Baby, It's Cold Outside!

The holidays are over and now it seems as if winter is setting in, with highs over the last couple of days only in the 20s and lows that are just plain cold.

In preparation, we'd done a bit of winterizing at the Teaching Garden, removing the gutters from the hoop house so that snow can freely slide off, and emptying the rain barrels so they don't freeze and burst.  They are now stored upside down.

With the colder temps, we thought we'd give the plants inside the hoop house a little extra protection with row covers.

When I pulled the covers off the following morning, there was still frost on the plants.  Yes, even under the Agribond, inside the hoop house.

I'm anxious to see what bounces back over the next few warmer days.  Everything in the hoop house this year is somewhat experimental, as this is the first year of use. 

We attended a great workshop at Green Edge Gardens a couple of weeks ago, and hope to apply a few of their methods next season.  One is to cover the entire hoop house with one cloth, which gives a larger geothermal footprint.  Another is to add a second layer to the cover on really cold nights, which is just a very large sheet of plastic. 

Granted, Green Edge is in southern Ohio and it may be a bit warmer there, but we'll certainly give it our best shot and see what we come up with.

More updates to come.  In the meantime, stay warm!