Let it Snow

Snow brings benefits other than snow forts, snow balls and snow cream. Snow (and rain) grab nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil. Have you ever wondered why the grass is always greener when the snow melts? This is part of the reason. Snow and rain can add as much as 2 to 12 pounds of nitrogen per acre to the soil per year. Some people even pile snow onto their garden beds. In addition to the nitrogen fixation the snow is a form of mulch that prevents the wide temperature swings that cause soil heaving and damage to overwintered roots.

Snow, unlike rain, is a slow release type of moisture. Unfortunately for most of us, it comes at a time when we don’t need it in our gardens. We still need it in our aquifers. The water seems to have freshened up the greens that were damaged from the solid week of below freezing temperatures. Friday evening I picked greens thinking they would be covered up if I didn’t. They were covered; but when the snow and ice melted they looked healthier than before. Even the older planting, that I thought was gone, looked healthy.

We celebrated the melting with spaghetti last night and put fresh arugula from the garden in it. The weather man is calling for more nastiness to come; so I guess I better pick the greens again fast.


David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/