouring home having a second floor built above it. We always referred to it as 'the pink house' but likely we will have to give it another name soon. The construction workers have had great weather to do this, with very little snow this winter.

While the temperatures were practically balmy when I wrote my last blog, we recently dipped to well below zero, cold winds making it feel bitter. But, during that warm balmy time, seeds were planted in the raised bed with the Lexan cover. It did not take them long to germinate and hopefully, they will continue to do well.
Knowing the weather was going to 'dip' this past week, they were covered with another layer of insulation I call Fleece or Reemay. This comes in different weights ..ours is a medium weight. But it does the job, keeping little germinated seeds alive under the white blanket and over that, the Lexan cover. Arugula, radish and spinach sprouted but not beets so far. As a wise gardener once told me..."think of that raised bed as an outside refrigerator"..and I do. It will keep the greens chilled to perfection until the days lengthen even longer and they put on more growth. We are going up to seven degrees on Wednesday so will remove the Remay and if needed, will prop open the cover as it does get very warm about one in the afternoon in that raised bed.

Looking back to last year's photos, it was remarkable to see no snow. In fact, on the 20th, we had fluffed up the beds, and had everything ready to plant. I am doubtful we will this year, but you never know.
Our neighbour's Witch Hazel is in bloom (mine is not but that's another story) and I notice the little Daphne that is native to Nova Scotia is wanting to open so signs of spring are appearing daily. I could do without the constant coo coooing of the Mourning Doves at crack of dawn though. No crows looking for nest material so far, but I have seen on the warm days, the chickadees and squirrels pecking and chewing on the maples for the sweet sap. It won't be long now and Nova Scotia gardeners will be in hyper mode!

7 comments:

  1. We have a lovely daphne sown by a resting bird some years ago which is now beautiful and in full flower. Isn't nature wonderful?

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  2. Hurray of signs of spring! I love the idea of a coldframe but have yet to get one - it would be lovely to be able to sow a few seeds outdoors extra early. Oh and look at that freshly groomed bed - love the look of that almost as much as one bursting with vegetables! Fingers crossed the the weather holds out and you will be able to get to fluff up your beds by months end :)

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  3. It certainly is not as warm this year is it. We had about a half hour of snow in Sidney BC today. Last year it was spring by now!! 🔆

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  4. Hope you are well Bren. I have thought of you a number of times and am glad to finally have a moment to stop in and say hi. We have had some nice weather here, but the weekend took a u-turn back to winter cold. Now rumour has it a storm is on the way. I have a few snowdrops up, but so far that's the only sign of spring. Hopefully the coming snows won't last for long. I am anxious to start some seeds myself.

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  5. Your neighbor's Witch Hazel and your germinating seeds are a welcoming sight, and reminder that spring is lurking. The past few winters have been very unpredictable here in the northeast. The months of January and February brought record high temperatures in the upper 60's and now in March, with spring just three days away, Winter Storm Stella has passed and left temperatures in the 30's! Looking back at photos from last year at this time, crocus and hyacinths were in bloom with Daffoldils lurking not too far behind. This year the first of the crocus are trying to bloom above the left over snow and spring is delayed. Hoping spring will find us soon!

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  6. Hi Bren! I hope your seedlings will be ok. Lovely to see the beds awaiting new growth. I hope all is well with you. Happy Spring! Almost.

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  7. While I don't envy the cold, I do envy your soil! Fingers crossed that the fleece is working its magic and you have bountiful harvests to look forward to!

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