It’s Winter…even in Texas
Spending much of my life in New York, I am no stranger to winter. From snow, sleet, freezing rain and cold plus the added layers of warm clothing, I’ve been there. One of my fondest memories is of walking down the middle of 57th Street in NYC during a blizzard (middle of the street pretty much being the only place you could walk as the snow was just too deep on the sidewalks and no one was actually out driving at that point, so seemingly safe to do). At the end of my mile and a half walk I decided to stop in for a beer at my local pub. They had a great big mirror behind the bar and as I went to grab a stool, got a glimpse of my hat covered head and the two inches of freshly fallen snow that had accumulated there. Good times for sure! Of course, two days later, most of the snow had melted and turned into a big mess of slush puddles, conveniently located at every street crossing and fairly unavoidable, result being water logged shoes, socks and feet. But the snow coming down, now that was pretty cool.
Anyway, after years of the cold winters, I was very much looking forward to the move to central Texas. In my mind, Texas meant two things weather wise, warm and hot, and I was ready for both. House hunting in September in 102 degree heat surely meant the end to cold winters. Well, as it turns out, that’s not the case at all. Granted, the average temp this time of year is around 60 degrees, however, we are about to experience our 3rd round of hitting freezing temps this season alone, after being near 80 degrees only a few days ago. Quite the swing and actually a little harder to adjust too than just being cold all of the time. I’m still sworn to wearing shorts, for the most part always, so I am forced to keep the top layers handy and apply/remove as needed.
Here at Pulpland, when temps reach freezing or below, it triggers something else…full plant protection protocols being put in place! Through the years we have acquired a very large assortment of potted and in the ground plants, cactus, succulents, you name it. Our first year here we learned the hard way what a good freeze does to outdoor plants (they die) so have made it a habit not to let that happen since. From hanging tarps on the deck to eventually building the Pulp Greenhouse, we have stepped up our game when it comes to keeping the plants healthy and warm. This has also resulted in some of the potted plants becoming so large that they simply cannot be moved anymore (I consider that a win)! So, to date, all small plants have taken up winter residence in the Pulp Greenhouse and I’ll be breaking out the plant blankets (they call them “Plankets”, very cute) this weekend for the possible two days of reaching freezing temps coming. Then we’ll remove them and start the process all over again as I am sure we’ll probably have a bit of a heat wave before next freezes rolls through.
New pics added to our “New Pulp” page and if you haven’t had a chance, check out the new “Innocent” video we added last week.
Cheers all!
