Monday, February 28, 2022
Wednesday morning started off cold, but dry, and I intended to get to the store for a gallon of milk before 10 am, which is when the weatherman said we might start to see some precipitation. Around 9 am, I decided to go ahead and go, but before I could even get my boots on, the rain had started, and one step out the door changed my mind in a hurry. The step was already glazed over with ice.
Luckily for us, most of Wednesday morning we had sleet rather than freezing rain, otherwise I'm not sure if we'd have had power through the rest of the storm. By afternoon, the sleet had transitioned over to rain, with embedded lightening/thunder, and even cells with some rotation in them, if you can believe that!
By Thursday night, when the rain finally moved out, I estimate that we ended up with close to 1/2" of ice, so a big shout-out to Arkansas Valley Electric for clearing out the right-of-ways so that none of the power lines were taken out by falling tree limbs.
It was cold without our propane heater, so we pretty much lived bundled up in one room with two electric heaters. We didn't freeze to death, so I guess we survived it.
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| 2/23/2022 10:50 am - Everything is starting to get covered by a light layer of sleet. |
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| 2/23/2022 12:36 pm - Just over an hour and a half later, we were completely encased in a layer of sleet and ice. |
Thursday, February 17, 2022
I guess RAF and I are in for a miserable night tonight, and several miserable days next week. Our propane line under the house started leaking a couple of nights ago and the repair appointment isn't until Friday, the 25th. So that means no propane heater in the living room. The low tonight is supposed to be around 18 degrees F, but it should start warming back up tomorrow...until next Tuesday night. At that point, temperatures are supposed to get cold again with the possibility of freezing winter precipitation of some sort for Wednesday and Thursday.
I am so done with winter.
Tuesday, February 8, 2022
Update on green pea germination:
Peat pots - 10 of 15 (67%)
Cardboard Toilet Paper Rolls - 5 of 18 (28%)
First daffodil of the year bloomed today.
Sunday, February 6, 2022
Update on the Green Pea seed starting experiment.
The green peas have started coming up!
The peas have started coming up. So far, seven have come up in the peat pots, and only two in the cardboard toilet paper rolls. One of the peat pots is starting to get quite a bit of mold on one side at the top. There appears to be a very light film of mold on the side of one of the cardboard rolls as well. The one cardboard roll that had started to unravel is almost completely unraveled now, with the soil starting to spill down the side.
A couple of thoughts about why the peat pots are "winning." First, I think the seeds in the peat pots may have come up more quickly because the peat pots seem to hold the moisture better than the cardboard rolls. That could be because the peat pots, being square, are packed together more closely (the cardboard rolls have lots of air space between them). It could also be that the peat just naturally holds moisture better.
(In all fairness to the cardboard rolls, I've tried not to just saturate them with water this time, because I thought that might have been the reason for all of the mold, and that it probably contributed to the rolls coming unraveled.)
Second, I realize that I filled all of the cardboard rolls too full. By filling them up completely to the top, the water tries to roll off the side before it has a chance to soak in. So I'm not sure they've actually received an amount of water equivalent to what the seeds in the peat pots received. Were I doing this over, I'd leave about 1/4" of space at the top to help contain the water.
Saturday, February 5, 2022
With all the ice, sleet and snow on the ground, I kept sending my dad text messages reminding him and my mom to be very, very careful when they were out doing their chores so they didn't fall.
So who was the one who fell on the ice? Why me of course! I guess I got my left foot up on the sloped ground around the storm cellar more than I realized and when I lifted my right foot to take a step, away I went! Although I hit the ground pretty hard and rolled, I wasn't hurt other than just a bit of a sore hip. It just goes to show you that I'm not very good at "practicing what I preach!"
Back in December, I decided to set up "events" in my Outlook calendar with reminders about when it was time to plant different things through the growing season. This past week, one of my reminders popped up:
That means it's officially time to start on the 2022 garden! And while February isn't the busiest month for planting, there are a few things on the calendar.
So today, I've planted some Emerald Giant bell peppers. And because the Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage seeds I planted back in January have never come up, I planted some Early Dutch cabbage seeds too. I'm pretty sure I planted some of the Early Jersey Wakefield seeds last year too, and they never came up. I know the seeds are quite old, so it's probably time to throw them in the compost. The Early Dutch seeds are very old too, so I may have the same outcome on them, which is to say, nothing. No great loss, I guess. I'm not a real big fan of cabbage anyway.
I had gotten in a rush last month and started the broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cabbage earlier than the calendar said. They've come up, and will go out in the garden in early March (if I can keep them alive until then).
The problem I've always had with seeds started indoors is light. I bought some LED grow lights last year and have fastened them to a piece of 1/2" plywood. I've had the seedlings under that light for a few days, but either I didn't get them under it soon enough, or they're still too far away from the light. Although their leaves are a healthy dark green, all of the plants are very "leggy."
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| Leggy Brussels sprouts. The one on the upper left is almost 2" tall! Very bad.... |
And my little onions and leeks that I was so excited about earlier? Well, they weren't spindly because they're Alliums. They're spindly because I almost killed them.
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| Poor, poor pitiful onions and leeks. |
I'm pretty sure that I let them dry out. Apparently the air in the living room is super dry and because I thought by looking that the pots were still damp, I didn't check them. They weren't damp. When I finally did poke my finger down in the pot to check the soil moisture, it was actually very, very dry.
I gave them a good watering and put them under the LED grow light as well. I can see new growth that has put up, especially on the leeks, so I hope I haven't completely lost all of them. But I really started them way to early anyway, so if they don't make it I guess that's just a lesson learned early. I'll have time to start more.
Thursday, February 3, 2022
The back side of winter storm Landon is making its way across Arkansas tonight. We were pretty lucky actually...we only got about 1/4" or less of ice topped by probably another 1/2" of sleet last night, topped by maybe another inch of snow today. So far the power has stayed on and while it's very cold (39 degrees on the inside porch this morning) we've managed to bundle up and stay warm enough. Our forecast is calling for less than one additional inch of snow, and it will be the dry, powdery kind, so we don't expect it to accumulate on the trees or power lines.
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| February ice, sleet and snow from winter storm Landon. |
Looking at the picture of the panels in the garden, I guess it's a good thing I didn't try to rush and plant my green peas in the ground! They've not come up yet, but the Brussels sprouts and broccoli seeds planted on the same day have!
Mo was his usual happy self this morning when I put on his harness and leash...until I opened the door. He took one look outside then actually shook his head "no!" and started backing up! I had to laugh at him, and practically had to push him out the door. We only stayed out for a couple of minutes - enough for him to pee on a clump of grass in the yard - then straight back in the house!
But this afternoon, with the snow over the top of the sleet, he didn't seem to mind being out at all, and he bounced along through the snow as we made our usual round around the yard. He stopped for a couple of minutes on the east side of the shop, and while he was looking at something/listening to something, I took the time to gaze out across the absolutely breathtaking beauty of the countryside in the snow.
Dark steel-gray-blue clouds hung low over dark steel-blue-green mountains, framed by the stark whiteness of the big American Sycamore tree out in the field. The more distant trees were shapes etched in black on a background of white snow. It was so beautiful - one of those things that messes with my brain. I'm not sure if it makes me incredibly happy or incredibly sad. When we got back into the house, I happened to look out just in time to see a flock of snow-geese, flying low, white silhouettes against the dark mountain, which was slowly shrouded by a heavy band of snow....
I wish I could take pictures with my eyes.