The last frost is finally behind us for this very cold and very wet spring. Normally the snow peas are two to three feet tall and blooming, the spinach and kale have large, glossy leaves and the Happy Homesteader is quite content. But not this year. The snow peas are about six inches tall and the kale and spinach haven’t even gotten that far yet. But….
Oh, Happy Day!!!!!!!
That’s what happens when you have a microclimate. These luscious strawberries were planted in the quarter circle beds on either side of the front porch steps. Here’s how that looked when we first moved here:
Since your Happy Homesteader wants to use every inch to grow food, I decided to make garden beds here. Because the ground is hard red clay, I used Morag Gamble and Ruth Stout’s lasagna gardening method:
And for several years, the beds were used for growing various veggies:
The kale, beets and chard all bolted fairly quickly because of the micro- climate (which we’ll get into in a moment). So last spring we planted some leftover strawberry plants that we didn’t know what else to do with.
Now for the microclimate bit. The porch faces southeast where it gets sun all day. The previous owners painted the house foundation black. Those black painted concrete blocks collect heat all day from that lovely, hot sunshine. And at night when the temperatures drop, that heat is slowly released back into the surrounding air causing the temperature around the plants to stay a degree or two warmer than in other areas on our half acre homestead. And the porch itself helps block the cold prevailing winds out of the northwest.
On really cold nights (we had a low of 28 just four nights ago on May 10th!) we also cover the fragile strawberry plants with frost blanket which gives them an additional eight degrees of frost protection. The result? Just look at those gorgeous, yummy strawberries! Other than lettuce, they’re the only plants giving us food at the moment. And the strawberry plants in the two raised beds at the east side of the house? They’re just starting to produce baby fruits.
You can create a microclimate several ways. Stacking rocks or bricks around fruit trees and bushes may prevent you from losing out to Mother Nature. You can also fill containers (painted black) with water and do the same. It’s a lot of work but it’s definitely worth it when you pop that first delicious strawberry or blueberry into your mouth. So, ‘scuse me for now; I gotta go pick some fruit!
