February 9, 2017

Good morning, Something similar that happened last July is happening this winter. This has to do with the extreme temperature swings we have been experiencing. My garden plants must be very confused.

I keep expecting all of my greens to just start going crazy. Most greens are adapted for cooler weather. I must emphasize cooler.

Some times it takes awhile to see a trend but I have noticed everything is growing but at a reduced rate.

Every year that I have gardened in West Texas no year duplicates the previous. This has become even more so since 2011.

As mentioned above greens can grow in cooler conditions. This is because most have genetic parentage from the northern latitudes. This does have limitations. I have a garden book that was a garden “bible” when I gardened up in the Pacific Northwest on the west side of the Cascades. The USDA hardiness zones for Western Oregon are quite diverse from a zone 9 on the SW coast (minimum temp of 25) to a zone 6 at the crest of the Cascades (minimum temperature of -10). This book not only mentioned these zones but it also noted where most unprotected garden veggies die from too severe of a freeze.

For only a very few veggies this death line is 20 degrees. During the 2011 freeze ( one point five degrees) my garden survived because EVERYTHING including my garlic was covered with fabric. This did shock the heck out of the plants but they survived. With the return of warmer weather all the veggies woke up and started growing.

So what I feel has been going on not to the degree of 2011 (both depth of cold and length), the veggies get these 60's / 70's growing weather and then get cold cocked with a day or two of cold temperatures in the teens. As noted above unprotected veggies die below 20 degrees. What these cold snaps do is shut the veggies down for a few days and then resume growth. Only just as they are getting ready to start growing along comes another ZAP.

Looking at the Weather Undergrounds long term forecast on Sunday the 5^th of February is looking for a high on Monday the 13^th of February to be a high of 44 and a low of 33 along with a possibility of snow. IF these lows are correct then the covered plants in the garden should not be shocked into dormancy. But what I have noticed is that these lows have been very optimistic and have tended to be much much lower. I am hoping that this trend does not continue with this next cold front. What you can count on the garden WILL be covered to the best of my ability.

I am hoping that all my cauliflower has been harvested by this next cold front and that the peas hold off going into full bloom until it passes. With these warmer days the peas are starting to bloom.

We will just have to see how this plays out. So far it has been a pretty wild ride. Hold On!!! Reciting the “Serenity Prayer” may help too. Good luck!!!

I harvested chard, kale spinach, asian greens, green onions, turnip greens, lettuce, dill weed, some broccoli and some cauliflower, turnips and some beets. In storage sweet potatoes and sun chokes. Please email for availability.