Quotable Sunday 12/15/2013


A Snow Event!

We live in Oregon, where the old standard joke is: " it rains nine months of the year there!"  Not quite true but some seasons it does feel like that.  We don't get regular snow like many growers so we designed our hoophouse system to protect for the rain with a bit of protection on the beds in the form of Agribon frost blankets.  Every few years we do get an EVENT that makes us all go crazy for fear of snow, driving in snow, freezing temperatures, round the clock newscasts and frozen pipes.  We don't usually get too worked up by the EVENT except for heavy wet snow collapsing our hoophouses and the freezing temperatures for our baby flower plants that went in to the ground in October. This year was an EVENT for us!

We had a snow event which really wasn't too bad, about 6 inches of snow fell. It wasn't the heavy wet variety either and so it wasn't a great deal to remove from the hoophouses.  But the temperatures were really cold and we didn't want the snow frozen on to the plastic.

Dressed in a multitude of layers and armed with a rope pulley system of snow removal plus squeegees, we set out to remove the snow.  In the distance we could hear the neighbor kids having a blast playing in the snow while we worked removing it and all the while it kept snowing.

In my case, I was pulling more snow down on me but I was at least warm but needed ski goggles.  The rope pulley system didn't work and we will need to come up with something for next time.  When we build a couple more hoophouses we will need to be faster with removal.

The squeegee ended up working best but we need a bigger head on the end of our telescoping poles.

Finally everything was cleaned of the snow, we checked all the baby plants to see that they were covered.

                                                           Anemones wrapped up in a couple of blankets.

                                               Ranunculus under a couple of blankets.

We settled in for about 10 days of very very cold temperatures. Nights were in the single digits, one close to zero, the days temperatures in the teens.  We have never tried to grow anemones and ranunculus at these cold of temperatures.  The blankets were buying us a few degrees but we were hoping that the ground in the hoophouses was dry and wouldn't freeze up and killed the babies.  We couldn't remove the blankets to let the light in and so we waited and waited, afraid to look and see the damage.

                      The sun would try and shine and things tried to thaw but mostly just froze up.

Finally the sun came out and the rain came and everything started to melt away. The covers on the beds could be removed and the damage assessed.

Anemones came through like troopers although those ten days will delay them.  So hoping for nicer January temperatures to speed these babies up for blooms on Valentine's Day. Fingers crossed!!

Ranunculus looks a little more ragged but still alive. Some of the outer leaves may be damaged but the crowns still look good. Yay!

The snapdragons and the glads took a beating.  But they were just tests to see if we could get late glads and early snaps.  More snaps are growing in the greenhouse.

                              One busted outdoor pipe, oops forgot that one when winterizing.

   A little snow remained along side the hoophouses for a day or so and then the EVENT was over.  Just hoping that is the last EVENT for this next growing season.  Probably not so but it is nice to think positive thoughts. 


There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor's.  ~Clyde Moore

The Best Laid Plans.

Winter is a time of planning, imagining and dreaming.  Plans were made for more flowers, brighter flowers, more variety and earlier flowers.  We made the plans and actually worked really hard in executing the plan.  The hoops houses were planted, and the low tunnels were built.  We seeded and grew and field planted the tunnels.  We were excited that we would have earlier flowers for this season.  But sometimes, the wheels fall off the cart, the plan falls apart and there you are, bummed to the max and tired as hell and asking the question, " What are we doing and why is this SO hard?" 

But after a night of self-pity and crabbiness, you wake up and look around and decide well..... "What did we LEARN?" ..... That there were mistakes but also some things worked out okay.

The mistakes:

The poly tubing for our low tunnels does not work under a snow load.  It works great keeping the rain of the beds for early planting, stands up to the wind also and gives us a chance to have earlier flowers but it will not hold under 9 inches of wet snow.   Some of the tubing has snapped back but most will have to be replaced.  All the tunnels now have to be reworked.

The hoop houses held up which is wonderful but the piles of snow is blocking the venting of the house.  And sure the sun comes out, things warm up and ranunculus are getting hot and sweaty.  So you need to shovel the snow away.

Things that  did worked:

The pvc pipe held up nicely on the iris and tulip tunnel.  They are coming along nicely and are still on plan.

                        Although the daffodils got hammered, the hydrangea is still leafing out.

                            The stock survived and  looks good and the ranunculus are budding up and just starting to bloom.

Although there is standing water and running water and little creeks of water running through the farm, it sounds lovely, like a babbling brook.

You look around a bit more and you see that the snap peas in the veggie garden look good and on track.

So sometimes plans go awry, but in the end you remember you live in a pretty great area which USUALLY isn't too cold or too hot.  You are only a hour or so from the beach and a couple of hours from the mountains.  You remind yourself it is still only March and your season is still out ahead of you.  You look back at the plan and you start working it again.  Thank you to all who sent us their good wishes, you have no idea how much we appreciate the support.  It is really great!

Second Day of Spring is a Snow Day

How does Bare Mtn Farm spend a snow day, not inside by the fire but outside scrapping down the hoop houses and low tunnels.  Our day started at 4:07 a.m. when I awoke to a snap of a tree branch coming down. Damn, it really was snowing and on the second day of spring.  Tony raced outside to check on the hoop houses and low tunnels and didn't come back in until 6:45.  He spent the early dark hours squeeging the plastic tunnels. Me, recovering from dental surgery and it a bit too cold, tried to capture the snow around the house.

 

At this point there is only a couple of inches on things but it is very rare to have a snow event like this in March and even rarer that it is so wet and heavy and stick to even small branches and wire.

It is weighing down all the branches, the daffodils and taking down the deer fencing.

 

Here is a shot before sunrise(yea sure, sun), Tony has all the tunnels cleared of snow.  But it is STILL Snowing!

After a quick breakfast and a lot of hot coffee we head out to clear the plastic again.  Here are some photos of the snow piling up.

We have discovered the some of the low tunnels are collapsing from the very wet snow.  This has never been an issue for us in the past seasons but now we feel we made need to change the hoops from poly tubing to metal hoops.  

The rest of the morning is  spent clearing the big hoop houses.  The heavy snow is sagging the plastic in the center and so we spend much energy trying to bounce the snow off.  It is hard on the shoulders, neck and back and some of us are just not tall enough to get the whole job done.

                            The ranunculus is just starting to bloom, doesn't  that  just figure.

 

The snow is really piling up along the sides of the hoops which will probably become another issue to deal with, when it warms up(If).

If you can get the snow to move it slides off pretty well, the problem is when you finish one hoop, the other hoop house needs to be re-swept again.  And back and forth between tunnels and hoops.

Flowers are still coming along, ranunculus are budding, the lilies have germinated and the anemones hopefully will keep blooming.

The rose arbor to our veggie garden collapsed under the weight of the big rose and the snow.  Another project in our future to clean up.  There is always a hundred things to do.

It was only a few days ago, since  we finished pruning our fruit trees and enjoyed a cup of coffee during a sunny day.  It doesn't seem right.  I loved snow as a kid but now, it seems to be a headache( or backache).  We can hear the neighbor kids having a great time playing in the snow.  But we can also hear an old rooster crowing since 4:00, he doesn't sound happy.  Maybe he, like us is just getting too old for this stuff.  

Lunch is over, warmed back up and it is still snowing, we are at the 6 inch mark,  guess where we are heading to.  Now can we all start the chant, "We want Spring!".....