I thought that the weather was lagged behind the sun by a few months. We certainly get hotter weather in Jan and Feb than in Oct and Nov (and similarly in winter).

Thanks for the reminder. I was so busy yesterday I forgot it was the Winter Solstice.

Seed planting begins the 1st weekend after New Years for me but I have been making lists, checking germination charts and just in general drooling over seed catalogs and such.

Cindy

Thanks for pointing out this joyous fact. Soon all that work they call a holiday will be over and we can get back to having fun!

PQ

Oh no, now things in my crowded greenhouse are going to start growing again... One of these days (pretty soon), I'm going to wake up to the sound of breaking glass, and I'm going to get up to see all my plants lying in the yard all around where the greenhouse used to be!

YAY! Ever since I got chickens, my awareness of the sun, the day length and seasons has been totally changed. Previously, I thought we had to be depressed with winter, until March or April. But now I realize, on Dec. 22, we have lots to celebrate!
My chickens are amazing. Their laying starts slowing down around August, and comes to a complete halt in November and December. But then they are real pros at realizing soon after Dec. 21 that the days start to lengthen, and they start laying again! My whole outlook on the seasons has changed, since I've become aware of the day length. But.....I have to admit.....June 22 is more of a downer to me now! ;)

Catherine your sincere attitude has its own hilarious moments...Thanks for sharing!

Dax

P.s. Winter Solstice is my Birthday...So Happy Birthday!!!..To me!!!

Happy Birthday Dax! :)

Happy Birthday Dax!

Mine was the 17th....hehehe

Dave
Milwaukee

Happy Birthday, Dax!

And a belated Happy Birthday to you, Dave!

Celebrated the Solstice with my first attempt at winter sowing.

Di
Jersey Shore - 53*!

Hey all I have started my matoes again....questiob Chris...why did you say its all downhill from here...the suns angle will only become less and more daylight hours..I think a minute or 2 a day more...to give an update on unheated GH...well tomatoes took a beating as well as everything else did...some plants I have overwinterizing in the GH but you we all correct about not having heat...the tomatoes are still a live...just hanging on...I will hang on to them until the weather warms up a bit to see if they come back...if not ohh well...have many more to come soon...the funny thing what I noticed is they were ok in the lower 30's upper 20's...but one night it got into the teens and the inside walls iced up from the condensation, and they all took a beating that one night...

hAPPY HOLIDAYS

STEVE

I think Chris meant, it's easy-sailing from now on......that it will just get better and better, the longer the daylight hours get. I think Chris must ride a bike alot or something....and was thinking "downhill" being a good thing!

But as I posted before, just because the day length is increasing doesn't mean the weather is going to get better.

Chris is right; just knowing that the sun is rising again, and the days getting longer, makes it all easier to bear ... especially with the tiny snowdrops pushing through ice and snow to bloom in the winter sun.

However, I have to agree with Nathan about the weather - typically, our coldest months here in NJ are January and February, and it's around the end of February that my patience with winter has about run out. That's when I want to run away from home. Now, with the greenhouse, there's a new focus and a warm place to run TO!

All the best to everyone this holiday season!

Diane

Our worst weather is January-March. But there's just something very hopeful about the days lengthening, in spite of the weather. And like I said, the chickens respond to the length of day, not to the weather....so I'm taking their cue!

Nathan,

Sorry I did not get back to you earlier, and you are correct. The outside weather is going to get colder here, I looked at historical data and it appears that the average lows and highs reach their lowest around the last week in January. Meaning the outside temperatures will get worse. There is a 4-5 week lag in sun angle and what we feel on the ground (same happens in fall...)

What I am happy about is the daytime temperatures inside my greenhouse will start to rise on a sunny day. For the past couple of weeks there has really been no point getting all wrapped up, battling through snowdrifts and fighting my way into the greenhouse carrying a mug of coffee to find the temperature in there is in the mid 50s... All I do is take off my gloves and woolly hat and drink my coffee.

Now, in a couple of weeks even though it is colder outside the greenhouse will be over 80F in the afternoon even on a below 32F day. Then it is great to make the journey, strip of the arctic survival gear and be warm!!!!

My greenhouse is usless as something to grow plants in for the next eight weeks at least, but it is a great place to sit and read in the afternoons....

Oh, I got to tell all of you this. One of the most amazing experiences is to sit in your greenhouse on a sunny day when there is about six or more inches of snow on the roof. It is bright in there but the silence is out of this world.... Makes your ears hurt!

After the 2nd week of January our weather starts to improve greatly....It has been almost 60 during the days and nights are gettiing back to the 40's....Yesterday when I got home...around 3PM I went in and checked my water bottles they must have been 70-80 deg...We are having more cloudy days lately...but come mid January things will get better....thats if the fuzzy creature doesnt see his shadow lol....wait thats in feb...oppsss...well happy holidays and happy gardening

Steve

Nathen. Chris said nothing about the weather. Simply longer days = more raditional heating. To bad fo you, your heading for winter!

CatherineT: Add a 100 watt bulb and timer to you coup to extend the day light. Your chickens will continue to lay all winter. We have 15 hens and get about 6 a day.

You all should see my winter solstice Happy Butt Dance!

Hi Mylu,
I've chosen to give my girls a break from laying. But.....sure enough...one day after the winter solstice, I got an egg!!

Mylu, actually, the hot weather is yet to arrive, the hottest so far has been a mild 36C, usually we get a few days of around 42C, which is when the plants start dying. I'd be happy if less radiation meant less heat, but experience is that most plants die in feb, and some years in march if el nino is in force. However, I rarely lose plants due to cold (and only my tropicals even notice our coldest weather) so my planning is exactly opposite to you guys north - which means I'm begining to worry too.

I spent all of last thursday dismantling the shell of my old greenhouse (that was the 36C day too!). Now I'm pondering whether to rebuild it at my new house, or try to survive this summer with shade cloth. Something to worry about after christmas lunch I think.

I'm thinking about trying the tent "gh in a gh" idea again this year, only much earlier.

Make a simple frame inside the gh, hang plastic over and put a small fan and a ligh inside. Don't heat the gh, just the much smaller tent.

But first, gotta fix a broken window out there, the wind must've blown it open.

-Ed

The "gh in a gh" works good for us in this zone. Seedlings take up very little space and by the time you are ready to transplant them into larger cells it is easier to keep the rest of the greenhouse warm.

Use your "tent" in fall too and it helps with the late tomato crop.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:305121}}

Chris - love the photo. Oh, to have a greenhouse that size! The family is discovering how nice it is and I get visitors while I'm out there now ... we've had three people in that little HFGH, as well as the benches, plants, and water bottles ... you can be sure those plants weren't suffering from any carbon dioxide shortage!

Great planning to make the best use of your resources.

Diane

Great picture, Chris. I'm using floating row covers over the raised beds where I'm growing baby lettuce. Even though it's only a week past the solstice, the lettuce seems to be having a growth spurt.

MJ