Friday 18 January 2013

Surviving the Winter . . . Be Prepared

After reading Charles Dowding's excellent book 'How to Grow Winter Vegetables' I decided to follow his advice and cover up my winter vegetables before the start of winter to ensure their survival if the snow decided to fall and the temperatures drop.

Netting covering the psb and cabbages
Netting cloches covering chard and celery

Using everything I could find, fleece, plastic sheeting, netting and cloches I then covered the  winter plants to ensure their survival till the weather gets warmer.  My reasoning being, if the weather gets harsh, which it is now, at least I will be able to get something to eat from the garden.  I braved today's snow to take some pictures to show you.

This cloche is made from the top of an old metal arch
that I covered with a mesh cover to protect the spring cabbage

I used netting cloches to cover the chard and celery, netting to cover the psb, fine mesh butterfly fabric for my new spring cabbage plants and ordinary netting to drape over the cabbages.  This is an experiment to see which is the best covering to hold off the winter snows.

draped green mesh over some garden canes to protect
winter onions and cabbage
                        
There are more young cabbage plants nestling under this netting cloche
Inside the greenhouse I have a few lettuce seedlings and in the cold frame, some spinach and chard seedlings.
They are not a winter variety, just normal salad leaves


Inside the greenhouse the young lettuce seedlings
are covered with plastic fruit cartons
with a double layer of fleece on top
 

the chard and spinach in the coldframe shows no sign
of winter damage save that of being nibbled by
something or other
 
The lettuce in the old tomato grow bags is covered by ventilated polythene





a pot of rocket leaves in the greenhouse seem
perfectly ok without any extra protection

So, when it finally stops snowing, I will lift the covers which are now weighed down with snow and check to see how everything has fared.  I suppose in the end it is all about common sense and being prepared for the worst.

44 comments:

  1. Found you via Twitter! So glad I did I am always on the hunt for tips for the veggie patch esp as I am now in charge and I haven't a clue! Have though protected my purple sprouting broc but more by luck than intention!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for following - my psb has been pretty much flattened by the weight of the snow - hey ho!

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  2. My garden looks much the same as this! I just hope that the weight of snow doesn't break my PSB.

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  3. I have that title on my wish list I may have to invest, I have netting over my brassicas but that's more for the pigeons than the weather.

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    1. I find the mesh tunnel cloches invaluable both in summer to protect the seedlings and in winter to protect the harvest.

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  4. Oh wow, Elaine, i's so encouraging to see those salads growing. I can't wait to find out how the plants under the various covers have coped.

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    Replies
    1. I am going out a bit later to shake the heavy snow off the covers before the next snowstorm that is due.

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  5. We usually leave netting on winter brassicas but during the last very snowy bad winter the weight of snow on top made the netting suddenly collapse onto the plants which flattened them so we are trying this year to leave the netting off.

    Seems there is a no win situation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You win some - you lose some - more often than not.

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  6. Your leaves in the greenhouse look much healthier than mine. I think I might try an early sowing and see how they go.

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    Replies
    1. Just a few more weeks and I'll be starting tomatoes off on the windowsill

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  7. Your vegetables certainly look safe and cosy under their new abodes. The motto 'be prepared' comes to mind and it'll be well worth it in the end Elaine. Have a good weekend and keep warm. We still haven't any snow - yet.
    Patricia x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't believe you haven't had any snow - I thought it had fallen countrywide.

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  8. I'm sure they will be snug under their blankets, veggies can be pretty tough characters! x

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    Replies
    1. I'm sure they will be fine - just not taking any chances.

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  9. very good covering. Not so prepared here, all my cabbage have disappeared in white.

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    Replies
    1. I understand that snow acts as insulation so you should be ok

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  10. This is so exciting to read. You are really having wonderful success!

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    Replies
    1. Will be ok if everything stays alive till spring comes.

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  11. Looks like you're well prepared for the snow! And your seedlings are looking well too, you'll be off to a flying start when the weather does improve.

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    Replies
    1. Hope so - I could do with a bit of success this year.

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  12. It's been snowing pretty much all day here and it's already up to the chickens' chests! I'll go and make a snowman in their enclosure to flatten it all down a bit!
    It's really nice to see your seedlings doing well x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Poor old hens - they don't like snow much do they

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  13. Good advice as usual Elaine, I've got plastic cloches over my Lettuce at the moment. The rest, Cabbage, Sprouts, Spring Onions, other Onions and Rhubarb should be o.k. under the snow, unless there is any really severe frost. Their in built biological survival devices should have kicked in by now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wish I had an ibnuilt biological survival device

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  14. The only thing I covered, prior to the snow, was my Rhubarb crowns. Early forcing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No sign of anything in the rhubarb patch yet - I don't really bother with forcing - maybe I should, perhaps an old bucket or something.

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  15. Nice blog you have here! I'll be following you :) Visit my slavic-garden.blogspot.com Greetings from snowy Poland!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for following - I will pop over and check out your blog.

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  16. Gosh you got a good covering of snow! Good luck with the experiment :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Only time will tell if it did any good covering them over.

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  17. It's amazing that anything survives when it's like that! Flighty xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Snow does act as insulation so they should be ok

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  18. I think it's the frost and ice which will do more damage than the snow, as snow acts as an insulation, unless it flattens the plants, of course. Not much in my plot to protect at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The psb are flattened - hope they pick up when the snow goes.

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  19. I was so surprised when so many leafy veg survived the snow we had at the community garden without any protection. They froze, thawed and continued growing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If this freeze carries on I would think they are going to struggle a bit

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  20. Fabulous to see seedlings in the greenhouse - when did you sow them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. October time - they haven't grown much since they germinated.

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  21. The netting over my crops completely collasped with the weight of the snow, i'm just hoping the plants are ok underneath, but nature is amazing isn't it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am hoping everything will spring back when the snow has disappeared.

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  22. Hope that everything comes through Elaine after all your tender loving care. Is your greenhouse heated? I have 'How To Grow Winter Vegetables' in my to be read pile. Must make a start on it!

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    Replies
    1. No the greenhouse isn't heated - the seedlings just have to struggle on as best they can.

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