Howdy folks. This is Laura Gregory here– a 2015 volunteer with Wolfe Co. Grow Appalachia and this year’s coordinator. It’s all new and exciting and I am always eager to be doing something garden related. For me, this time of year that entails things like planning a new row and prepping the bed, adding to the compost, finding sources for horse manure, reading and researching information, digging Jerusalem artichokes or carrots, or harvesting kale. However, the snow has graced our gardens the past few days and it looks like it is going to continue through the weekend.
Now, I am not going to lie: I’m a pretty new gardener. But I’m passionate. I feel like I’ve been gardening much longer than I have because I’ve been expecting it for years. It’s been in my heart and mind while I was doing migrant farm work (not what I think of as gardening by any means) as well as while I was in a full-time touring band– things that kept me from having my own garden. Now I have a 90×25 foot garden plot that keeps me busy for several seasons (though, like I said, I’m adding one new row this year). A 90×25 snow garden at the moment.
So I bundled up to walk to the mailbox and realize that my row cover is sagging and dipping, heavy with powder snow. Last year I had kale and spinach that I gave up on thinking that it was a lost cause, only to have it survive the coldest temperatures because of the snow pack. This year, thanks to Grow Appalachia, I have a thick Agribon over the crops I’m trying to nurture. The row cover is heavy with snow and squishing down on my plants. I instinctively kicked and brushed and shook it off and harvested a few precious crops I was concerned about. After thinking about my tactic last year and talking to my organic gardening neighbor friend, I decided that I’m going to let this next round of snow settle in and insulate. If I lose these crops, there is always the next as well as all that food I preserved for just this moment. That is what I am always thrilled about in gardening: there is no one right answer.
Love this photo of your garden. How great to see the agribon doing its thing. My kitchen garden looks alot like this too, small tunnel covered with snow. Great post, looking forward to keeping up with you here.