Notes From Zone 4

I worry that I will jinx it, but we may have actually gone a whole day with the pigs not getting out. Excuse me while I rejoice. We even went to town (for so much crap for the farm!), and everyone was in the right pen when we got back. Even Misty. Pigs are

Read more »

There was a shipping problem with my order of plugs from the Jollies. Just because last year I’d had them delivered to where I was in exile, they shipped them there again. The poor dears spent four days in unheated warehouses before finally being delivered to me today. There was only a bit of damage,

Read more »

Frank inspired me today as we were coming in from finishing the morning chores. The wind has really been howling lately and the temps remain in the single digits, and I’ve taken to doubling up everything when I go out, including my hat. He copied me today and said that it really did work, but

Read more »

On Tuesday, we went out to stock up on groceries and stuff, along with the rest of the state, of course. When we got back, there was yet another sheep break-out, which is really frustrating. I think what happened is Bill and George, who are in with the llamas, worked open their gate, which doesn’t

Read more »

It was a windy, rainy day today. The cats and I stayed in, the sheep all stayed under cover. Even the Shetlands decided it wasn’t worth running away when I started scarily waving hay around. The weather station on top of our roof shows a peak gust of 51 mph, the fastest of the year.

Read more »

Frank gave the lawn what will most likely be the last mowing of the year. We left the leaves and grass cuttings on the lawn, hopefully to compost away and help the soil. That lawn needs all the help it can get! We’ve had two hard freezes in a row this week, which kicked off the few remaining window box plants that were still hanging in there. This year, the fall colors feel very muted, probably because of the wind and the rain. The view across the swamp is still lovely, but it doesn’t feel as vibrant as it has in years past.

It was very rainy all day today, and chilly too. We are getting ready to leave for a ten day vacation in the bay area of California, so I spent much of today doing last minute garden chores before we go. I wonder if it’ll freeze and kill my window box plants while we’re gone?

Read more »

I’m a bit concerned but not sure what I can do about it, actually. I’ve heard varying weather reports, from a low in the mid-30s to the lower 30s. With all of my annuals spread out all over the deck and yard, there really is no practical way to protect these guys if it does freeze. Plus, it’s windy, so spreading newspaper isn’t going to help. My poor flowers! They’re looking so pretty, darn it all. I heard on the news tonight that spraying them with water early in the morning after a hard frost might help save them, because it lets them unfreeze more slowly. I don’t quite understand how that’s supposed to work, but I think I’ll get up early to see if I can do some damage control.