It's hiding. I just looked and the spring countdown clock says there are 24 days, 12 hours and 39 seconds til it arrives. Spring is hidden under more than 30cm of snow.

I thought it may have nudged Mother Nature in the right direction this past week but the forecast for this weekend leads me to believe this isn't the case.

The overnight low is supposed to plummet to -31C again and the daytime highs are still in the minus mid-teens. I had to create my own spring.

There were a couple days where the sun came out and I managed to get some snowshoeing in. What a treat! Bluebird sky and warm sun rays. It was beautiful.
Back home where the garden beds are under more than a foot of snow and the shrub branches are bare, I decided to create some spring inside.

I dug out my little indoor greenhouse and brought it upstairs. The seeds for the garden got ordered and the seeds left over from last year got planted into their little pots.
 
Gladiolus bulbs from last spring got planted and they have sprouted their new growth. Tulip bulbs that I was forcing have bloomed and are showing off their spring colors. 

I found some information on square foot gardening and I am going to change my way of growing garden vegetables. This method makes so much sense in every way if raised garden beds are used. 

Why do you need to plant in rows? You don't. Space is not required to walk or to cultivate the garden so why waste the precious space. Square foot gardening is planting using the seed spacing; not the row spacing in garden beds. One can double or even triple food production by following this method.

I created the garden beds on an excel spreadsheet and divided up each 4 foot bed into 16 squares. Each square gets planted with vegies according to their seed spacing. When I began plotting out my squares as to what will be planted where, I was left with many blank squares because my method of planting is changing. I can see how production can be increased. This will be a fun experiment.

If you have raised garden beds, search out square foot gardening and read up on it while the snow still blankets the beds. Let me know if you agree with the concept or if you are already square foot gardening.

The garden beds are wearing snow blankets.

I created some spring by forcing tulip bulbs inside.

So much wasted space in the garden beds.  Square foot gardening will change that this year.

Using a trellis will create more growing space as it takes crops in a vertical direction.

My square foot garden plan for the upcoming season.  The spaces not filled in will be used for succession planting and for trying new crops.

It's still there. That bright red extreme cold warning banner is still there. The morning temperature at 7am for the past three days has been in the mid to high -30Cs. 

By 10am the sun warmed the air enough to get the thermometer to rise to -21C with no wind chill. That's my kind of day to enjoy outdoor activities again.

I took the snowshoes out yesterday and today. Yesterday was a real work out because it had snowed. Between the fresh snow and the wind earlier in the week, the trail needed to be packed down again. How is it that I'm usually the one to do the trail breaking?

There were lots of animal tracks in the fresh snow. Moose, deer, hare, weasel, squirrel and coyote tracks crisscrossed the trail and the pond. I love being the first out after a snow so I can see who lurks in the woods.

The sun was shining. The chickadees were singing and the moose were crashing through the trees today. It's Valentine's day and Mother Nature was showing her love. I came across hearts everywhere! Happy Valentine's Day from the woods.

Well, the extreme cold banner still decorates the top of the weather website. The cold has arrived and has not left. I've lived at this location for almost 17 years and this was the first winter that the temperature actually dipped to -44C overnight.
On Monday it was -28C at 7am. On Tuesday it was -43C at 8am. On Wednesday it was -34C at 7am and this morning it was -29C. I need not say more. It is extremely cold. 

I could tell without looking at the thermometer. The house creaked as it contracted. The furnace ran constantly. The poor little birds were puffing out their feathers to stay warm. Brrr, glad I'm not a bird.

There are some things that you can experience only when it is cold. Yes, things other than cold fingers and toes. I had five days off work so the actual plan was to get some x-country skiing done but even I was not goofy enough to venture out of the yard in that cold. 

I did venture into the yard though. That was while I was running my vehicle so I knew it would start if I needed it. The bird feeders needed filling each morning after the deer emptied them the night before so while I was out there and dressed like a marshmallow I did a walk about.

The garage is not heated so the windows were wearing a layer of frosty 'lace'. Icicles hung from the eaves troughs; left over from the temperatures that were on the plus side of things last week. The dried flower heads wore caps of snow. Bird imprints and deer tracks were found close to the feeders.

I decided to try a couple science experiments. It was so much fun watching what happens when hot water hits the cold air that I had to try it a few times! If the neighbors were watching, they probably thought that I was a little crazy but who cares. 

I also tried freezing bubbles. I didn't have corn syrup at home to add to the soap solution to strengthen the bubbles but they stayed whole long enough to land on the snow and then roll around like tumbleweeds. I wanted to see crystals form on the spheres but will attempt this again when I can make the proper solution.

Today the sun was shining. It got to a balmy -25C which felt really warm compared to the minus thirties and forties from the past few days. I started up my vehicle and decided to go for a drive to warm it up quicker. I was going to make a pit stop and go for a short hike at my favorite trail but the parking lot hadn't been plowed yet and I couldn't see ditch from road so rather than guessing where the road was, I gave up on the hike idea. 

Instead, I drove a loop to see what was happening on the range road over from my place. It happens to border Elk Island National Park. There were a lot of animal tracks in the fresh snow on the park side of the fence. One lone bison was out foraging for food. 

At the south end of the lake that I live at, there were a lot of deer tracks; probably belonging to the small herd that visit each yard to empty the bird feeders. There were tracks from snowmobiles on the lake surface.

As I pulled into my driveway, I scared off a white tail deer that was half way up my yard. It was headed straight for the bird seed. The chickadees and nuthatches were singing. The redpolls were having a feeding frenzy at the tray feeder. The woodpeckers rested in the old willow tree next door, waiting for their turn at the feeders.

Even though it's cold, life goes on. All I can say is that when it is this cold, I'm grateful that I can go inside, light the wood stove, put my feet up and hunker down waiting for the temperature to be decent enough to enjoy my outdoor activities again. 

Stay warm everyone!

A redpoll waits for a turn at the feeder.

Deer track in the snow on my driveway.

Bison at Elk Island National Park.

I had only one outdoor 'play' day this week when I was able to get to the trails for a walk in the woods. All was calm and quiet and peaceful. Now I'm looking at that day as the calm before the storm.

Exactly one week ago the temperature was a balmy +6.3C. Mid week things changed. The extreme temperature / snowfall warnings that have been decorating the weather website all week are still there.

My driveway is about 100 feet long. It usually takes me a half hour to clear. Today it took almost two hours. There was about 10 inches of snow on it. Good thing it was light and fluffy. The snowbanks are the highest they have been all winter; probably because it has been a freeze/thaw kind of winter. There would be a snow day and then the next day it would be melting. 

This morning I checked the thermometer before I started shoveling and it read -18C. Luckily there was no wind. I dressed for a colder temp and ended up having to peel off a couple of layers.

When I was done and came inside, walked by my office door. My Christmas cactus is in bloom and the tulip bulbs that I am forcing are reaching above their glass bowl. I have to say I quite enjoyed seeing that bit of color on the cactus and can't wait to see the tulips in bloom. I just might break out the gardening books this afternoon to start planning out what will go where in the yard this spring. I'm ready for gardening season.

I may dig out the little indoor greenhouse and trays to begin preparing for some seed planting later this month. I saved seed from the hollyhocks, poppies and cosmos last fall and plan to start that seed this year.

Do you start flowers and vegies from seed?

There is a sense of satisfaction when I look back at a clean driveway.

I'm loving the pop of color from the Christmas cactus blossoms.

The tulip bulbs will be blooming soon.

I have a lot of seed saved from last year.  Hopefully they will sprout and grow!