Greetings from the island everyone. Hope all of you have thawed out from last week’s ice-over, and the short cold spell this week.  It has not been much of a mild winter as the so-called experts predicted.  Who actually makes those predictions anyway, that furry groundhog rodent?   Sometimes I think so.

The chickens fared just fine during the freezing nights of last week.  I used heat lamps in their roosting areas the first night, but wasn’t thrilled with having to refill the generator at 3:00 a.m. when it was 27 degrees.  The next day I boarded up all the wind drafts and they were fine without the heat lamps the rest of the week.  Of course I had to use boiling water to thaw out their frozen drinking water each morning.  I have found that given some basic shelter, chickens are very hardy and tolerant animals.

I’m so glad that I made a trip in the Monday prior and filled extra propane tanks for heating.  Because of the brutal north winds, I had to keep heat going for almost four straight days and nights, a first for me out here.

Last week was the coldest temperatures I have had to endure in nearly five years of living on the island.  But as long as I’ve got plenty of propane (my electricity in a bottle) I’m fine.

I did not have any problems with my water pipes outside because I disconnected the well pump and opened all the faucets so that the expanding freezing water left in the lines could escape.

Last Friday waking up had an almost eerie feeling as ice covered everything on the island and a light haze hovered just above the frozen ground.  Anything facing north really had a thick layer of ice, including the outside stairs that had to be very slowly maneuvered to eventually reach the bottom.  It was almost comical watching Barnacle trying to walk on ice for his first time.  You wonder what goes through a dog’s mind during things like that.

I’m glad that I decided to hold off on starting my tomato seeds until next week.  I normally start them on January 15 each year in the little hot house, but this freezing spell would have presented a real challenge in keeping the small plants alive until spring planting in March.  For those who enjoy fresh tomatoes from your own plants, the Dolphin Talk issue on February 25th will have an article that I’m writing on Tomato Growing Made Easier, focusing on growing in containers and raised beds.  I think you’ll enjoy it.

It’s a common occurrence during hard freezes such as last week that there will be large fish kills.  I cannot speak for other areas of the bay, but the only dead fish that I have seen along the shoreline from Pass Cavallo to the Big Jetties have been hardheads.  I’ve heard of big trout floating in the Port O’Connor area, but I don’t know exactly where.

Well, that’s it from the thawing out island for now. Everyone stay warm and have a great day.