Batten Down the Hatches

The first real winter storm is knocking on our door today. The prediction is for several inches of snow by morning.  When I took this photo, it was sunny and the clouds were just beginning to roll in over the mountains. In the two hours since then, the temps have dropped 20 degrees, the clouds have socked us in completely and it's spitting sleet. 

I took advantage of the calm before the storm to secure the garden.  The garlic has begun to sprout.

It'll be just fine until spring if it's mulched heavily. Here's the garlic bed with about six inches of pine needles for mulch. My hoop house is in the background.

Inside the hoop house, the little plants are doing well. 

Spinach...

Chard...

Collards...

And lettuce.

Temperatures will be in the teens the next few nights, so I've placed a floating row cover over the plants inside the hoop house to give them another layer of protection. The row cover is made out of a thin woven fabric. It looks like the stuff they use as backing on box springs for a bed.

The photo is looking down the inside of the hoop house with the floating row cover over the plants.

These next few days will be a test for how well this hoop house protects the plants. I'm very curious about what it'll be like when I wake up in the morning.