Snow Day Games

Let's play a guessing game!
 

I’m not making an igloo for the neighborhood stray cat. I’m not chucking snowballs at the neighborhood kids. I’m not making AT-AT snowmen. Nope.

I’m checking on my garden…in a foot of snow.

For real, everyone! I have attempted the (nearly) impossible this year — a winter garden in my very own DIY cold frames. Cold frames are basically just boxes with glass or plastic covering the top to reflect the sunlight and warm the box. And that part, worked like a charm. Even in this crazy polar vortex, my cold frames did not go below freezing!

I simply placed my cold frames in a row in the garden, planted seeds, watered, and watched things grow. Some quick differences between regular gardening and cold frame gardening:

• Regular watering – since the ground is covered by glass, you will need to water regularly. However, I did not need to water nearly as often because the sealed box held moisture much longer. 
• Temperature – the reflected light causes the box to heat up much faster than surrounding air temperature. Too hot, and you’ll have pre-steamed greens. If the internal temperature of your boxes is above 80, simply open up the hatch to air it out. 
• Insulation –  The boxes work best to keep the temperature above freezing when the frames are sealed. At the ground level, piling a little mulch insulation around the base of the box helps to seal the snow and cold out. I also left a layer of fall leaves on the surface to help the ground stay warm.
• Sunlight - When snow covers the windows at the top of the cold frame, this adds natural insulation from the worse of the cold. However, plants do need sunlight, so if snow covers the box for more than a week, I do brush off the snow to let a little light it. 

Hanging Salad Garden

Last year, I began a quest to turn my black thumb into a green thumb, or at least an evergreen shade of black.

This would take some time. Time to earn the plants trust again, to prove the dead philodendron was a fluke of bad lighting or that it wasn't my fault that I forgot to water that peace lily for three weeks.

So far, my efforts at greenery whisperer have started to pay off. For the first time in my life, I gardened. I was the grower of my own food, and it was glorious!

Everything tastes better fresh. Even my least favorite veggie was so tasty that I found myself pacing the garden in the backyard, watching, waiting for that moment when it would stop being a plant and start being food.

Since last year went so well, I got ambitious and expanded the garden by adding a hanging salad garden.

Terrariums and Succulents

This weather is a terrible tease. The other day, I swear I felt a warm breeze; then I actually saw the sun when I woke up in the morning. My hopes were raised! But then it rained, and the cold gray skies of winter returned.

That silly Punxsutawney Phil promised an early spring and yet the gray days and bitter cold just drag on.
I suppose it serves us right for taking our weather reports from a rodent, but it's still a fun tradition*-- even if it is a bit inaccurate. 

With the sun peaking above the horizon when I get home from work, my green thumb has been itching to get started with the garden outside. Since it is still too cold for that, I looked around inside the house for some dirt to set my fingers into.

Behold--my terrarium!

It's in sad shape, isn't it? My terrarium was a gift from my fella over a year ago, and the plants thrived for a while...until I took it into work. Locked within the dark windowless cubicle environment with nothing but UV light to keep it company, each plant withered, cringed, and gave up the ghost. All except for this last plant. See how he tries so desperately to reach a light source? What a trooper.

So for a quick afternoon project, I gave my terrarium a face-lift with fresh dirt, new succulents, and a brand new spot by the window. In 5 minutes and for about $10, I brought a little color into the house and added a touch of natural decoration to the place. Care to see how it was done?