Getting Ready for Winter

As I write this, it is snowing. Check the date: October 27. That's some crazy shit right there, people.

We knew this was coming, but I have to be honest: I did not believe that forecast AT ALL. With the exception of that killed-back basil, we haven't even had a real frost yet. TV weather people up here are notorious for hyping up the forecast, so I wasn't buying it.

Until last night, when we read the freeze warning from the National Weather Service, that is. Then, like stupid summer grasshoppers, we had to scramble. So, in the dark and the cold, we went outside and managed to put it up a green house tunnel:

Kirk set up 10 foot long, 1/2-inch pvc pipes to make the hoops (four of them). Then he zip-tied another one along the top to support the plastic sheeting. The plastic sheeting is held down by scrap lengths of wood from the raised beds. This was no fun to put together in the dark of night, and it all felt very half-assed. Seeing the picture, though, makes us feel a little better. We'll see if it works tomorrow: Lots of lettuce and cilantro are here to be saved, so we hope it works. There are carrots and kale there too, but they'll probably be ok regardless.

As for the cold frames, that was kind of easy. We already had old windows from a friend that are sized to fit the cold frame (or more precisely, the cold frame was built to fit the windows we inherited). So all we had to do was dig them out of the garage and put them on. There's some really tall stuff in there (I guess we should be glad it did so well), so it's all smushed down and crushed. We are hoping that this will be enough to save it until the weekend when we can harvest it. We'll be careful to remove the glass in the morning when the sun comes out so the too-big leaves don't burn. Next year we'll plan the fall/winter garden much better so we end up with things that are the right size for the cold frame. We'll also design the frames and/or greenhouse tunnels to fit the beds more exactly (better battens to hold down the plastic, cut the plastic to fit, figure out how to go around the corners, etc.). At least now we know what we need to do, I guess.

The last thing we did last night was bring in cuttings of our perennial herbs: marjoram, tarragon, and sage. I set these out to dry on more cookie sheets and cooling racks. I left the leaves on the woody branches, and when they are dry, I'll just strip the branches and keep the leaves. They'll come off quickly and easily once they are dry. These are the herbs we managed to plant this year, so these will be the ones we use for Thanksgiving stuffing!

It was just too dark to deal with trying to bring in the last peas and beans last night. I thought I would brave the rain to try to get them this afternoon, but it was already down into the 30s, and raining at a good rate. Also, it was a terrible day at work, so I opted instead to curl up in a blanket and take a nap on the couch. Clearly, I would be a better farmer if I didn't have a day job.