The weather this winter has been absolutely wild here in Colorado (zone 5/6) at our backyard farm–from almost zero snow to Christmas temps around 70 degrees, it’s been anything but “typical.” So today, I’m taking you around the farm to look at what’s going on and show you how I’m trying to take advantage of these increasingly warmer winters by doing some tunnel growing!
Even if you don’t want to do this now, you could always give it a try come late winter/early spring! How has the weather been in your neck of the woods? Are you making any changes to your garden plans due to extreme weather?
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27 Comments
Very cold here in northern Ohio and ground is frozen 😮
It has been cold here. I have cut down all the plants and pulled out all bulbs and tubers. Most of the garden is covered by leaves and a bit of mulch. It has been different than the ladt few years. I am waiting for mid-April for planting, except for the Maragolds. I will put them in pots at the end of February, getting them growing indoors.
No on the bird feeders. It attracts pigeons.
When you double the cover do you use an air gap between the layers?
Illinois snow melted in the 40s thinking will get hit with another snow storm in January counting the day till spring😂😅Merry CHRISTmas Blessings🎄♥️
Zone 6b ozarks gardeners here. We built a 4.5×10 ft greenhouse inside our shop this fall. Heating with electric oil heater. Using a humidifier to keep the air from getting too dry. Today we planted lettuce, beets, radishes, turnips and zinnias for the shop greenhouse. We’ll be growing them in plastic lined cardboard boxes. We also planted broccoli , collards, and pak choy to grow in our outdoor hoop house. We’re using your method of covered wire hoops and incandescent lights for heat when it gets below zero in January. It’s to be in the mid/high 70’s week of Christmas 2025. Absolutely crazy! Wishing the best to everyone learning to winter garden!
I noticed spring bulbs coming up in my yard yesterday. I'm in zone 8b. It's been freaking me out.
I've discovered in recent years, despite abnormally warm temperatures that tricked me into thinking I could get crops established in otherwise unproductive times of year, short daylight hours prevented it from being successful. It's important to find varities that are adapted to short days. Obviously, the more north you are the more it is impactful.
It was a week before Christmas and all through my house, nothing is blooming not even my Christmas cactus 🌵!😂
Have you utilized cold frames for growing well into winter.
I learned of cold frames from author/gardener Niki Jabbour in Nova Scotia (zone 6a).
Such fantastic information as always!! Thank you!!
I've been trying to practically phase out plastic whenever I can in my life, so I really like the idea of thrifting for cotton sheets.
You can get rolls of the wire that fence contractors run along the bottom of chain link fence. It is the same size/strength of the that wire that Johnny's sells. You can find it in fence section of Lowes or Home Depot. Last time I bought it, it was $44. I had to use heavy duty wire cutters to cut. Perfect for setting up row covers.
Although we’ve had two warm days this week near 60° and a late frost, we’ve had three small snow events and a low of 8°. Ohio (southern tip here) can be very flippant!
Roses really hang on tight! 😂
All of that said, nothing has been very predictable here ever…I’m always just giving it my best calculations.
Mostly set up and ready to dive into indoor seedstarting!
Ranunculus are going to be one of my deeper dives this year. Without a hoop house, I’ll be covering. Next year I’d like to see i can possibly be successful fall planting more under hoop and row covers for overwintering. With the zone change, it’s predicted we won’t dip below 0°.
I’ll be keeping tabs this winter! We get some Kate lows.
Keep up the great work! ❤
Our planets cycle is wayyyy off. Noticing it too. We are screwed. But hey enjoy the waves of chaos
Snow? What is that? Something we haven't seen on these Colorado plains for a looong time. This video is helpful and informative. You are a true teacher. What kind of Christmas lights do you recommend for adding a little heat?
I planted some bulbs in September that are coming up now. I have older bulbs that know what time it is. It's just the new ones.
I had petunias blooming on Thanksgiving day in zone 6a.
Definitely climate change.
December and late November were cold in Buffalo; probably average considering, but recently it has warmed up and I planted some Liriope today. Do you have a video on rose pruning? I have a customer I built a Pondless waterfall for, who has some and I have no idea what to do except that they don’t get pruned like normal woody plants. Merry Christmas and happy holidays!
Still no killer frost in SW Oregon.
Thank you so much for this awesome vid! Here in IL we have had a much more intense cold weather pattern along with record breaking snow levels. I heard on one reputable radio station that we’ve had more snow here this season so far than we normally get all year. Interesting hearing your experience in CO being abnormally warmer. Thank you sharing this awesome content! P.s. love the ‘or you could just add some Christmas lights’ LOL such a lovely ballerina. 💕
Love you videos!
❤❤❤
Hi meanwhile in New Zealand we had a good dumping of snow on the mountain that we live 5km from. We were just heading out to go to work on the farm and I smelt it as soon as I stepped outside. I couldn’t believe it, snow in the middle of summer?! but that crisp scent is so unmistakable and sure enough when the clouds shifted to reveal it I was right. It’s been such a lovely cozy feeling few days. I love when we have a rainy cool Christmas, it has such a better vibe than trying to cook a big traditional meal whilst physically melting 🫠
I get it. It is Sunday – supposed to be 27 tonight — and 72 on Friday! Never seen anything like it.
Been thinking about growing cold tolerant plants in the greenhouse here in southern Finland, but the light is the problem. We're only getting a bit under 6 hours of daylight/day with just 2 hours of actual possibility for direct sunlight, and we've only had two-three days with actual sun this month. Even the kale is slowly dying.
Here on the west slope things are similar. Many summer weeds have not been killed yet, cover crops are growing, and the greenhouse is almost too hot for the greens I have in there. I can't get anything done indoors while the soil is still warm and I can get a jump on building and expanding flower beds and tree circles for spring. 😉
I just pulled a ton of dandelion seedlings from my vegi beds this week up in Foco, this weather is insane!
Polar vortex here in Wisconsin a few weeks back! Below 25 with wind-chill! Now? 38 degrees, patchy snow and frozen ground. It's wild! Thanks, Bri for being a beacon in the dark! Love to all in 2026!