After a couple of mild winters, we almost forgot what our real winter looks like. This winter is reminding us of the past times.

A year of snow

Mild and rainy, these were the conditions in the previous couple of winters. We had a couple of weeks of snow, but nothing serious; temperatures were so mild that we had many surviving frost-intolerant flowers in the garden. Marigolds, Calendulas, and Snapdragons became perennial plants over the previous couple of years, and the garden was accessible during most of the winter. Knowing that our climate can be much harsher, we still didn’t do much in the garden during winter. We usually wait for the spring. This year, the decision to leave the garden to rest during winter paid off.

December and January have been much cooler than the average, with very few days above 0°C (32°F), most of the storms brought snow, and after a long period, we have a persistent snow cover. The garden has been completely unreachable since the middle of December, with snow and a thick frost layer.

The winter looks nice until you have to go outside, and since the cleaning services have been doing their job poorly, we’ve spent most of the Christmas holidays unreachable and unable to go anywhere. It’s been very weird to see that the road, which is very frequently used, turns into a road that nobody uses. Luckily, we had a couple of warmer days which managed to melt the road and a big part of the snow, so now we can use the car without any problems, but since the temperatures dropped again, everything is very frozen. Now the only question is how long the winter will last and how much more snow we’ll get.

Starting first seedlings

Although the snow outside is keeping us indoors, January is the month when I start my seedlings, so I still have to do it. Still, I have to admit I have been doing the bare minimum. The basement is cold, and the path has been very frozen, so I’ve been sowing only the seedlings that were obligatory. So, right now I’ve sown asian lettuces, onions, garlic, and peppers. The rest of the plants, including the ones that are meant to be winter sown for outdoor growing, have been waiting for better conditions. My little house greenhouse has been crowded with onions and peppers, so there is not much space right now.

The plan was to move the onions and asian lettuces to the outside greenhouse as soon as they germinate and allow them a slow growing period in mild winter conditions, but with constant frost temperature that is not possible at the moment. So I’m waiting for some milder temperatures to be able to move them outside and continue sowing the rest of the seedlings. There is no point in sowing more when I don’t have anywhere to keep them after germination.

New year, new plans

When it comes to plans for next year, I’m keeping things minimal this year. I will be sowing the normal vegetable amount as I do every year. I’ll try to finally fix the side yard and the basement, but that’s pretty much it. I haven’t been feeling too good lately, so I don’t want to put too much on my plate knowing that I probably won’t be able to finish most of it. Doing things on a steep hill takes much more energy than working on a flat surface, and I have to be realistic with my expectations. I’m just unable to do everything I want to do. I work alone on most of the stuff, so I will focus on smaller tasks and try to finish them one by one first. There are still plenty of months in a year to add more tasks if I have time and energy. But for now, the main task is to wait for the freezing conditions to ease.