Planting Time?

February 11th isn't an odd time for snow...even here, but this winter is a bit odd in that it is cold almost all of the time. We are not getting the "warm spells" in between the cold.

And wet. We are living on an island in a swamp right now. Squishy ground everywhere...when it isn't frozen hard.

We are supposed tp be planting stuff now for our spring gardens...I am ready for spring temps.

UPDATE. March 1: We had a total of nearly a foot of snow in February...A FOOT!!! We don't get a foot of snow here. What the heck was that? ANd here on March 1, no springy-looking beautiful blue skies, just a cold rain and a threat of it changing to snow before it leaves us.

Winter Weather

I am looking back on my notes from last winter - used for things like success/failure of plantings, time referencing (like..."oh yeah, I remember that 80 degree February day") and such. This time last year, at my location on this planet, we were experiencing regularly days of 70 or higher. And, due to that, I was already sticking seeds, and transplants into the ground for my spring garden.

This year, a different story. It seems since the mid-portion of September 2009, that we have had nothing but a steady cool and wet. I can't remember a past time with this many days of 10 degrees or even 20 degrees, or more, below the "normal" expected temperature.

Right now, we should be about 60 to 61 degrees for daytime highs. It has been struggling most days to get 40 degrees. And the nights - cold. Temps in the mid to low 20's regularly, and that is cold...for here anyway.

So, my spring plantings are not happening yet. And the weather forecast looks like it may not happen for the foreseeable future. Snow and cold in the immediate forecast followed by the extended outlook for the spring months of below normal temps and above average precipitation.

I wish it'd save some of this for July and August.

No more seeds already...

I ordered more seeds - after I said to myself we had more than enough. But you look through the catalogs and see stuff you just have to try.

So, I ordered more.

From one catalog I ordered three more pepper varieties. Goliath Griller Hybrid, Chichimeca Hybrid and NuMex Sunrise. And three more tomatoes. Red Alert (container-sized plants), Micro Tom Hybrid (also a small plant for containers) and First Light hybrid.

And from another catalog I ordered Red Ace beets, Rubicon cabbage (Napa type), Clio dandelion, Purple Top White Globe turnips and several types of seeds for sprouting...and a seed sprouter kit.

Hope I can find a home for everything I am wanting to plant this spring.

This winters weather

Goofy. It was a cool wet fall here in Texas. A good fall for getting a fall harvest of several things...like broccoli and greens.

Now, since the first part of December, it has decided it really wants to be winter. Cold front after cold front pushing our lows lower that I prefer. We have already had several nights into the low 20's - which is darned cold for here. And the grandaddy cold front hit today. The next three nights, and days, will be the coldest in a decade or more, so they say. Nighttime lows into the low teens. Even plants in the greenhouse, with its small heater, have been nipped by overnight lows falling below freezing inside the greenhouse.

My greens and lettuces have been pretty much destroyed. And the forecast doesn't really look good for the next couple of weeks, or months if you look into the three month picture. El nino is having its way with us this winter.

Hopefully this "stupid cold" spell will end soon and we can at least attempt again to have an early jump on spring gardening.