brrrrrrrrr, baby its cold outside!

So much for a warmer than usual la nina winter here in the South! We have had January weather for the last several days and they say it is going to be this way through December. We have been having mid teen nights with days struggling to get to freezing and until today twenty mph winds to go with the cold. Needless to say manthing and I had to construct two hoop (I am using the term lightly) houses the other day and then find coverings for both of them that will hopefully protect the almost ready to harvest cabbage. They most certainly are not pretty but thus far they seem to be holding up and doing their job. Thankfully the broccoli was able to all be harvested before the cold set in. There were only three heads that were still quite small so I did not feel too bad about harvesting them early.

The tall one is just made of sticks placed in a V and lashed with twine then a ridge pole down the top. It is a pretty long row and the only thing we had to cover it was an old tarp we had around. The single covering was not cutting it, so I threw a layer of black plastic over the top of it. We just weighted it all down with brick and will roll the tarp up on the nice days and nights from here on out. On the short one I used some pvc frames thaty we normally use to hold the netting up over the strawberries. It is covered with clear plastic and then a layering of blankets. These too will just roll off the frame as needed when weather permits.
Everything else outside has pretty much withered up and is looking quite sad but inside the greenhouse things are doing quite well and trucking along. Everything in there also has a layer of plastic over it to protect it and it seems to be working. The broccoli in there is starting to head up.