Byron News Out of the deep freeze

Now that we are having some above zero temperatures, we can have a few chuckles about the weather. When we were watching the thermometer drop, and seemingly get stuck in the low zone, there wasn’t much to be joyful about. It was interesting that the first morning we didn’t hit zero, it was time to celebrate, as if we could now run out in shirt sleeves and cavort in the sunshine. When I was scraping frost off the car window, I was reminded that zero was still in the deep freeze.
But now, we are up in the 30s, 40s and a few minutes at 50, wahoo. There is hope for spring out there in our future. I am no weatherman, but I do have a feeling there are more cold dips ahead. We have a bit of time to take care of whatever we learned we should have taken care of before the hibernation weather set in.
I am sure heat tape is on order, insulation is being installed and wood is being stacked even higher. Isn’t it interesting that when the faucet stops running, life gets serious? I was talking to one of my neighbors and she already has her plans when things warm up, insulating in her crawl space, insulating pipes and more insulation in the attic. Being cold does helps us focus.
On your way from Byron east, just before the old Snell place, Charles Hessenthaler place, which is now Kieley and Natalie Collins’ place, off to the right is the frame for a large 30-by 70-foot greenhouse. All summer we enjoy Natalie’s green thumb showing in her beautiful and colorful flowerbeds around her house. Her favorite flowers are dahlias. She and her girls, Kindle, Kira and Kashlyn, made some beautiful bouquets last fall with the variety of blossoms.
I asked Natalie what her vision was for the greenhouse, and she said that she knows there will be a learning curve, but her plans are to grow a variety of dahlias as well as vegetable gardening. Her mom, Amy Hessenthaler, will also experiment with some lemon, lime and tropical plantings. Her hope is that as they learn what works well, they will involve the family in supplying some of the local farmers markets with vegetables and flowers. What a fun family adventure. It will be exciting to see it come to life.
Enjoy the warmer temperatures, but keep your long johns and mittens handy, we may not be out of the woods yet.