friggin cold

Outside: 7 degrees - 5 wind chill. 20 degrees inside the traditional cold frame, 25 inside the square foot cold frame.

I shoveled and hauled a full truck load of wood chips from the Sylvan Canoe Club. They chopped a couple of trees and ground down the stumps. I hauled the stump remains - basically a pile of 2 inch wood chips mixed with sawdust and dirt. This is the second truck load of wood chips I have added to my compost pile this winter. I just read a book last night where the author doesn't recommend adding wood chips or saw dust to compost because of the time needed for them to break down. Whatever dude - go put some tofu in your little whimpy compost pile. My pile will compost body parts if you leave them in there long enough.

I forgot to mention my compost tea in yesterday's post. Quinn and I cut a 2x2 section of burlap, filled it with compost, tied it tightly and dropped it into my rain barrel. Had to break through the one inch of ice at the top of the barrel to let it find it's home on the bottom of the barrel. I am excited for compost tea. Several books I read this winter (yes I did nothing other than read gardening books), speak of compost tea as being the transplant elixor. Water with it when you transplant and all your garden worries will disappear!

1:30 pm temp update (Thanks Quinn): 21 outside, 39 in cold frame (part sun), 57 in sq foot garden (full sun). Yep - my cold frame is in absolutely the wrong place. I need to think about moving that, but where? Not much sun hits the escarpement in the winter.