Winter isn't over, but I'm hoping that the worst of the winter weather (that being freezing rain, snow, and other such low-temperature events) is over, and that I can start working towards the 2009 vegetable garden.

Despite the cold weather, I have learned a few things about particular plants. I'm sure I could have read some of this in a book, but having it occur in my own garden really helps solidify it in my mind.

Certain garden plants don't mind short stints of cold weather. For example:


Golden sage


Lemon thyme


Parsley (this was a surprise)

Other plants that I didn't photograph from my garden include onions and strawberries.

Additionally, I'm happy to know that my chickens don't seem too upset by the cold weather, either.


Here they are digging through a soggy section of the compost pile. Lots and lots of worms in there.


They've also become a little more productive, now that it's not overcast every day. (The brown eggs are from my hens.)


I also pulled up a small late-harvest batch of potatoes. There's not that many there, but I only planted two or three little starters in November, and the plants didn't have that much time before the cold took them over. That larger potato towards the front of the photo was fully 4 inches across.

I'm thinking about building up some cold frames so I can start some seedlings right away -- kind of a mini green-house to keep them warm until the weather gets nice. I've got to put some designs on paper and see what will work the best. The cold frame boxes have to be large enough to accomodate growth if I plan to plant as early as the middle of January...