Crazy as it sounds, a big blast of Canadian icy air made it as far south as Houston. For Houstonians it was brutally cold this morning, 16 degrees according to my backyard thermometer. It looks like it won’t warm much for a few days. Obviously my vegetable garden will nor fare well. I covered a new bed of carrots with fingers crossed that they will make it. I covered my strawberries with a couple of inches of leaves and I suspect they will survive. The Romaine lettuce had already started to bolt, so no loss there. My biggest concern was for my Meyer Lemon tree. I have it tented and a small light bulb included under the tent to keep it, hopefully, warm enough.
Roads are icy and I don’t have any place to go so, sit tight and hope the power stays on! A couple of my pineapple plants are in the garage and hopefully warm enough. If we do lose power at least my home brewed beer will stay cold…..always a silver lining. I was proactive enough to pull a good portion of my beets yesterday and ready to be roasted today!
TTFN
Bishop
From My Backyard 
Feb 15, 2021 @ 18:01:54
My daughter was once a librarian at the University in Houston, so we visited often. Hard to believe you had snow! I suppose when it melts the parking lots will flood again.
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Feb 16, 2021 @ 23:44:12
Obviously the incredible freeze you’re experiencing is national news! I’ve been shocked at what we’ve seen in your area, and beyond! I do hope your bees are going to be okay in the end. Your garden, which has impressed me, seems under stress it wasn’t meant to survive, but please let us know how it all comes out when warmer weather resumes. Be well and safe yourselves!! It’s hard for me to imagine, quite honestly!
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Feb 17, 2021 @ 01:14:21
Thanks Debra.
In some ways the issues in Texas mirror the problems of moving away from traditional electrical generation and reliance upon wind and solar energy sources. 20% of Texas electric generation comes from renewable sources. The extreme temperatures rendered those sources nearly inoperable, covered in ice and mostly off line. Poor planning for reliable backup traditional sources in Texas was also poorly managed.
I can replant and spit strong hives in the spring but it appears that there will be far too many deaths for elderly folks without power during these current extremes temperatures. Galveston has been significantly impacted, with nearly 80% of the residents with out power. I don’t want to rant too much but a bulk of the nations wind power generation sites are in states subject to the current outages, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Illinois and Kansas. California is 5th or 6th in capacity but likely won’t see much additional growth or new projects due to environmental concerns and and the “Not In My Backyard” opponents. We have many decades to go before wind and solar are viable, if ever….
Offshore wind generation potential is huge but also faces huge pushback for the NIMBY folks. Vast stretches of the US Southwest can be site for solar, but again, decades away from being a viable and reliable source. There needs to be a strategy based on science, technical capabilities and finite resources…..Nuff said.
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