Snow is good, and that’s no April Fool

In January,  some of the Winter Bounty group attended a talk by Cary Institute scientist Peter Groffman, entitled Snow is Good.

Peter described experiments in which he removed snow pack from forest areas in the White Mountains of New Hampshire;  he and his research team found the bare soil colder than the snow-covered soil. When snow is present, he said, it provides a blanket of insulation that allows microbes to continue their work all winter and protects fine roots of trees and shrubs. In its absence in our climate zone, key ecological processes are disrupted. (A full description of his talk can be found in this Albany Times-Union article.)

The audience at the Cary Institute listened respectfully, asked smart questions, and didn’t throw rotten tomatoes at Peter, even though we were already fairly sick of the snowy winter we’d had.

I was reminded of his talk earlier this week, when, having dodged the 6 inches of snow predicted for April Fool’s Day, we heard from Logan that she was harvesting food from her “regular garden,” (outdoor, summer garden) that had been deeply covered with snow until recently. “Carrots, leeks, parsnips, cilantro lived uncovered in my regular garden and are still edible,” she wrote.  “Snow cover was so good this year. First time things have lasted this well.  I guess there was something good about all that snow after all.”

It's possible that our greenhouse crops did well this winter because of the excessive snow, not despite it. Ecologist Peter Groffman has done research showing snow's insulating effect on soil microbes and fine roots.

Then I wondered: we’ve been saying that we had a great harvest from the greenhouse in our first winter despite the seemingly excessive snow. Maybe instead it was because of the snow.

I emailed Peter Groffman two photos of the greenhouse in the depths of winter with snow reaching several feet up the sides and asked if it was possible that the snow was helping to insulate our plants. His response: “I definitely think that snow is helping to insulate that greenhouse!”

So, as thankful as we are that this long, snowy winter seems to be winding down, we are also thankful that the snow contributed to the first-year success of our project.

Meanwhile, Logan reports that the tomatoes she and Marsha planted in the greenhouse awhile back have sprouted, and that’s no April Fool.