November sunshine – rare in Vancouver!

I don’t normally think of sunlight and warmth as mutually exclusive, except for yesterday, when I had to decide which of those were the most important for my plants. We had some fabulous sunshine, but without the usual winter cloud cover, the air was very cold (5 degrees celcius).

I ended up choosing sunlight, and pulled back the plastic on the slug biodomes so that all the plants could get some UV. This released all the warm air, and I worry that I put the plastic back too late for the air inside to warm again. I also watered the plants because for the first time in two weeks, the soil was getting dry. I hope that they won’t freeze…

A few points:

• The inside of the slug biodomes smell like rotting cruciferous vegetables. Although I have been grooming the plants regularly – removing yellowing leaves or any other signs of death and decay – something isn’t happy.
• The baby arugula I sowed last week has sprouted (see below). I hope it survives the slugs.
• I have been carefully soaking the kale and lettuce that I harvest from the biodome. I usually add one drop of enviro-bio-dish detergent, as that encourages all the slugs to float to the surface. Last week six slugs floated to the surface from the kale – a record number.  No, we did not eat them.
• I pulled out two of the big mizuna plants (bottom left on the photo above). The mizuna is actually the only thing remaining from the mesculin blend that I planted early in the year. Unlike the pac choi and all the other lettuces planted in that box, the mizuna doesn’t seem to be very cold resistant and has started to rot. The plants are probably too crowded and are producing stalks with very little leaf material. Also, the plant has a “sharp” texture similar to parsley, so my kids won’t eat it.

This weekend I also put the hoses away and turned off the water at the back of the garden so that it doesn’t freeze. I pulled the hoses out into the driveway and then wound each of them up, then connected the two ends (so that the water doesn’t leak everywhere, and tied them up with a few bits of twine. They are now out of the way and in the store room until spring.

Arugula sprouts in the biodome…