ACL Letter #15 - Saying Goodbye
Musa Tsu "Moose" January 2014 - December 25, 2022
Moose.
Moose went the way of all flesh on Christmas day. He was our first family dog. He was 170 pounds. He had quite the personality. and he loved us. and we loved him. He was around when we started farming in the valley. Around when our oldest was born. He didn't quite make it for the fourth. He knew our family was growing. He had specific spots in the house he was suppose to stay. But, in the past month or so, with Morgan being 6+ months pregnant, he started hanging around her more than usual. Following her throughout the house. Usually I would make him return to his "place", but his close presence brought a comfort to Morgan. Especially when I wasn't around. His presence in our home and family is awfully missed. I'm thankful to have been loved by him. He was a good boy.
Garden Post Freezageddon - Day 0 (12/27/22) This was taken right after I removed the covers.
The Garden.
When I pulled the cover off the garden, the smell was terrible. Death and decay had set in. Huntsville had 72+ hours of below freezing weather and the low was 3 degrees. Some plants survived, but the majority did not. And some that survived will be covered up with mulch because they aren't worth keeping. It's a bummer because one of our favorite things is fresh greens from the garden during fall, winter, and early spring. Single digits aren't normal for our location. It has, however, happened a couple times since I've lived here (2013). In the future, I will try placing multiple gallons of warm water under the cover. This will release heat slowly throughout the night. I didn't expect 3 degrees to be the low. But honestly, 9 degrees (what was forecasted) would have probably killed majority in the garden as well. Especially when combined with 72 hours straight of freezing temperatures.
Below I shared some pictures of the progression of the garden post uncovering.
Brussel sprouts in the back right look good. They are going to make it! everything else in this picture was still green on the 27th but was clearly not going to make it.
Cabbage was another plant that survived with minimal damage.
This was the broccoli when we uncovered the garden on the 27th. Goner.
Lacinato Kale Day 0. Goner
The Lacinato Kale today, January 4th. The green shoots are the garlic. They survived!! Which isn't too unexpected. Garlic is known to poke through the snow in spring as far north as Canada. In our area, we aim to plant our garlic by the end of October. This gives it enough time to get rooted and prepared for any cold weather that comes.
This is a shot of the broccoli from today, Day 8 post Freezageddon. You can see some green shoots coming out of this plant. There is still life in this one. I may trim off the dead parts and leave a couple of these barely hanging plants just for giggles. We might be surprised... In the background you can see the Brussel sprouts. Still grooving.
Onions are holding on as well. They still have life to em!
Over the next couple days I will be mulching leaves and covering up what didn't make it. This will be the first year that I plant an early spring garden (March). I was concerned about space, but no more!
Here is a list of what we had planted and the percentage that survived the cold weather. Anything less than 50% we won't save unless otherwise noted.
Arugula - 10%
Mixed lettuces - 5%
Turnips - 5%
Beets - 0%
Swiss Chard - 0%
Collards - 50%
Kohlrabi - 10%
green onions - 50%
Mustards - 0%
Garlic - 100%
Onions - 50% - 80% (Still assessing)
Brussel sprouts - 100%
Cabbage - 100%
Broccoli - 20% - the surviving plants are wrecked. I may let one or two hang around and see what comes of it.
Clover - 50%
Lacinato Kale - 0%
Podcast Previewing the Latest Issue is Out!
Morgan joined me for this one and we had a lot of fun! Give it a listen and let us know what you think!