North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark & Helen Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>]

Rivka wrote:

"it provided protection to lowgrowing perennials etc. by covering them, and some protection to trees by keeping the roots at a more consistent temperature.

 

You're sure right.  It's interesting the different cultural practices needed, that most of you folks probably already know, but I'm still learning.  I remember some time back I asked questions about mulching strawberries in winter.  Some folks from up north said there was no need.  Some from further south said their strawberries looked worse when they mulched them.  I didn't cover mine and they look pretty terrible (although they don't look so bad they won't bounce back).  My conclusion: people up north, even though it's colder, get plenty of snow to insulate their plants.  Those down south (like us)don't get the snow cover, but don't get quite as cold as here, so they don't need to cover with mulch.  We're in the "sweet-spot" just cold and windy enough to freeze you're plants unless their mulched.

 

Mark

KS

----- Original Message -----

From: Road's End Farm

To: North American Fruit Explorers

Sent: Friday, February 29, 2008 8:48 AM

Subject: Re: [NAFEX] So close....

If we ever again get here what I used to think of as a "normal" winter, people are going to be screaming all over the place; they've mostly gotten used to what we used to call an "open" winter, that is, one with little or no snow on the ground most of the time.

The precipitation that I have expected to arrive as snow has been arriving as rain; not just this year, but in a number of recent years. We've had primarily rain, with a smaller amount of snow, in November, December, January, and February of this year so far (and not much of anything, in January). November used to be a tossup; December through February used to, most years, be snow covered except for a "January thaw" which would last a few days only.

I am, admittedly, going by my memory rather than by looking up weather records. My memory involves being outside in vineyards a lot in the winter, though.

While I don't mind not having to shovel, the snowpack we used to get had two major advantages: one, as it melted slowly in the spring, it filled up the groundwater supplies better (much of this winter's rain has fallen on ground at least partially frozen, and runs off downhill to the lake); two, it provided protection to lowgrowing perennials etc. by covering them, and some protection to trees by keeping the roots at a more consistent temperature.

--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly

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