Winter Greenhouse...Cold Weather Crop

We had the longest summer last year. I thought it would never end. I absolutely loved it! I just couldn't imagine the warm sunny days were ever going to end. It was the end of October and I was still in shorts and tees harvesting and playing in the square foot garden.
I just didn't have a good concept of time and season! I was mesmerized by the gentle warm breeze and sun on my shoulders. I was hypnotized into an altered state of consciousness that made me believe there was only one long season. Summer.
Unrealistically I decided to plant some cool weather crops. Lettuce, spinach, turnips and a few carrot seeds. I lovingly tended the very tiny sprouts pushing through the warm soft dirt. They were tender and trusting and believed in my endless summer.
All of the sudden, literally overnight, a cold spell was headed our way. I was dazed by this news. I was still wrapped in my warm summery cocoon and unwilling to leave it.
I couldn't bear the thought of my sweet mini sprouts freezing in the overnight lows. I should have planted them a month earlier and given them a fighting chance! In a panic I recruited Hubs. I told him I couldn't stand by while these little green specks in the dirt froze to death! We had little time and less planning. Hubs rooted through the garage and wood pile to see what he could come up with. The design was less than perfect. The materials recycled and thrown together. But...the little greenies would be covered from the cold and wind...

Really...it was an experiment. A science project. The cold and wind settled in. We gave the little sprouts a nice drink of water, covered them in their plastic bubble and crossed our fingers. We didn't open it up for fear the cold weather would seep in. I remembered a long forgotten school project where I had to build a terrarium. I hoped it would rain inside this enclosure...but, I had no idea if it would work. Two and a half months later I realized it might actually be working.

The inside of the plastic is full of moisture...I waited for an unseasonably warm day before peeking in. I didn't get my hopes up. (yes I did)
It is concerning that it is the end of January and the weather is once again unseasonably warm. We had a week or two of snow in December and a terrible wind storm that dropped the temps below zero and howled past our windows at 80 miles per hour. Oddly, it has now been in the 50's Fahrenheit for most of January.  And so, I peeled back the heavy plastic and hoped for a miracle.

Miracles happen regularly in gardening. Although it isn't a huge harvest, I have fresh baby spinach and turnips and a bit of lettuce. I'm grateful. I'm happy. I'm thrilled to have garden to table produce for at least a couple of weeks. I don't see any sign of those carrots, but who knows?...Miracles happen in gardening and I'm not ruling anything out yet.

I took enough sweet spinach to my girl's house for monthly pizza night. They made an amazing spinach and pumpkin seed pesto for some of the pizzas. (I love my kids...)
I harvested another bowl full of blessed spinach and we enjoyed a lovely organic homegrown salad for dinner tonight. Soon I will make some sort of turnip soup. It's not much, but it is a glimmer of things to come.
Gardening is a miracle. It feeds the soul as much as it feeds the belly. Bonus...it's FUN!
P.S. Next year we plan to make a proper hoop house...I will be more prepared...unless that endless summer puts me in a coma again...

Backyard Chickens...Winter

Ah January...you long, cold, dark and dismal month. As I sit at my desk, I peer out the window to the frigid gray day, wrapped snugly in a green fuzzy blanket. I have crocheted slippers on my feet and a cup of green chai tea at my side. I long for spring...
I'm sure our backyard chickens are feeling the same...sans the fuzzy blanket and crocheted slippers. They wander aimlessly about the backyard in hopes of finding some wiggly bug. They are few and far between this time of year. They spend most of their time huddled under the deck in hopes we will throw them some fresh spinach or leftover broccoli.
Their coop is large and comfortable with a nice carpet of fresh hay. They have a big bin full of oyster shell. Their feeder is full of organic hen scratch and they have fresh water. Still...they refuse to stay inside. They are always on the look out for some tasty morsel and some sign of spring.
Every year in January they make some sort of statement. They make this statement by refusing to lay eggs. Oh, we get 3 or 4 eggs a week, a weak effort for 11 chickens! Each January we make our way to the grocery store to buy a dozen eggs...sigh...until the girls snap out of this winter stupor...
Last night I decided I needed to help them out of their "seasonal affective disorder". I decided to make them a treat and remind them how much we appreciate them!
Honestly, I'm not really sure they will start laying more eggs...but, I am committed to helping them through the winter blahs.
The last two nights we have roasted acorn squash. A nice inclusion in this weeks winter CSA bag. The first night I gave the hens the seeds and trimmings. Last night there was more than we could eat. I was just going to throw the leftovers out this morning when we opened up the coop. In my own winter boredom I decided to make them a treat instead. I snooped through the fridge and found an almost empty container of almond butter. I decided to blend up the squash remains with the almond butter.

I figured I could clean out the pantry at the same time. I was pretty sure there would be a few more things I could add.

Sure enough! Back behind the bottled tomatoes I found an old bag of quinoa! Ok, I'm going to make a confession here...There may have been a few weevils (should that be plural or not?) roaming around inside! ACKKK...Don't judge...and, the chickens would regard this as an added bonus! A delicacy!
I dumped the bag inside the squash/almond butter mixture...

I also had a bag of "fresh" sunflower seeds. Perfect...I made cute little balls and rolled them in the sunflowers seeds...the chickens really like all this stuff!

I popped them in the fridge to set up nicely. Oh, don't worry... I did warn Hubs they were for the chickens...(It could have been possible he would have wanted to sample one of these...no biggy except for that little weevil issue).

This morning I went out while the girlies were huddled in their usual spot under the deck. Of course when they hear me they scurry out in hopes of good news.

They seemed pretty pumped to be getting some "chicken balls"! Now...for those of you that don't yet have chickens...please don't be alarmed by this little gal in the forefront...Poor dear is molting. I think it bothers us more than it does her. She looks like hell! The first time I saw a molting chicken I was seriously freaked. I always feel bad when they molt in the winter and worry that she must be freezing in her featherless state of being...But, they always survive!

She was totally working me...playing on my sympathies...yeah...of course she got extra!