What did YOU do in your garden today :P

[bobm]

I felt MUCH COLDER in Central Cal. during the Winter time than I do during the Winter in SW Washington at or below 32*. I had to wear long johns, 2 shirts ( one with a turtle neck), jeans a HEAVY jacket and a hat and ear muffs plus gloves in Cal. while in Wa. I only wear shirt, jeans a medium weight jacket and a rain hat.

 

[digitS']

What is that, Sebastopol for Burbank's gardens, @bobm & @ninnymary ? You'd think that it would have frigid winters with a name like that. Maybe it's Santa Rosa ..?

Anyway, it isn't cold country, a few winter frosts. Bob is just more warm-hearted than anytime in recent memory. California near the coast can be on the same line of latitude as the East Coast. It will be warmer winters in California. Gather a nice mulch of pine needles around the plant as it goes dormant.

I found Sugar Daddy to quickly go a little coarse and stringy earlier. Those peas aren't doing anything quickly these days.

Steve

 

[bobm]

Steve, the ranch is about 10 miles NE of Fresno, Cal. at 502 ft. elevation , a high desert type of environment just about 1 mile from the Sierra Nevada Mts. ... the Winters are COLD like mid to high 20's with wind. Also HEAVY FOG ( like you can barely see the front of the hood of your car ... here in the PNW the heavy fog here is you can only see for 2 blocks ) ! Oh yea... our Winter temperatures in SW Washington go down into the teens and sometimes a few inches of snow for a couple days with very little wind . Shall we say mild Mediteranian climate !

 

[digitS']

A couple hundred miles from Santa Rosa, Bob.

Sounds like it would be close to Yosemite.

I remember that in the Rogue River Valley of southern Oregon we once had 2 below. We thought we were killed!!

The fog there was dense at times but the orchards added to it in the spring with their smudge pots, burning waste oil. It was absolutely terrible! We lived in a white house that would turn gray. Even our window screens would plug with soot!

Thank Heavens, people finally refused to put up with that. I was already smoked good but maybe the young had a little more healthy air to breathe!

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Today I dug up the dahlias, got them into the basement for some drying, and cleaned up all the foliage mess so once the snow and ice arrives the yard will be neat and clean.

Chickens found my stash of corn stalks in the garden. I'd been giving them one or two a day . . . I suspect those hogs had themselves a wonderful meal of not so dried corn.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Pulled up some plants and weeds. Cleaned out from under the hutch and put the manure on the garden, but have not spread it out yet. Now wondering if it is too late to plant garlic. I will see about buying some Monday and then wait until after this cold front is over to plant it.

 

[seedcorn]

Never too late to plant garlic. Wish I would have started onions and planted them. Never tried onions before-except the walking onions.

 

[digitS']

That's encouraging, @seedcorn .

Some garlic went in one of my gardens, yesterday. I've planted tulips this late and they didn't die over winter. This is the first time I've had garlic planted in many years. The soil surface may freeze this week but shouldn't stay frozen.

Walla Walla sweet onion seed is sown at the end of August, cooperative extension tells us. It only worked well once out of the 3 times I tried it. The last time, nearly every plant bolted to seed when warm weather showed up with spring.

I sow seed in an unheated greenhouse in February, now. The trays of soil may freeze but I try to keep that from happening. When the furnace is turned on in there in mid to late March, the flats of onions can go outside. I will still try to keep them from freezing.

The dahlia garden is now clear! Nearly all of the little veggie garden has been cleared and some beds prepped for 2015. The leeks and carrots have to be pulled and the last harvest of the Portuguese kale has to be done tomorrow.

Steve

 

[catjac1975]

I once got some leftover tulips from our grain store for FREE in February. We occasionally have a Feb thaw, so I took the opportunity to throw them in the ground. They bloomed nicely for several years with little care.

 

[thistlebloom]

I planted tulips very late one year too Cat. Or maybe it was very early? I had left them in the garage and forgotten them, then when I found them in late winter/earliest spring I tossed them in a hole.
They have bloomed for me every year. Pretty plucky!