Winter garden woes

I've somehow gotten out of milking this morning and as I write Linda is getting herself put into full body gear to go out and brave the 4 degree morning. It takes about 10 minutes just to put cloths on around here. The carhartts while being totally amazing are a bitch to put on over layers, especially when your back and legs are tight and sore from the farm projects of the previous day. Each of us find the best position for getting a leg in and through and then the other leg in and through and then tucking the sweat shirt in over the love handles, getting all the snaps, snapped and the buckles buckled and then putting on the boots. then the scarf, then the hat then the gloves (usually at this point I have to go to the bathroom). Its quite a show. I should totally make a u-tube video!

But..... the good news is we are expecting some thawing temps starting Sunday. The garden needs it! it is still covered thickly with frozen snow. Its going to be a mess but I cant wait to get out there and assess the damage. I'm chalking it up to a mostly loss this winter. We tried to grow a winter garden and have had some success but not nearly what I had imagined. I know where we made our mistakes and we should have foreseen the potential problems but I'll chalk it up to more hands on education. Priceless, you just cant learn this stuff in school.

Winter for the most part is an absolutely fabulous time to grow but certain systems must be in place and things like wind and snow must be taken seriously. That where we went wrong. We had crop protectors but they couldn't withstand the weight of the snow. We laid big sheets of plastic over the rows but that couldn't withstand the wind. Next year the plastic will be cut for each row and secured. in that case snow can slide off and its sturdier and of course much easier to get in and harvest. The huge pieces of plastic are frozen to the ground making it impossible for us to get under it. Any way lessons learned, but I still think winter growing is a good idea!

Today were off to Tulsa for our winter CSA drop off. We'll have feta, chevre, milk and eggs but no produce. Hopefully next week we can get in and harvest some things that may have survived.
On the bright side, we've got beds ready for the items that need to be planted in February!