Rode the snowmachine down to the gardens!

[CANOPY SAM]

Well, as I type this I'm looking out my window at snow coming down hard. Big, fat, fluffy flakes piling up on the snow and ice we got last night.

I rode the snowmobile down past our gardens a few days ago. I'd roughly estimate we still have 1 1/2 - 2 feet of standing snow pack on top of the dirt. Somewhere under all that snow our strawberry plants are wondering what's up?

The average snow depth is still just covering the tops of our tomato stands!

Our forecast over the next week or so calls for intermittent snow and/or mixed precip, and temps barely over freezing. We may see 40 degrees this weekend, but with the amount of snow we have now it's going to be a real struggle for melting temps to get there.

Will our strawberries and raspberries survive this very extended winter weather? I was also considering going out now to prune our shrubs, apple and plum trees. What are your thoughts on pruning now rather than waiting till we start to thaw out?

At this point, with snow as deep as it is, and not much of a warm-up expected for at least a couple weeks, we're staring at what will certainly be one of the latest spring planting times on record. I typically wait until after June 1st in our region to plant. Hard to believe, looking out the window right now, we'll be able to get in by June 1st!

[leech~~]

Some one needs to contact Al and ask him what do we do now?

[CANOPY SAM]

Suppose I could stick to just planting Iceberg Lettuce!!!! Har har har!

[Dotch]

Think I will plant all frozen vegetables this year. Seriously though, I've had to walk over and mostly around the garden to get to the black cutworm trap placed at the edge of the field. When it's thawed, I sink in to my ankles. When it's froze like it has been several mornings including this one, I cut across and trot over the top of it. It's mid-April and we live about 30 miles from IA. I talked to my brother by Cedar Falls about 2 hours south of us and he has lawn to mow already. No green grass here yet but I could grind up some of the frozen dog turds I suppose.