Tag: Ozark winter

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Six More Weeks

January thaw finally showed up with beautiful, warm sunny days trailing into February. So, the back yard ground hog got up to see what was going on, saw his shadow and announced six more weeks of winter.

Big Surprise – Not

This is the beginning of February, still considered the middle of winter. Spring doesn’t officially arrive until the end of March. And, the last few years, spring has been lucky to oust winter by April.

That doesn’t mean the drop from a pleasant seventy degrees to a cold forty was appreciated. It definitely wasn’t.

Disappointment

That ground hog was in for a hard time scrounging for food. The goats have noticed too. A few blads of grass are trying to grow, but the five inches of snow stopped any thought of spring. The snow decided we had six more weeks of winter and green grass.

My cabbage and leek seedlings are hoping the weather will moderate into a semblance of early spring by March. That’s when they are supposed to move into the garden. In the meantime, they would like fifty during the day as they can move out on the front porch instead of sitting under grow lights. Sun is so much better for seedlings.

Early Bloomers

The wayside speedwell started blooming during January thaw. Its cheery blue flowers are the color of a summer sky.

Down by the river, the silver maples are blooming. I’d love to get some pictures. To get these pictures I need to climb up thirty feet. There are lower branches, but the flowers are on the top ones.

During those six more weeks of winter, the garden gets renovated. Barns get cleaned out. Hiking plans will be made. Seedlings will be started and grown.

The endless tasks of spring and summer are on the horizon. Perhaps a bit of extra sleep should make the list too.

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Cabin Fever

Everything is coated with ice and snow. Ice looks pretty when the sun hits it, but is treacherous to walk on. People and livestock are stuck inside and quickly develop cabin fever.

cabin fever in chickens
The hen house is too crowded to do much, according to the chickens. Most of them spend their days inside standing on the roosts.

Chickens

These birds hate snow making it an easy decision to keep their door closed. Now, the chickens could flock out to the goat barn, but it’s locked up. They would try under the goat gym, but there isn’t much to do there.

In their room, the chickens have feed and water. They can stand around on the roosts, the floor and the nests.

One day, maybe two, the chickens are okay with this. After that cabin fever sets in and they squabble.

food trumps cabin fever for Nubian goats
As long as there’s hay, my Nubian goats are too busy to indulge in cabin fever. Once the hay is picked through, the squabbles begin.

Goats

My herd is used to walking all day. They do this even on winter days when there is little for them to nibble on.

Hay is not as good as fresh grass, even winter grass. Ice or snow covered grass is another matter. Hay is now top of the menu.

Since the herd is much smaller, there is room for them to wander around. There are favorite spots and that leads to arguments. The door is closed, so the arguments soon involve more goats.

The only goats without cabin fever in a day or two are the kids. They run and play or curl up and sleep.

People

We are outside people. Walking, gardening, work take us outside much of every day. Ice and snow make trips outside occur on an as needed basis only.

It’s not that we don’t have plenty to do inside. The bookcases are loaded with books. Housecleaning is a never completed item. Cooking is an option. I could even get a lot of writing done.

Cabin fever isn’t about having something to do. It’s about being stuck inside.

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Bad Weather News

Floods, tornadoes and such are definitely bad weather news. The pictures and stories about these are terrible.

In my corner of the Ozarks, these events are not happening. There is another, more silent disaster threatening.

Now, I am not a winter enthusiast. Snow is nice out the window from a warm room. Cold is to be avoided whenever possible.

That means our recent warm temperatures have felt nice. Walking and working outside without heavy coats on is great. Even in winter gardens need things done.

However, I would forgo this pleasure to stop the approaching ecological disaster.

Necessary Cold

Plants around here expect cold weather to last until March. They sit tight waiting for warm weather to announce the spring growing season. Warm weather like the last few weeks.

Greeting the New Year were wayside speedwell flowers spread across part of the yard. These bloom during any warm spell all winter.

Speedwell flowers not bad weather news
These Wayside Speedwell, Veronica polita, flowers may be small, but their summer sky look cheered up New Year’s Day this year. An international traveler, these are tough plants blooming when winter offers even a week of warm weather.

The daffodils and iris have started to grow over a month early. Both can take a lot of cold, but not common February temperatures.

Slippery elm trees are almost in bloom as are several maples, a month early. Flowers don’t survive really cold temperatures.

Many of the usual spring plants around the yard such as plantains, shepherd’s purse and white avens are looking like spring is coming soon. That does not bode well for the many spring ephemerals such as bloodroot and trillium.

Many plants are annuals. If they sprout now and get killed by cold before seeding, many will not come up again.

Trees with frozen flowers produce no fruit. Two of the last three years have seen few pawpaws for this reason.

Floods and tornadoes affect people as well as plants so these get bad weather news coverage. But the silent disaster of warm winter temperatures for weeks is bad too.