October 14th 2018 First Snow northern NM

Good morning!

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This isn't going to be a Winter like last where it barely snowed at all, no. This year we're setting records for early snow, well I assume we are.

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Temperature outside 20F, upper level greenhouse 60F lower lever where the cold goes in an earth-sheltered greenhouse 53F
Greenhouse attached and open to livingroom.
We'll  snuggle up by the fire today.
Have a great day too!
Brian

I dread the winter since I love working on my property. I get cabin fever very easily. Interested in your greenhouse, Brian. Do you have a thread somewhere with more info on your greenhouse? Thanks.

Jim Guinn wrote:I dread the winter since I love working on my property. I get cabin fever very easily. Interested in your greenhouse, Brian. Do you have a thread somewhere with more info on your greenhouse? Thanks.

I too have a thing about Winter dread, now that I am older I don't worry about sealing drafts as much, now I just don't like the cold.
The greenhouse gives me a place to work in the snow, thank goodness. I've been in the greenhouse pruning and harvested two belle peppers in pajamas and slippers.

Bon hiver, Brian!

Beautiful bell peppers, Brian.

Patrick Stanton wrote:Bon hiver, Brian!

Buen invierno back at ya. What a lovely phase. I had to look it up though, but same with the Spanish translation, haha.
So far this Fall looks exceedingly promising for moisture. If we get a good snow pack in the Sangre de Christo (southern end of Rockies) mountains this Spring we should see irrigation water again. One of my greatest pleasures is working with irrigation water in our pasture.  It has been drizzling for six days with graupel and or snow mixed in occasionally; a perfect type of precipitation as it has time to soak in.

Jim Guinn wrote:Beautiful bell peppers, Brian.

We've eaten the red one, OMG scrumptiously sweet and so full of flavor, this is from a second season Belle Pepper plant too! This is grown in a ~ four hundred gallon dirt tank in the SE corner of the aquaponics greenhouse along side of Geraniums. I never had a green thumb. Now I believe that is going to change as I'm filling my toolbox  with Permaculture principles. I constantly struggle getting the aquaponics water to be properly charged with nutrients. I began the aquaponics system because I wanted to raise trout. Permaculture on the other hand works with natural environments   I don't know what the future holds for my aquaponics system, maybe it'll just keep cruising along producing fifty tomatoes a week and that'll be fine. It looks again like I need to deal with another nutrient lockout. When I add Fe-EDTA the fish suffer and the plants get greener, but it doesn't hold for long. I've been reading Redhawk's soil threads, getting information of the role of Sulfur in soil. Learning learning learning, is great, but I have difficulty remembering the names of plants, so that's a handicap. Food forests look like the apex of gardening to me, so that's where I'm heading.
Brian    

Well it's late October here in the UK and we never see snow this early and I still have plants in flower but it tried today and I was shocked.

Hey there Brian, we must be in the same 'hood. I sure am hoping to get more snow this year. Looking at river bottoms for the last year plus is a bit hair raising.
Our best to you.

Be careful what you wish for. Last winter's snow in northwestern Montana was huge. I live in an earth sheltered home so did not freeze to death (just barely). Getting out and about was  a challenge. Thank goodness for good neighbors with big machines. Then a dry spring and summer set us up for fire season, not as bad as 2017 but bad enough. Climate change has us in it's grip. Looking forward to a new wood stove this year and happily eating the last of the frost sweetened spinach and kale.

Hey Roberta, how beautiful your view is! Amazing.
We have been in an extraordinary level of drought. Up until about 2 weeks ago we may have had an inch of rain this year. I would prefer to have slow and steady, but if we get a ton of snow at once, well, I have done a lot of canning, so we will be OK.

Laura Hays wrote:Hey there Brian, we must be in the same 'hood. I sure am hoping to get more snow this year. Looking at river bottoms for the last year plus is a bit hair raising.
Our best to you.

Yes it was scary when Colorado farmers shut down the Rio Grand coming into New Mexico. My son lives in Taos and in the Summer he is a white water rafting guide. The rafting season barely existed this year, definitely no white water. We're on the other side of the Sangre de Christo mountains to the east. Zero acequia water because there was no snow-pack to melt, quite scary.
I see there is now an open protest period about Fracking in Chaco Canyon. Have you seen this?    environment/protest-period-opens-for-proposed-greater-chaco-drilling
Brian

roberta mccanse wrote:Be careful what you wish for. Last winter's snow in northwestern Montana was huge. I live in an earth sheltered home so did not freeze to death (just barely). Getting out and about was  a challenge. Thank goodness for good neighbors with big machines. Then a dry spring and summer set us up for fire season, not as bad as 2017 but bad enough. Climate change has us in it's grip. Looking forward to a new wood stove this year and happily eating the last of the frost sweetened spinach and kale.

Oh my, the pileated wood peckers are so cool looking, I'm so glad they are making a comeback. audubon.org/field-guide/bird/pileated-woodpecker
Yes that amount of snow would suit us just fine. I remember some thirty five years ago we got 54" inches of snow in one Spring storm. Made me realize the importance of having at least one door that opened in, enabling me to shovel my way out of the house. I hope those days aren't gone. Needless to say humans are exasperating climate change conditions and part of me says we deserve everything that is coming.  I hope we have enough time to create our permaculture paradise here in northern New Mexico. I had a nice walk around the area near our house with my 39 year old son yesterday. He is helping me get and keep an open mind about what we've done and what we can do to help our land survive the coming environmental changes. This part of northern New Mexico still has very warm Winter days so I hope to be able to plan and build swales around the forest near the house in which some day we'll be able to collect enough rainwater to plant berry bushes to go along with the native Currents we have growing in the forest. This year I've noticed we have a greater size herd of deer and elk right in our backyard. I would like to plant enough berry bushes to feed them as well as us. I also hope our budget can handle getting black berries and raspberries going around the house in a protected  permaculture food forest so we can propagate those plants into the forests.
riding on hope, and learning to work with nature.
Brian    

Involving the kids is one of the best things we can do. It's the grandchildren and great grands that are going to have to live with what we are doing to the environment. Almost everything I do here I do with an eye to their future. I am planting drought resistant Bur Oak, sturdy varieties of apple, plum, walnut, and cherry, and I garden on the roof. Hoping for a green house next year.

When I can afford it I will convert to solar. We are south facing and get good secondary solar in winter, stay cool in summer. I would like a second, deeper, well at some point, no aquifer here. The kids may have to do that. Water will certainly be their chief concern as we continue to get drier.

Most of my grands and great grands don't yet understand what their environmental future looks like. I continue to try to engage them, all live distantly as is the case for most families these days. Most will have to be directly impacted before they realize what is happening. By the time they do this place should be ready for them to live sustainably.

I love that idea to give squirrels and chipmunks more barriers to get at our plants in the garden. You are so correct in making our places better for the next generation. There is that hope shinning again. Thank you Roberta. Wonderful carving too. I'm into rock balancing in the forest for my Zen. Smiles
Brian  

Brian,
Thanks, I will check that out.
We only have a weekly newspaper (feel good stuff) and I gave up cable and such a long time ago. Leaves me out of the loop with a whole heck of a lot.