Tag Archives: winter in Santa Fe

WINTER IS COMING! This week!

first freeze 2021

cold-clip-art-clipart-coldthermometerOur first freeze will be on this Tuesday, Oct 12 which is pretty normal for Santa Fe. So I’ve been out harvesting like crazy as everything will either die (annuals) or go to sleep (perennials). In fact this whole week will have killing frosts so, for those of you who are waiting to finish harvesting, you got one more day before it gets bitter cold. The whole house is stuffed with all the crops from the season but it is good I finished up today and now can relax. I am done-finito and so is the garden. I will still have to compost or dispose of the plants but I can do that later. No sense in getting out in miserably cold weather this week unless necessary so I will cozy up inside with a nice fire!

Snow day!

KOKO likes the snow!

 

 

The gardens on a snowy day-Dec 26, 2018

Hard to believe this is the veggie garden on Dec 26
The UNHEATED greenhouse still has some radishes, beets and carrots in it onDec 26
The coldframe still has spinach in waititng for longer days.
The front yard
Birds enjoying the bird feeder on a snowy day

Wow! Lots of snow here!

SNOW STORM

Wow! We got substantial snow out here on Tuesday! Blizzard like conditions for a while. The picture above was taken while driving home (I stopped to take it!) Just when you thought we were going to have an early spring. But those of us who have lived here for some time know better. We always get snow after a warm spell  (we just broke some record for warmest day last week) and it seems to be that way every spring.

snow storm Feb 23, 2016

The picture above was about 5 inches at the time I took it during a break between storm cells. I ran out to take a picture and the birds ran out to the feeders between storms to feed too. It was about half the amount we actually ended up with. I measured 9-10 inches when it was all done but in town hardly any fell. What a delightful surprise for the trees and perennials plants out here who were getting thirsty!

Quiet time

Koko Snow Dec_BLOG

Next time the snow is falling softly, go outside and listen. I love to go outside when the snow is falling-it is so quiet. It muffle all noises. I listen as I walk down to the barn each morning to take care of my barn friends. What do I hear? Nothing. Sometimes with all the sensory stimuli we are bombarded with each day, I like the sound of nothing. I call it quiet time.

Right now the garden is quiet, the trees are quiet, the earth is quiet, all sleeping soundly, waiting for spring to arrive. The sun wakes up late and goes to bed early every day. It is a quiet time for me too when I am home. I love cooking up hearty meals. I don’t do this in summer, I don’t have time- I’m too busy in the garden. But now I do have time for this luxury. I love having fires in the fireplace. I love the smell of piñon burning and the crackle of cedar wood. I love catching up on my reading.

BLUE SNOW

I miss the green of the summer gardens but love the blue snow of the winter gardens, the stark shapes and silhouette of the trees and perennial plants. Suddenly I see their bone structure without all the greenery. They are beautiful, draped in the snow.

I collected all the gardening catalogs that came in the mail in December, but I do not look at them-not just yet. There is plenty of time for that in a few weeks. That’s why the universe made winter-to give us time to reflect and rejuvenate and be quiet. Be still thy busy mind…

Winter Solstice/ El Nino here

GARDEN_PANORAMA

Winter Solstice has come and gone but it doesn’t feel or look like it yet. Yes, daylight hours are starting to get a little longer again but who can tell with all these winter storms hitting us here in the southwest? So far my projection of good precipitation this winter is coming true but that was based on a big, no make that a huge El Nino coming in. How big is this El Nino? They say it might be as big as the 1997-98 El Nino and may become the biggest ever! El Ninos affect all parts of the earth differently-some places droughts, some places more typhoons but here in the southwest US they notoriously bring more moisture when they hit us. So while it is in the 70’s on the east coast, it is cold and wet with snow here in Santa Fe this winter.  The trees are thirsty, the plants are thirsty and the ground is thirsty no more. Which is a good thing as we are now out of a long, long, drought that has been going on for years. As a gardener, this is great as mother earth is doing all my watering this winter so far.