Winter Update

It's been really cold the past two weeks so I have been trying to protect the garden from the frost and freezy wind. However, the plastic cover keeps blowing off. It's been so cold, I've only been out a couple of times to check on the garden. The last time I went out, some of the Brussell sprouts and collard greens had not survived the frost. I had to pull them out.

The seeds I planted will probably not mature enough to survive the frozen ground coming in January so next year I will have to start earlier!

I've been researching a better method to protect the plants and came across a couple of ways. The best one I found was a hoop cold frame built by the people who run this website called http://www.gardenfork.tv/ They have some videos on Youtube.com that were pretty helpful.
http://www.youtube.com/user/erochow#p/search/1/v6bWeYCV53A

I will probably modify the method a little bit to fit my garden for this year.

• Use rebar staked into the ground to give the PVC pipes extra support for the frame.
• For a 4' wide garden, use at least 6-10 ft PVC pipes.

Lesson Learned: Don't plant the fall garden in the 8'X8'. Use the 4'X8', it's easier to cover during the frosty nights. Do a thorough clean up before the weather gets too cold.

Enough for now.