Thursday, December 03, 2009

Snow?!!!

UPDATE
*eh hem* doesn't look good for today. It was 32° this morning when I was outside feeding critters and running dawgs around for poopy breaks. brrrrrrr!
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Well a little peek at my favorite weather website, Wunderground tells me that we are about to have a freeze with a 50% chance of snow tomorrow. Austin has a 70% chance of snow tomorrow. crap. This means all the tropical plants are going to take a beating. I was really hoping we could squeak by this winter without a freeze just to see if the papaya fruit would ripen on the tree.

Our grapefruit and oranges are almost at perfection... they just need about another two weeks I think.

Oh! in the spirit of citrus et al. Today I got a membership to the Urban Harvest group in Houston and have registered for a couple of their classes on permaculture. I also want to take a couple of their classes on caring for citrus trees. Saturday I'm going to a citrus-tasting event they are having. Apparently, folks bring all sorts of citrus from around the area to sample and chat about species that grow well in the Houston-area. I wish I could remember what varieties of citrus we have. I'm looking forward to learning more about being a better gardener and finding out ways to make our little chunk of land a sort of micro-farm that can provide us with some a decent percentage of our fresh veggies and fruit.

9 comments:

Jamie Lee Awesome said...

Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!

Biddie said...

The Urban Harvest group sounds fine!! I'm envious of some of the things that are found in your area - it's enough to make me sometimes think about moving back to TX.

I was wondering if Humble and Austin were going to get any snow. There are snow showers forcasted for the areas north and west of here. The expected temps are to be in the upper 30's overnight here.

Have Jamie and Chelsea make snow angels for me!

Cheryl said...

Crazy weather!! It was in the sixties up here yesterday! Time to haul out your sheets and cover stuff up. Do you have big plastic garbage cans? If so, you can place them over some of your smaller plants. Good luck, I have my fingers crossed for your tropicals.

Michael-Ann said...

Hoot! WAY COOL... are you seeing snow yet??? :-)

Mom, I hope they do get to do some angels :-) When they were little and we were in Bertram, they got to make them.

Cheryl no garbage cans (other than one full of rain water) I do have a bunch of plastic tarps though. I'm sure not feeling like running around cold trying to cover up things right now, still feeling crappy. Probably try to cover a couple things though. Found out a papaya under optimal conditions only lives 4 years so now I'm thinking maybe it isn't worth trying to fight mother-nature on that front. Someday I'm gonna get a big-ass greenhouse :-)

Biddie said...

G'mornin!!! Sorry to read that you are still feeling punk - hope you are able to stay home today.

I need to tell you that I had disasterous results with just putting plastic over some of my plants - while it keeps rain off, it has zippo thermal protection! Put a blanket or a couple of sheets over any plant before you put the plastic over them - plastic does make a good wind break ....

I love my little portable greenhouse - it takes me from an hour to an hour and a half to break it down or put it up. It's about 8 feet wide, 12 feet long and 8 feet high. I got it from a company called Growers Supply - their website is: www.GrowersSuppply.com

Jamie Lee Awesome said...

We got five minutes of light snow and that was it... ah well.

Biddie said...

Jamie - what a disappointment - especially after all the hoopla ...

Well, Michael-Ann - you're gonna have to do all the celebrating for us - I saw some pictures on tonight's weather of up to 4 inches of snow in the Houston area!! Are you all tucked in ???? Do those poor kitties out on the porch have some nice warm boxes to curl up in ???

Cheryl said...

We are supposed to get snow today too...so far they are calling for between 5 & 7". Pffbbbtt!

We tried years ago to do a veggie garden, but unfortunately our season is so short it didn't do to well. Maybe I might try a raised bed garden, that might help.

Michael-Ann said...

Oh! and here's Gordy's flickr pics too:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordyt/sets/72157622954006728/

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