Winter support group for northern gardeners

I am in need of a support group for northern gardeners. I live in northern michigan and it has snowed everyday for the last week and they are predicting snow everyday for the next 6 days. I have heard that some areas in the snowbelts might end up with over 2 feet of snow.
It has been almost 2 months since our first hard frost. That's not quite true we had 2 in August. My garden is huge and I was outside all night with small fires all over in my garden. It worked GREAT the only thing I lost was sleep.
I just realized that it is over 6 months until our last frost date (2001). I already have spring fever. Last winter I was so desperate to work in my garden that I (don't laugh) went out to my garden with a pick ax (the ground was froze down over a foot deep) to dig up some of my perennials to force them into early growth so I could take cuttings off them. I also start 18 flats of perennials in my house.

I just can't wait till spring. Does anyone else feel like that? or should I shutup, climb in my cave and hibernate till spring?

Signed,
Cold and desperate in northern michigan

Sari,

Believe Me... I've been there!! I have a book called 'Four Season Harvest' by Eliot Coleman that's all about extending your garden season through the winter. Eliot Coleman is an organic gardener that lives in Western Maine (I think he's zone 4). He's managed to grow and harvest fresh vegetables year round with the use of cold frames and 'mobile green houses'.

The green houses are designed like an unheated hoop house but they sit on skids and they're able to slide to different areas of your garden. He gives full instructions on how to build them and they're simple and inexpensive. He uses them for vegetables but I'm sure they'd be great for perennials too. It might be something you'd like to try.

I've felt like you in past years but now I can say I almost look forward to the break that winter brings. I read lots of books, plan next year's garden, and catch up on house stuff I neglect all summer. I also have other craft type hobbies that keep me busy. I don't envy the southern gardeners that can garden all year any more. I think if I could garden year round I wouldn't enjoy it as much and eventually I'd burn out. Besides - What would you look forward to? ;-)

Any way... If you have an interst in the book I found it at Amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1890132276/qid=974727792/sr=1-1/107-3879592-8630968

i am here in midmichigan-i understand fully. i am still trying to harvest seeds and bring in pieces of plants because i cant STOP. i am getting ready to start seeds inside(no greenhouse YET) i went to franks(going out of buisness)and got ruffle ferns-maiden hairs for .97 and bromeliad in clay pots .47 and .97 regular 10.00 the bulbs were 50% off so i got some more tulips and hyacinths =]
im thinking i will keep them for inside flowers-i really dont want to move the snow to plant! ;] sari the next time you come down you should call and we can get together!!
its snowing hard today here...i need to go out later and get the green castor bean pods. after i take 2 lil guys to the drs. WINTER WONDERLAND-oh pooooooooooooh!
feeling the same winter blues.,
dori

Gee...snow...we get to see that maybe once or twice a year..it is beautiful but not much fun to deal with on a daily basis...I wonder how y'all get to work everyday..here, we have ice, everything shuts down till it melts..and nobody knows how to drive on ice. Gets pretty scary...I do love living down here except for the summers...that's when we hole up inside and don't venture out unless absolutely necessary...we had many, many days of 100+, and many of those were 110+. We went one year for 2 months with over 100* days..that's why we're all nuts down here...our brains have been fried. But spring and fall are delightful, and winter is mostly mild, although sometimes cold, wet and windy. There's an old saying "Nothing between us and the North Pole but a barbed wire fence."
I do appreciate winter though...I consider it The Great Cleansing..kills out all those nasty bugs. We've had such mild winters the last few years that the grasshoppers have been horrible...by horrible, they eat everything, including the bark on the trees. I wish it would get really cold this winter, just so I don't have to watch those *#$&@^* eat everything I worked so hard to get to grow. I envy you your mild summers that plants love to grow in...I see things for trade I just dream about growing because the heat just bakes and fries them...when I began gardening I wondered why people didn't grow some of the lovely things I saw in the catalogs..now I know why I never see them here..sizzle, sizzle, sizzle. So, maybe I've warmed you Yankees up...bloom where you're planted. :-)

We are having a break from the snow, but yesterday the snow was blowing and drifting pretty good (the fine snow that gives good white outs on the roadways). Today it was cold and tonight it will be in the single degrees without figuring in the wind chill (brrr). We have a nice warm house though and I just found some huge houseplants for a couple of bucks each. I am trying to find a better organization for my seeds and figure out a different plant stand to start plants on in a few months. There just isn't enough room inside to start as many as I would like. I can handle the cold as long as I don't have to drive on ice. I lived in Texas for a couple of years and I understand what you are saying Lantana. Stay warm all you northerners and you southerners enjoy your break from the heat.

Brrrr is right. Its so much colder this year than it has been the last couple of years. I always like a change in the weather, be it cold or hot, rainy or dry. Its the extended periods of cold that bum me out. I am thinking that this cold snap should wipe out many of the pests this year tho. I have started reasearching the seeds I traded for over the last couple of months and I have received a couple of seed catalogues. I am looking forward to January so I can try out the winter sowing method. I am going to start most things in my raised vegetable bed, so I can have them out of there by the end of May, which is when I get the veggies in the ground. I am also thinking about getting the grow light table set up for my annual flowers, peppers and tomatos. I lived in Texas for seven years. I wasn't really into gardening at that time. I was having too much fun. Now I look back and think of all the things I could have grown :) Oh well, there's always tomorrow...

May I please be added to the support list? Although we don't have your snow (yet!)here in N. Illinois, we are having temps in the low 20's, and slight dry flurries (the kind that look like dandruff!). So far, to help the cabin fever that I know will be coming, I have ordered about 10 catalogs to add to my already large collection I received last year...at least that will help me pretend! I'm also trying to find plans to make a seed germination light stand (of course, the way things are going, I'm going to have about 500 million flats, but...)If anyone knows of any plans for one (cheap/inexpensive) please forward to me! Thanks! Kathy

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Dilettante gardeners love the spring and summer; real gardeners
also love the winter."
-- Anne Scott James
"Down to Earth"

Found this on my e-mail this morning...thought I'd share.