All Frozen Up

In most years, we get a few snows in October and early November. The snow stays overnight and melts the next day, or the next day. We have actually appreciated the snow sometimes because it acts as mulch and protects the vegetables that we still have to harvest under a blanket. This year was a little different. The first snow that has stayed came on the evening of Friday November 12^th. Up until then we had had several hard frosts and many mornings when the chickens’ outdoor water dish had a skin of ice, but no snow to speak of. In fact, although we had had several freezing nights, we still were seeing butterflies, cabbage worms and yellow jackets right up until the snow flew.

Luckily, we were cautious enough to harvest out the carrots, potatoes, turnips, bok choy and broccoli before the snow. But really we didn’t expect it to stick. We have the sheep and llamas’ summer pasture encircled by a movable electric fence. When the snow came, we blocked the animals into their winter pasture and turned off the electric fence. But there was too much snow to bother removing the fence for the winter. I decided to wait until the snow melted so it would come up easy. Well it has been almost two weeks and the snow is still here. In fact we have passed two important phenology markers of winter. (Phenology is a way of measuring the seasons using natural phenomena. For example, on which date does the lilac in the back yard bloom? When did you see your last bluebird of the season?) For us, we like to know when the pond is completely iced over. On Friday, November 19^th in the morning I took the dogs for a walk and our neighbors’ pond was completely iced over – the previous day only half had ice. Then this morning I went into the chicken coop and when I gave the chickens fresh water there was ice on the water dishes inside the coop. Time to plug them in!

So we may have turned a tipping point, where we won’t get another November thaw for us to pull the electric fence easily. I tested this morning and the fence posts still come out, the ground under the snow is not frozen yet. But the netting is caught in the snow and won’t be easy to pull up.

P.S. All the netting is pulled up and stowed away for the winter before today's weather hits.

The new greenhouse with a blanket of snow.