Save the PLANTS! Last night was a rocky one. The overnight low was forecasted to be 8 degrees, and that means lots of outside time for Brian, especially at the nursery. The plan was for him to leave the farm at midnight and get home around 4 a.m. after he put wood on the boiler for the last time. The nursery boiler has to be fed every 4 hours when it is this cold.
For the last 20 years, I would stay up with Brian during the winter, but with Phoenix, we learned that protecting the bedtime routine was key for a happy little family, so I stay at the farm. I keep my phone on just in case of emergencies. Last night was one of those nights.
Brian called me at 3 a.m., apologizing, but the backup heater wasn’t working, and the temperature was falling a degree every minute. Since we were 30 minutes apart, there was no way for him to get home before the temps would drop and the plants would be damaged.
I was up and throwing any clothes in reach over top of my fluffy pink bathrobe. Snow boots on and looking like a basket of unfolded laundry, I made my way down the hill, careful not to slip on the frosty ground, to the greenhouse. It was currently 10 degrees, which meant I could only open the door wide enough to get myself in and keep as much cold air out.
The three main heaters were roaring away and, as Scotty says, giving her all she’s got, but the backup shop heater wasn’t doing anything and had filled the greenhouses with smoke. I called Brian back and started troubleshooting while he barreled his way home on I-65.
After filling the tank with diesel, checking everything, and doing the tried and true turning it off and back on, we were still getting the dreaded E-1 error glowing there in the dark in bright red. With Brian still 10 minutes away and in a state of desperation, I picked up the front of the heater so all the fuel would flow to the back and flipped the on switch. She sputtered and smoked for a minute but then fired right up.
A little celebration dance commenced in my laundry couture outfit as the headlights from the car lit up the greenhouse! The plants were saved, and the crisis averted!
