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the season is trying to change
2020-Mar-07, Saturday 12:29 pmIt's been quite warm recently for Minnesota at this time of year. Much of the snow has melted. Bare ground is showing in many areas.
Here's a comparison, with my front yard on the morning of 2019 December 01 (left) and that same snow finally melting away on 2020 March 07 (right).
That's continuous snow coverage for more than 3 months, 1/4 of the year. It's hard to convey the psychosocial impact of this kind of climate. It might actually have something to do with northern latitude countries tending to have strong social safety nets. You don't get to keep much of your illusion of self-sufficiency when you live in "the tundra" (an exaggeration). Everything is connected and cross-dependent.
We had a relatively mild winter this year. Last year, it got down to -28C/-33F in Minneapolis in late January. This year, nothing nearly that cold.
I built that brick raised garden for growing carrots, hoping that the brick would absorb enough sunlight to warm the sleeping carrots in their soil so that they would survive the winter. I've grown carrots many years, here and elsewhere in the Twin Cities, and I've never had carrots survive the winter.
But this winter was so mild that I think I might have my first success. The snow there has melted, and some of the carrot tops are still green!
Carrots surviving a winter is important, because they don't flower or seed until their 2nd year. If I finally have 2-year-old carrots here, then I might harvest my first carrot seeds ever, later this year. I'd be a happy camper if I didn't have to buy them each year.
And if they survive one winter, then I have my first generation of mutants that could eventually become a new variety that's good for cold weather climates. I do so hope that they live through the thaw and continue growing!
Here's a comparison, with my front yard on the morning of 2019 December 01 (left) and that same snow finally melting away on 2020 March 07 (right).
That's continuous snow coverage for more than 3 months, 1/4 of the year. It's hard to convey the psychosocial impact of this kind of climate. It might actually have something to do with northern latitude countries tending to have strong social safety nets. You don't get to keep much of your illusion of self-sufficiency when you live in "the tundra" (an exaggeration). Everything is connected and cross-dependent.
We had a relatively mild winter this year. Last year, it got down to -28C/-33F in Minneapolis in late January. This year, nothing nearly that cold.
I built that brick raised garden for growing carrots, hoping that the brick would absorb enough sunlight to warm the sleeping carrots in their soil so that they would survive the winter. I've grown carrots many years, here and elsewhere in the Twin Cities, and I've never had carrots survive the winter.But this winter was so mild that I think I might have my first success. The snow there has melted, and some of the carrot tops are still green!
Carrots surviving a winter is important, because they don't flower or seed until their 2nd year. If I finally have 2-year-old carrots here, then I might harvest my first carrot seeds ever, later this year. I'd be a happy camper if I didn't have to buy them each year.
And if they survive one winter, then I have my first generation of mutants that could eventually become a new variety that's good for cold weather climates. I do so hope that they live through the thaw and continue growing!