@imafan, I can understand why you might think that, and to some extent it’s true that some of the pests have lingered inside the protected space, but at this location, my scrabbled together structures are merely delaying the inevitable DEEP FREEZE — our winter lows can and do typically get as low as
0°F ~ -5°F and have gone down as low as double negative digits — like -11°F, -15°F.
Unless my carpentry and general construction skills VASTLY improve, nothing I make will protect from those temperatures. Even the “warmest winter ever” got down to something like teens and low 20’s °F.
I think (45°F), 35~32°F, 25°F, 15°F and 5~0°F are the main demarcation temperatures. There are plants and critters that fail to thrive and DIE when temps reach or get lower.
I have the Sunflower House (polyfilm/insect mesh) “high tunnel hoop house” and now this Bottle House (to be roofed and possibly insect mesh screened) “cabana/hut/shed”. If they successfully survive this winter. these will keep me occupied and provide the season extension and general gardening support I’ll need for a while.
…Also, I generally don’t use Any pest control products except maybe sluggo and Bt is very limited and restricted spread. But these structures that limit general entry into the internal biosphere will allow me to be more aggressive towards controlling pests and then, as needed, re-introducing beneficial organisms and microbes that will have the resources they need to thrive.
I was considering trying something in the Vegetable Garden Area on the other side of the house, but the distance between my house to the neighbors is closer there, and combined with the HUGE white pine trees they planted at the south end of our property line border, the entire area is heavily shadowed all winter.
BUT, it does get a good amount of earliest morning to almost noon sunlight after Spring Solstice, before the trees behind/southeast of our property leafs out, so it’s a good location for early spring planting, and I’m going to gear up to prep those beds until then. I will likely use low tunnels, etc to extend the early spring front-end of the season there.
Big construction project for next season in the Vegetable Gardenbeds will be repairing or rebuilding the Pallet-Sided Raised Beds that are falling apart, and reviewing and reducing the overgrown blackberry patch….
) — I washed my car. It’s been a while … very dirty … I used a soft sponge mop and a bucket of baking soda fortified biodegradable liquid soap … and a downgraded bottle/glass washing kitchen brush for details. What a difference! Well, hopefully, the car will survive this downpour, too … I’m picturing all kinds of splashed up dirt and stuff as well as whatever the wind plasters onto it….
)
