HiDelight said:
well we are supposed to get snow today and everything I have to do today requires me to leave my house and yard and go drive in it LOL we have no infrastructure for snow in this area ..there are some snow plows someplace but not where I am going!!!
we have had such cold weather....this year even with my snug coldframes my dreams of a salad from the garden for New Years are most likely dashed ..we have had a pretty hard frost only if I am very very lucky will there be greens still thriving under plastic ..but I am afraid to look!
my big fish in the tub are frozen and I hope they went "dormant" before hand I have not been feeding them and they have survived freezing already ..but I worry it seems so scary to see them under all that ice! but they come back
I am hoping I do not loose some of my more tender plants (I lost my hibiscus last year to frost that was it ) but we will see ..hopefully all will be ok and the frost is not so deep as it seems ..
the woodland garden is fine it is 10 degrees warmer there the fish are fine the little pond is fine and where I spread the trilliums is not at all frozen ..I should move back there!
Hey HiDelight
,
I hope you get your salad greens to thrive in time for New Years, As along as you have a good structure over them and covered i think you should have a good chance of them surviving in time for a harvest.
Oh i could help you there, with fish in the winter.
I had a pond for a few years it was about 150 gallons or so. I had to get rid of the pond because every summer it would attract the bad ole coons, who would come every night, destroying the pond plants i had in there and of course the fish. Then because there were raccoons around my pond which is right where i kept my garden, the coons would destroy my garden as well. I'm not glad that i got rid of my pond but it was that or have coons to worry about every summer.
As long as you have fed your fish during the summer and fall they should be fine. Before the pond ices over the fish have reserved fat build-up to survive through the winter. Its just like hibernating for the fish. The fish also will stay at the bottom of the pond during the winter then they'll swim up once Spring arrives, searching for food.
Another thing, Its important that the pond should have a small hole of area ice-free during the winter to allow any gases if any, to escape. If the pond doesn't have this area ice-free, eventually the gases would build-up to the point that they would affect the fish.
Try not to break any ice if it forms over the pond, (like with an ax for example) any vibrations in the pond water could stress the fish and could lead to death.
I hope this helps!!
