Cheatin' Old Man Winter

We got a little warm spell with some sunshine yesterday and today, so the cold frame has softened the soil enough to be worked. With the earth unfrozen, I dug down and set the cold frame in place and tilled a seedbed.

Never mind that winter doesn't end for another eleven days, it's time to get gardening! While the snow drifts on the north side of the house are still as deep as the porch is high (about three feet), the earthworms in the soil beneath the cold frame are wriggling about, breaking up the soil, and getting things ready to grow.

Today's urge to get my hands in the soil started with a community garden meeting at 8:30 this morning. Just talking gardens got my juices flowing.

A little later, I met Tom Cary out at the Perkins Community Garden and we trudged around in the boot-deep snow, measuring the fencing and deciding how we would lay out this year's plots. Inside Tom's cold frame, which was covered with snow, he still had some hearty spinach growing!

That was enough. When I got home, I went straight for the shovel and dug in the cold frame. The soil is right about 50 degrees inside, warm enough to start cold weather seedlings.

Temps are in the 40's this weekend, with near 60 predicted for Tuesday. Even with the cold front that is predicted to roll through the end of this week, daytime temperatures are forecasted to break freezing, and night time temps should only dip into the 20's. I'll have to think a bit about whether I'll want to add supplemental heat at night in the form of a 60-watt drop light.

Today I planted the following:

• Smooth leaf space spinach from Johnny's
• Spring broccoli raab from Johnny's
• Bright lights swiss chard from Johnny's
• Green butterhead lettuce from Johnny's, and bronze arrow and black-seeded simpson from Seeds of Change
• Slow bolt cilantro from Seeds of Change

It may be a little early, but we'll see how they do. I figure a little experimenting will help me figure out how to extend the season a bit.