Winter came on early, that's for sure. I guess other parts of the country have been blanketed with very deep snow. Here in our little corner of Connecticut we've had two good snowfalls adding up to about 10 inches on the ground. Not so bad for, the middle of winter, but technically, it isn't even winter yet! Also, temperatures have taken a deep plunge into the teens overnight and early morning and bitterly cold with winds during the day, too.

Fortunately, we were able to get our cold frames planted up with winter greens and quickly built another hoop tunnel over a big bed of kale that hopefully will keep producing all winter now that it is protected.

In our glass-covered cold frame we have spinach (Giant Winter Hardy), a mixture of lettuces, and some baby kale. Another frame, plastic-covered, has broccoli and arugula. The arugula seems to be holding up although it isn't really a plant I would think of as a winter cold-frame contender. We'll see how it does after this really cold snap.

I did put horse manure around all the plants in the frame to give off some extra heat under the glass or plastic.

The garlic has just started to poke up as has the Egyptian Walking Onions and shallots. I spread leaves over the latter two crops and also around my leeks to protect them from the cold, but they don't have to be in a cold frame. I planned on covering the garlic with leaves after the ground froze - usually not until a few weeks later than this. Now, though, the snow came and covered everything. If, and when it melts, I will quickly get a blanket of leaves over the bed to protect the garlic bulbs.

Everything seems to be growing nicely and we'll have lots to show at the Introduction to Permaculture class which is happening on Tuesday, December 15, here. The newly renovated classroom looks awesome with new windows and a wood-stove, and the painting is just getting finished as I type this. The class is almost full and may in fact be, by Tuesday.