Right now, looking out the window anywhere on Big Ugly, it’s hard to believe that within days people will be looking at planting some early crops, including potatoes. It’s a frigid 25 outside, with 6+ inches of snow on the ground- not exactly planting weather. The sun is out, a huge improvement from yesterday when at times it looked as if we were in the middle of a blizzard, but the sun seems to be adding only minimal warmth.

Some gardeners had already put out some cold weather crops such as lettuce, kale, collards, even peas, but those were covered with leaves and tarps over the weekend when it became obvious that instead of a cold rain we were going to get snow. With the snow acting as an additional blanket, these crops should be ok until the weather warms back up in just a couple of days.

The weather is due to warm up by the weekend, just in time for our give-away of potatoes onion sets, fertilizer, and cold crop seeds so expect a flurry of people getting things into the ground following our Planting Your Garden Workshops and the give-away.

This year we have a good mix of gardeners: we have teens who were in the teen program last year and have signed up to grow food for their families; we have some young families looking to eke out what they get from the grocery store; we have middle-aged families; we have older people gardening to help keep mobile and to supplement their food income; we have people with mobility issues looking at using containers and raised beds.

As a part of our garden planning workshop, we discussed free and low cost options to create raised beds or acquire containers large enough for container gardening so that older people or those with mobility issues can garden easily. Some of those ideas have been shared on our FB page so that people can share the ideas with others.

Despite our cold start on planting, we’re crossing our fingers and hoping for a great growing season that ends with lots of preserved food sitting in pantries and freezers.