Snow...and birds

That's great! Soon, maybe, you can start planting again. And hopefully the apple tree pulls through!

Haha, the bunnies are just hungry, but perhaps they don't help your garden out. Naughty bunnies!
 
The trees will survive, but the question is how well they will thrive.

We started the first of our seeds inside last weekend and have had germination of the leeks. I’m tempted to start some of the hot peppers, but should hold off…seeding will begin in earnest in coming weeks.
 
Haha it'd be so hard to hold off! I feel the temptations calling me too! I have the opposite issue though; I want to start my lettuce seedlings so bad but I gotta wait 'till the temperatures cool down a little first!
 
I noticed yesterday we have some rosemary germination as well. Yay.
 
Today's birds include common redpolls, dark-eyed juncos, and Canada geese.

Snow...and birds


Snow...and birds


Snow...and birds


Snow...and birds


Snow...and birds


Snow...and birds
 
Snow...and birds


Sigh. This was updated this afternoon and got longer. Oh well…I can pretty much avoid going out while things are bad.
 
The birds are so pretty, such a lovely sight! 😍
I bet they were happy with your garden and that the snow was melting.

Oh no! I hope you stay safe! Keep us updated on how you go. I hope you're prepped :shock:
 
The birds are so pretty, such a lovely sight! 😍
I bet they were happy with your garden and that the snow was melting.

Oh no! I hope you stay safe! Keep us updated on how you go. I hope you're prepped :shock:
We are in decent shape. The real question is whether or not the power stays up. So long as it does, we’ll be fine here in the city. If we do need to get out, our vehicles are AWD or I can use the truck with 4x4 and snow-rated tires…in that case it typically comes down to how many idiots I need to share the road with. I’m not overly concerned. Temperatures will remain relatively warm, so even if we lose electricity, the thermal capacitance of the house would keep things OK, but my seedlings could face more of a challenge. The water is turned off in the country, so there shouldn’t be any issues out there…there’s always a possibility of trees or branches coming down, but I just get that cleaned up after the fact anyway.
 
Glad to hear you feel at least reasonably confident. Having the 4WD cars would definitely help get you out of a pinch when needed. How has it been going so far? Nothing bad I hope.

Do you guys have your own generator or fireplace to help out during the cold storms?
 
I haven’t been paying attention to the news overall, but a friend sent this Video on Twitter this morning.

Snow...and birds


Here’s the highway conditions last night…it looks pretty much the same this morning with respect to closed roads. The country property is pretty much where Highway 3 turns from SW to W coming out of Winnipeg.

We have definitely received a fair bit of snow and there’s been some blowing. Happily it’s been near freezing so, while warm, it does tend to mean wet, heavier snow to move.

We don’t really have backups in place, but our electricity is pretty reliable here in the city. It has me thinking about what I want to do longer term in the country…before we consider retiring out there, I’d like to have a vertical axis wind turbine in place and potentially replace the propane hot water heater, stove, and furnace with electric so long as I can scale things to generate our own. The down side at present is that Manitoba Hydro will only purchase excess electricity at wholesale rates up to an amount to offset your monthly bill. It would be a better deal if they would pay for as much excess we could generate.

I love that video….
 
Oh wow! That's terrible.

I hope you don't get snowed in - and that it melts rather quickly. Getting stuck is no fun I bet.

Glad to hear that it's quite reliable!
In your case you'd likely want something that works even when it's snowing. A windturbine would likely be your best bet indeed; a solar panel would get snowed in!
We have a generator as backup - and nowadays they even make ones that you don't need to pull-start anymore, making it an accessible option for elderly/disabled people as well. Our generator is dying on us and isn't reliable anymore though; but what to expect out of a near ancient one. We have a gas stove, running off of bottles; this allows us to cook even during power outtages. All we have to do is use a match to light it as the electric spark function won't work without power.
Luckily water shouldn't be too much of an issue during snowstorms as snow is.. well, water. I believe we were always told that fresh snow is clean, though they'd still recommend boiling it if available.

How long do they think this will last?
 
The snow itself is petering off, although we may still get some through Friday night and a chance of snow Sunday. Tuesday is predicted to be 5 C and sunny with rain on Wednesday so it won’t last too long. Of course, with our flat land and channelized creeks and rivers around here, melting too fast creates a risk of flooding. It is what it is.

Road clearing has been happening here in the city. We were just out and the main roads are pretty good. Sidewalks aren’t cleared, so walking the pup tomorrow morning could be interesting. We’re certainly managing.

If things go to plan, we certainly have some time before we would be moving to the country place so can research and plan before implementing. Time will tell.
 
Very interesting.
Glad to hear it will be warmer and possibly rainy, so that the snow may dissappear soon. Hopefully not too fast though, flooding is a nightmare in it's own way.
Have you considered possibly hilling your garden? This might help fight off boggyness. I can't say much about it though as I currently live in the sub-tropics - it's never snowed here. We've had the one freak, softball sized hailstorm last year though - which is highly unusual here.

Poor pup will freeze his paws off. What breed is it?
 
Standard poodle…9 months old tomorrow. He loves it outside and even when it was -30 C he didn’t want to come in. He’s got fewer issues being outside than the furless apes he lives with.

We do have one area that is lower and holds some water…the soil structure is somewhat broken, so in time we should improve water infiltration. It’s better for the water to go into the soil than run off. That area can also be kept in mind for some plants that prefer wetter conditions. I do intend to put in a couple of swales and berms on the property to improve infiltration and reduce runoff.

Patience is the key…in a couple of years I will hopefully have improved the soil enough that I won’t have too many issues. When we picked up the bales recently and went cross-country a week ago, there were lots of fields with a lot of standing water. We had to avoid one road that had water across and the main road we took had a couple spots where water was to the edge and the road was wet. The truck is now a bit muddy.
 
Ohh he sounds so cute! They usually have a lovely warm coat so I don't blame him one bit for loving to play outside! My dog back in The Netherlands looooved snow when she was a pup; only reason she'd want to get picked up or come inside was because her paws were freezing (she's got a gorgeous, yet thin fur; being a Jackrussel/Foxterrier mix).

You could always turn the lower area into a semi-pond area to grow plants that love being waterlogged. Our local garden stores have started selling waterlogged plants as well that can absolutely thrive on it, it's great for swampy areas or shallow ponds.

Patience is indeed key, but every year you can see a little improvement compared to the year before. On top of that you've learned more about your property and it's abilities - and how to improve!
 
Snow...and birds


This is Phoenix January 2.
 
Getting close, still waiting for my Vego-Garden 10-1 raised bed which is back ordered and building my garden shed next week when I have better weather
 

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