Snow and low temperatures

[charlesModerator]

 Here is a question from Barbara Beveridge in Yorkshire:

 

"Which vegetables are hardy enough to stand buried under snow? This may be relevant to your winter vegetable book! Last winter I lost all of my purple sprouting broccoli plants, for the first time ever. We had a lot of snow that hung around for a long time. I thought it was a one off, but this winter the snow came earlier and is deeper (knee deep) and the temperature lower (-12 as I write this). I fear a spring of culinary discontent."

Well I lost my purple sprouting last year too, for the first time ever. So did a lot of other gardeners, so there is concern that seed quality has somehow dropped. Do you have views or experience on this? 

Barbara is enduring some severe weather, much worse than here in Somerset. See her photos here  http://www.flickr.com/photos/31656125@N08/ 

She is doing brilliantly with her tunnel, and working hard to keep it reasonably clear of snow, but has a mammoth task to grow outdoor greens in that weather. I would back savoy cabbage to survive, do other northern gardeners have some tips?

 

[BarbaraMember]

Thanks for posting this for me Charles. Are there any other growers with advice on crops that survived last winter’s snow? Any with even more snow to contend with?

The snow is troublesome here, but half the battle is to accept it, and now that all the shovelling and the excitement has died down, I’m ready for some planning time, to ensure there are plenty of other things to fall back on when the purple sprouting broccoli succumbs to the weather again. Since the snow is so deep it makes sense to have some vegetables in storage before the weather puts a stop to outdoor harvesting. It’s too late for me this year. The snow came earlier than expected. I found lambs lettuce, overwintering lettuce, and winter spinach (Verdil) had survived last years snow covering. I should try savoy cabbage as you suggest, Charles. Last year, besides the broccoli I lost a few red cabbages as well, but probably ought to have picked those before the snow came!

Whilst dealing with this weather, I’ve learnt a few things that might be useful for other siberian polytunnelers.
1. Bash the snow off the tunnel from the inside. I used a rake with a towel wrapped around it. A local news magazine recently reported on local garden centre which had lost a tunnel due to the weight of the snow. Unless you’re a ballet dancer its easier reach the ridge, to bash off the snow, if you have somewhere free of plants to stand between each of the hoops, from where you can easily reach the ridge. This is an excellent workout!
2. You’ll also need to clear snow from the sides as the weight of it builds up around the sides and pushes the polythene inwards, stretching it. I left too much clutter to close the polythene inside, so the polythene now has a some damage where it was pushed against the sharp edges of the “clutter”! Hindsight is wonderful!
3. You need somewhere to pile the snow up that has accumulated along the sides, so don’t plant anything right next to the polytunnel that hates being squashed under a heap of snow. I have a bed of cabbages about a metre and a half a way. Even that was a bit close.
4. Don’t leave stuff next to the tunnel. It will either get damaged by the shovel, or hinder your attempts to clear snow from the sides.
5. Go home if you’re tired, and come back later. Don’t do what I did and rush. Shovel+tired+polythene=damage! (Fortunately it was only a small hole!)

I look forward to any recommendations for hardy veg. Thanks
Barbara

[charlesModerator]

 Thanks for this post Barbara – the snowy weather has caused me to learn new tricks. We have had three falls in five days of 2", 4" and now 2" again. Each time I have cleared all the plastic structures, and I am especially wary of snow causing my rather flat bottom tunnel to collapse.

I do as Barbara suggests for its sides, knocking the snow from inside with gloved hands (you need gloves because of sharp droplets of ice on the inside).

Then I tie a long batten to a stiff broom and push it back and forth over the tunnel’s top. Phew! Finally the sides need a little clearing too, I use the broom like a snowplough.

My top tunnel which is wider and higher can have the side snow knocked off by tapping the polythene from outside, to make it slide down, then I sweep the top with the long broom.

My cloche has rather too few hoops for all this snow, they are about a metre apart and could be 80cm for greater strength, as some wire hoops are bending over, in spite of my sweeping.

One tall net, protecting kale from pigeons, has collapsed and the birds are having a field day, and are certainly hungrier than usual. Green vegetables could be in short supply, soon and in the spring. I heard a farmer on Radio 4 say that he has lost acres of cabbages and cauliflowers due to the intense cold rotting their stems. The leaves are still green. We shan’t know the damage until there is a thaw – I can barely wait!

[Author]

Posts