In an effort to get a head start for spring, we protected some greens--lettuces, arugula, etc.--through the winter by covering a few of our raised beds with plastic. The cover was ripped off the first bed early on in the winter. We fixed it a couple of times, but Mother Nature was very determined. After the plants had been exposed to freezing temperatures a few times, we gave up (you can see the hoops in the background). The second bed fared pretty well until the high winds last Friday pulled off the plastic. That's when we made the unpleasant discovery that it had simply been too cold for most of the lettuces and not many survived. To top it off, chickweed and other weeds were thriving under there! It wasn't a total loss, though. The weeds went to the chickens. Our hens can tell you that chickweed is aptly named. They love it!
