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Surveying the Gardens

March 9th, 2017

When the snow starts thawing, I find myself out walking around the gardens on an almost daily basis. I’m watching for areas that thaw first, where the water pools, how the wind blows across the garden, and other things. Now I’ve lived here for four years, I have a pretty good idea of the different microclimates in my garden. I know that the potager behind the house thaws out much more quickly than the main garden behind the garage. I can plant lettuces and other cold tolerant crops in there two or three weeks earlier than I can in the main garden. I’m thinking of trying to plant a few asparagus crowns in there to see if they are ready to harvest sooner than their main garden counterparts.


The difference by day can be astonishing, especially as the snow melts. I also watch closely to see which plants were nibbled by deer or look like they sustained damage from heavy snows or wind. A fence is definitely in order this summer, the wild turkeys are really enjoying all the delicious things in the garden.

One Comment to “Surveying the Gardens”
  1. Nebraska Dave on March 10, 2017 at 10:19 am

    Susy, it is difficult to not yearn to be out in the garden during the month of March. Those nice March days bring the temptation to start digging in the dirt. It’s still too early for that here so I just work on other garden structure things. I’m half way finished with building three more raised beds. Then comes the mulch for the pathways and then the fence to keep all the critters out. The portable electric fence was a great success last year so this year it will surround the extra raised beds as well.

    We here in Nebraska are bracing ourselves for a March snow storm on Saturday and Sunday with a possible 7 inches of snow. Personally, I think it’s great but other urban folks are appalled that it would snow when Spring is so close. Snow is filled with nitrogen which is great for gardens and it melts slow enough to allow much of the moisture to soak into the soil. March snows here are usually goine in a couple days because of the above freezing ground temperature. I haven’t taken a soil temperature yet but I’m thinking it’s not above the required 45 degrees to put out the lettuce, cabbage and onions yet.

    Have a great walk a bout in the garden day.

    Nebraska Dave
    Urban Farmer
    Omaha, Nebraska, USA

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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