Winter Doldrums

We left the mud in December to plunge head-long into snow and bitter cold temps. The builders haven’t gotten everything wrapped up because one of the last crucial things to do is put up the double poly roof on the greenhouse. Ideally , it would be nice to have no wind (nothing like fighting a 25’ x 55’ long “kite” when it comes time to put the plastic on) and a day that isn’t freezing cold. We have not managed to have these two characteristics intersect so they can finish up. They did get the steel on the west and east walls.
There’s a strip that needs steel on the shared wall between greenhouse and the barn (see the silver area on right wall of barn). The builder was hoping for a good day next week to finish up but the weather is looking like another storm is going to come through on Monday.
When the cold weather came (and didn’t leave), each snowfall kept adding to the previous one because the ground was cold. We currently have about 8” on the ground but the wind has created some snow drifts that are up to my knees in the yard. We have a micro climate in this spot that produces extreme cold temps (last night it was –21) that are far colder than surrounding areas. The local weather station reported that for most areas around here, it was –5 degrees. The extreme temps will be a challenge for winter growing and a test to see how well the growing troughs can maintain their temps. A fellow aquaponic grower near here, who uses the same type of growing system, only loses 2 degrees of warmth over the entire length of the system. This is due to the trough sides and bottom being insulated to maintain the water temps. On top of that, the raft that the plants are growing in is a 2” piece of Dow insulated board. Insulation all the way around to keep the water temps consistently warm and that keeps the plants happy.
I placed orders for some of the organic items that the seed companies tend to run out of early, potatoes and garlic. The potatoes won’t ship till after April and the garlic doesn’t get shipped till fall but this way I know it’s ordered and I’ll get some. Not much I can do till the greenhouse is completed. I’ve been working on the paperwork for the organic certification. My brother is starting to tap trees and I hope to help him out with boiling this year and learn about the whole process. Can you believe, that in another week, February will be half over already. You know what that means….Spring is just around the corner!