❄️ zone 5a is a bit chilly

Living in New England my whole life and only getting into gardening in the last ~5 years, I never really considered the grow zones we have. 

After doing time in produce at WFM, I had a better idea of how much of our food came from out of state, region and country. Great peaches and plums are possible in our zones but those yummy tropical fruits aren’t big fans of snow and below zero nights. In Rhode Island I was gardening in a 6b, which is probably the warmest zone I’ve lived in. I do find it hard to believe as we had very typical New England winters and it sure felt like it was far below zero. Maine on the other hand, feels like a very accurate 5a, constantly giving us nighttime lows in the negative teens. On the other hand, we had about 4 days last week that were in the high 40s and sunny and at this rate, climate change will heat us to a 6b in no time~ (plz no)

So what can I actually grow here??

While that depends on what you’re looking to eat in your garden, a lot of food is possible up here in Maine, doubly so if you’re able to utilize cold frames, greenhouses and indoor gardening. (indoor gardening– I did a brief overview of what I’m growing here~) You’ll need to pay attention to plant varieties that are cold hardy, as they’ve been bred to better withstand frosts, wind and snow. So far, I’ve had a lot of luck finding apples, peaches and berry plants that are cold hardy and local. Picking a variety that grows in your state, or even county, can help ensure that you have successful plants year after year. 

While local resources and plants are a great start, me and my spreadsheets want more. 

  • Native Plant Trust (nativeplantrust.org)- This site has been the most helpful in helping me plan and draw up permaculture maps for parts of our property. It’s a database of native plants of New England and has a thorough search engine with all kinds of settings that has helped me find great plants.
  • Plant Lust (plantlust.org)- This is another search engine that has been helpful in planning color-themed gardens and cross referencing plants I’m considering. It also sells the majority of plants it lists though most have been sold out.
  • USDA Plant Hardiness Map (https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/)- The og garden planner, start here to see what zone you’re in and get planting!

With the top two sites, I’ve been able to find plants that can tolerate this chilly 5a zone because they’re native to Maine and what I’m looking to add in my garden.

a garden out of the hill

We have some big plans for this homestead. Watching everything pile up with snow and ice has given us more time to daydream about what we’d like to change in the coming years. One of our biggest daydreams is transforming the backyard hill into a terraced garden. No big, it’ll be just like Minecraft~

The hill in question has been left to the wilds for some time now, though there’s evidence of christmas trees from winters past down there. Mike and I and the dogs have somewhat traversed it before the snow fell and between the number of ticks we accumulated, the thick brush and the overall size of the hill it’s going to be a helluva project. But that’s where the fun will be! 

We’ve started to think about tools we’ll need to clear the area first including a kubota that Mike can’t wait to buy along with materials we want to use to build stairs and garden boxes and other things. Our daydreams are pretty lofty (waterfalls down the hill on either side??) and I’m sure as we start clearing space for things it’ll be a lot more than we bargained for. It’s reassuring that this project will be a few years away so more pressing projects can be fixed but until then, why not daydream just a little?

winter view from the back garden, off the ridge is where the garden will go

local weather journal

 I didn’t have enough hobbies so I started a weather journal.

Not really, though I did want to buy a new notebook so who’s to say what the real motivation is. Taking note of how many areas get more shade than sun and where the wind is blowing from has given me ideas for how I should layout this homestead of ours and I’m glad I started this local journal.

a 10 hr day, finally~

Since we haven’t been in Maine for very long, I’ve only accumulated a month or so in data but I’m starting to see patterns I can use to help my gardens thrive. I try to take readings at three different times of day to get a broad picture of the property on any given day. I have skipped some days accidentally and due to laziness but the world probably won’t end~

Here’s what data I’ve been tracking:

  • Temperature (actual and what it feels like with wind)
  • Wind speed and direction (including gusts)
  • Precipitation
  • Cloud cover
  • Dewpoint
  • Humidity
  • Length of day
  • Moonrise / moonset
  • Sunrise / sunset
  • Percentage of moon illuminated followed by whether it’s waxing or waning

I may add lore, cloud drawings, abnormal weather patterns, etc as the year goes on but I’m happy with how helpful this hobby has been.