Cozy Cloche (Search for it. You can buy them.)

I have probably two dozen or more heads of lettuce in a couple of above-ground planters. Being above ground means the lettuce isn’t terribly affected by a mild Spring or Fall frost. But the forecast low for tonight is 25°F. 

We’ve been enjoying our salads, and I’m bound and determined to have a huge, fresh green salad for Thanksgiving. So today, I spent some time preparing the lettuce for a cold night. Mid-morning, I tucked them in the closed clothes. My thinking was that the micro-environment would get fairly warm. I opened a couple and I was right. Despite the cold wind, once the sun came out, it was noticeably warmer inside than out.  Around 4pm, I covered them all with blankets, etc. to retain the heat. 

Although sorely tempted, I didn’t check the temperatures after dark. I’m hoping that the inside temperatures were elevated significantly above today’s ambient temperature, and that by covering them before they started to loose heat, they’ll retain enough– and loose heat slowly enough– to keep the micro-environment above freezing. That’s my thinking. I’ll let you know tomorrow if I have lettuce or planters of mush.

Meanwhile, I started a fire to welcome Daughter C and Miss M home on this frigid Fall day.

There’s a hole in this log. The hole is on fire.

 “Fire in the hole!” Miss M shouted.

In other significant Farm news, Mr. Big Food is done cutting for 2013. He put his records away after announcing that he’d done more cutting this year than last.

Now. The thought occurs that we’re not going to be spending a significant amount of time outside for a couple of months.

What shall we do with our time?? With ourselves!! 

I’m sure we’ll think of something. 

Stay tuned.