We are fortunate in living in a house that’s position and layout was planned by a person who understood the concepts of microclimates. In addition to the house being well “set up” we are blessed with a vegetable garden that has far fewer frosts than those of our neighbours. Our blessing is met by disbelief from most of our neighbours, and total disbelief from long established farmers who macro manage hundreds/thousands of acres.
Microclimates and their understanding are not new; in fact they are over a century old. German botanist Gregor Kraus (1841-1915) established the study of microclimates during his life. Following Gregor’s death, German meteorologist Rudolf Geiger developed microclimatology into a branch of climatology.
Prior to these studies mankind for centuries had been using the heat absorbed by walls to enhance fruit tree growth, planting hedges to control wind and airflow. Espalier, growing a fruit tree on a trellis against a wall has been used for centuries to enable fruit trees to be grown in cool climates. Greenhouses are another example of creating a microclimate.
Being a small farmer allows you to micro mange your property, understand the variations within it and maximise your benefits from the land.
One of the first things you need to do is start to collect facts. Past temperature and rainfall records for your property are invaluable. We have a record of maximum and minimum temperatures for our property since we arrived. I have compared them to the official Bureau of Meteorology figures and identified a trend.
The graph below compares our overnight low temperatures (blue) in comparison the BoM figures for our nearest town (pink). The trend can be clearly seen, as we move into winter the 2 lines diverge. Our overnight lows are on average several degrees warmer. Note we ensured the thermometer we used was accurate.
Further evidence of a microclimate was seen when we discovered our surrounding gardens were seldom touched by frost, and water containers almost never froze over while just a short distance away our neighbours pipes were frozen and heavy frosts coated everything sometimes well into early spring. In fact most locals believe our locality to be far colder that the local town that we compared our temperatures to.
If we move away from the house and vegetable garden area then things change. Our top dam freezes over occasionally while the one near the house does not. Water toughs on other sections of the property freeze over as well. So clearly we have several microclimates.
Knowing this allows us to plan and make better use of temperature variations to manage our property. We have a small citrus orchard that produces excellent fruit, totally out of character for the area we live in.
A quick “Google Search” will reveal many more articles on this subject, so I will keep the information brief.
Hill tops tend to be warmer than valleys. The cold air slides off the hills collecting in the low lying areas. Our neighbours who live right on the creek flats have reported lows 4 to 5 degrees Celsius lower than ours and have pipes freeze during winter.
North facing slopes are warmer. During the day a larger surface area is available to absorb the heat of the sun. Our house and veggie garden are on a north facing slope.
Bodies of water can act as radiator keeping land nearby warmer over night. Costal areas are warmer than inland areas, as are areas adjacent to lakes.
Trees, buildings cliffs can block the flow of cold air, either protecting the area within an enclosure, or resulting in an extreme cold spot where the pool of cold air collects.
So with a little study and effort you can not only pick the best possible site for a vegetable garden and house but you can plan the layout, including trees and shrubs to make it as frost proof as possible. Your reward will be a substantially longer growing season.
Livestock should be in the warmer paddocks throughout winter and birthing time. Bring animals in to protected areas when they are lambing/calving and you will see a much higher survival rate, as well as strong healthy animals. Stock losses in cold weather are often accepted as “the norm” but with care this need not be so.
Be aware that if you are purchasing a long establish farm, the houses and gardens were often positioned inappropriately for optimum microclimatic conditions. Often they were positioned in low spots, on creeks for easy of water supply. Electric pumps were not in use when many of these sites were chosen. If this is the case consider alternate sites for future gardens.
If you have a totally “blank canvass” then you have even more opportunities. Draw a farm plan and map microclimates on it as well as all the other information. Pay particular attention to spots where heavy frosts occur. Make sure stock have shelter available away from these areas. This information may well influence your fence positioning so you have appropriate conditions for your livestock and or crops.
