An Unexpected Visitor

Spring may have arrived a whole month early this year, but that doesn't mean that Mother Nature doesn't still have a trick or two up her sleeve! Take this morning, for example. This is not what I expected to see when I looked out the window!

The garlic will shrug it off, but the small arugula seedlings might not be so accommodating! In reality, all the crops that are currently in the garden are cold tolerant, and I'm fairly sure they will be just fine - once the morning sun melts the snow. If I had known an overnight snowfall was in the forecast (the importance of checking the weather!), I would have tossed a row cover over the bed to insulate the crops.

You can see that I have placed some plastic strawberry and salad containers over some of the seedlings - I'm testing out their effectiveness as cloches. So far, I'm impressed. It's also a great way to get more use out of these containers before they're recycled. The seedlings under the cloches were completely undamaged and the soil was moist, but not frozen. I especially like the strawberry container as it has ready-made ventilation holes at the top! Just remember to bury the edges under the soil or lay a few rocks on top - otherwise, they will blow away in the slightest breeze!

Happy Gardening!