I have been enjoying reading on my local garden group about the city micro climates and those with green houses, green lean-to or hoop covers. There have been pictures of indoor set ups and outdoor as well.

Lots of questions about just went is the soil workable and you can plant the most cold hardy seeds.  I have also found I am greatly enjoying following along on a number of UK blogs and or twitter accounts. They are so far ahead of us in so many ways..

But what I adore seeing is how they use rock as both wind block and heat sink, its something we see a bit in area up from my own farm as it was settled by the Scottish and so we see many stone walls that were built in that area. Soon enough I will clean out the beds but not quite yet, I want to give that cover to the soil over the next weeks and then I will clean it out and do the annual seeding for the pretty flowers.

I was very surprised when we had a lack of rocks here on the farm when we moved here but finally when we were digging area, we hit a old rock pile, it has become the backbone of our rock garden area’s by the house. They are used in a area that has a lot of lily’s that are tiger lilies and are the edible kind only (I don’t mix them with others)

I harvest enough  bulbs each spring for fresh eating that I never need to worry about them getting crowded in the bed. What I love about the big rocks is that they heat up in the early spring sun and warm the soil around them to get everything up and growing when the main gardens are still under snow.

I have other Bloody Dock Plants in the gardens they are still under snow at this time, even in this bed, there is another plant a mear five feet away that is under the shade pattern of a bush that is still dormant but this big old plant that is layered around with rocks here and there is already melted out and up and growing!

The biggest leaves are already 3 inches long and by next week, I will be able to start taking a leaf or two for kitchen use. As these are up, time to take a walk later today and see how melted out the area is with my sunchokes?

We have snow coming later today and if they are right a lot more tomorrow and the next day, and even a few really cold nights. I asked a old timer farmer this weekend what he though we would have this year for weather and growing season.. two years ago we had the drought, and then last year we had rain and floods and more floods.

He said that the maple syrup run is good and that typically that is a good sign for planting season to come in spring. We will see.