I do not know what was up with Punxsutawney Phil, but six more weeks of winter starting two weeks ago would have made this the second week of winter. That's a round-a-bout way of saying we had not had winter. There was a hard freeze & then right back into the 80s day in, day out.
This is also the first winter I have had my greenhouse, all set up & ready to start seeds early, grow really long season tomatoes....& it is usually well over 100F in that space for at least part of the day. Even after winter arrived, this past weekend just like Phil predicted (the groundhog was RIGHT!), the greenhouse could get too toasty unless the door was open. All it takes is sun.
Finally this is the first winter we have had our very own cow. Most cows are not happy in the heat but ours seems to be different. When we burned the big pile of fallen branches etc she was very interested. During the night, it looked to me like she was standing in the coals, but I knew that was ridiculous. Then the next morning I found cow pies steaming over the last embers. Multiple piles. She is a Dexter, an irish cow, so we are thinking she was making her own peat.
So what would you do? Overheated greenhouse, empty heavy duty paper bags (there is some debate as to whether or not they constitute household recycling, lazy ass garbage pick-up bastards) & lots & lots of cowpies.
You guessed it, we are bagging our own fertilizer & cooking it ourselves. So far things go nicely thanks. Also now that the cold has come, those full bags sure help retain the heat overnight.
On another note, a friend of mine used to have a t-shirt of an obviously homeless man sitting on a flattened cardboard box on a city sidewalk, with his pack next to him & a lap full of lemons. The back said: unless life also gives you water, sugar, a pitcher to put it all in & something to mix it with, you are still f*cked.
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