Yes its still February

So I decide to cruise the yard to find all the little signs of spring. And this is not enough. ugh A lonely little Iris waiting on all her friends.

These little guys were popping up in the front flower bed. I am remembering alllllllll the spring bulbs I planted last fall, where are they? I need to get over looking for signs of spring and get busy cleaning up some of the beds. I also have some huge work ahead to make the pond presentable. As you can see...I did not have a chance to clean it up this past fall and now I am going to pay for it. Oh who am I kidding, I just couldn't be bothered cleaning this puppy up last fall. And I am still going to pay for it soon. I noticed some of the goldfish did not make it through the winter. AWWW Thank God they were not KOI, those come with a pretty price tag. Not my fish. My fish are feeder fish. They were suppose to be food for other fish. I paid 10 cents a piece for them about 3 years ago. So I think they had a good life. I am hoping there are a few survivors, I will keep you posted.
I did run across more signs of life today. This big guy was just working away for hours.
I am not a bird watcher so don't ask me what kind of Woodpecker this is, I just know its a big one.
On another note. Some of the seeds I planted the other day are already sprouting. The eggplant and the marigolds. They might not seem like much now but that little spot of green keeps me going.

Where is spring?

I have been doing laps in my yard to see if anything is peeping its head out. Sings of spring are starting to pop up all around, but it is still seems so far away. Tomorrow it is suppose to be in the 50's which mean one thing, I will be in the yard. Hopefully I will be posting some photos of all the spring awakenings. I am a little excited to see that my Snowdrift Marigolds that I started are sprouting.
Earlier today, I set out in the greenhouse the onion, broccoli, Napa cabbage, Pak choy seedlings and the columbine seeds that I planted. I can't wait to see if everyone is ok out there. Until tomorrow.

Its Chilly!!

Feels like perfect weather to to sow some seeds. I started to sow Eggplant and some hot chili Peppers, when I just got carried away and started a whole mess of seeds. All my Peppers, wether it was California Wonders or Habanero, I started them all. I also started Coleus, Marigolds, Columbine Lavender, Delphinium, Lupine, and more impatiens. I know its early for a few of these, however after last years showing of these very same plants, they either need the extra time or the attention. Its going to be bitter cold for the next few days, after that I will put a few of the seedlings in the greenhouse. I won't need to start anymore seeds until the second week in March, I will have more space at that time. lol

Finished Greenhouse

HIP HIP HOORAY!!!!!!
I am so proud of this little ghetto greenhouse I am beside myself. I still have a couple of things I want to do, inside latches etc., but for the most part this baby is finished. It does not show up in the pictures but I have plastic on the inside of both doors. I put Velcro around the top portions of both doors, so I can get some ventilation when needed. The first photo is taken facing east.
Facing South West
I plan on putting a weed barrier and gravel in the center to help hold heat and not be a mud pit. The side beds are a little over 2.5 feet wide. I still need to put in some soil in both beds. I had a few glitches, I had to remove the doors before adding the plastic, I had forgotten about the hinges and that posed a problem but I prevailed. lol With any luck, I will have some plants in this little greenhouse before the week is out. YEAH

Composting bins

I finally made some composting bins. The materials used were wooden palates that were getting thrown away, I am proud to do something green. I will use the older composting area to hold nothing but leaves in the fall. I realize that this is not the prettiest site, but its in the back yard, only me and the dogs will be looking at it, except for everyone that reads my blog. lol I have finished all the minor details of the greenhouse and it is waiting for the plastic to be put on. With any luck it will be done tomorrow, but I will see if I get any help. I think it will take two people to put on the plastic without ripping it.

Garden of Eden

This is not what I would call a ghetto garden, it was clearly not created on a budget. The location alone is $$$ (MAUI), but this is my ideal garden. If I could wake up everyday and play in this garden, I can't think of anything better.



This vacation did nothing to help me with my addiction to plants. I hope to return to Hawaii some day, but until then, I can surround myself with as many tropical plants that I can keep alive through some nasty winters here.

More greenhouse construction

I spent a little more time on the greenhouse today. After this photo, I decided to put some fencing up on either side of both doors to prevent the dogs from running through it once the plastic is up. I am concerned however with any fence wires punching holes in the plastic, so I am trying to come up with a solution. As of right this moment I am ready to wrap the corners with some bubble wrap before the plastic goes on. I figure, it won't block any of the sunshine and would be good insulation. I guess I will find out soon enough.




I have added a few more supports to the doors and I also attached the cattle panels to the door frame with metal strapping. I am also going to fill the center pathway with gravel to help hold in the heat, but that is another day. For now I will just focus on making sure there are no rough, sharp, pointy edges to mess up the plastic. I am still figuring out in my head how to put on the plastic, while being able to open up the greenhouse for ventilation, and without letting the dogs inside to terrorize the plants that will be thriving inside. lol Any suggestions are welcomed.
As for a seedling update, Three Lemon grass, Two Celeriac, One Asparagus, and counting.
The broccoli is getting happy and I can't wait until I get them outside in the greenhouse.

Hello Lemon grass.

Good news!!! 3 of the Lemon Grass seedlings have popped up today. I moved the seed tray to have it on a heating mat yesterday and within 1 day the seeds started to pop up. Maybe it is a coincidence or maybe they just needed some heat. Three out of 50 seedlings is not good but its still early so I am predicting that within the week, the entire seed tray will be singing.

Carpentry is not my forte

I had a few hours before work so I thought I would do a little work on the greenhouse today. I think this project is more ghetto worthy with each passing day. I did not get a photo of the greenhouse with the doors attached but I did get both doors hung today as well. Another victory as far as I am concerned. I am hoping that I will have time again tomorrow to finish the framing and make sure that the cattle panels are attached securely to the frame. Once that is done it should be time to get it covered in plastic and PRESTO! So far this project has not been too difficult. Yes a little painful since I decided today to hit my ankle with the hammer, OUCH. How I missed the nail and wacked my ankle is a mystery lol. I also went to Menards today and purchased a 10 foot 2x6 to attach the door frames and give a little more support to the center.

Hip hip hooray, more seedlings have emerged!!! Looks like my broccoli and cabbage have decided to peek out of the soil. It is a happy day anytime I see a seedling. I know I know, get a life. lol

Starting a hoophouse

I am certainly not a carpenter and from the looks of the frame, it shows. I was inspired by Erics projects blog and thought that this would be something I could do, not only with my limited carpentry skills but with my budget. So far the project has not been too difficult and I am only out 30 bucks for the cattle panels. I already had the landscape timbers from an old project and have managed to gather up enough lumber from trash piles to finish the frame. I think the real difficulty is going to be building the frame for the door on one end and at least a window on the other end. I might just add a door at both ends but the jury is still out on that one. Either way, I won't be able to work on it for a few more days due to weather, its suppose to rain all day tomorrow.

2008 vegetable garden

One of the reasons I decided to do this blog, was to keep a garden diary. I have taken pictures in the past so I have some reference, and know that I have always started my seeds between the second and third week in March. Last year I doubled the size of my garden. I had two gardens about 25' x 50' each. This year however, I am going back to just having the one and my dad is going to plant in the other garden. Dueling gardens. Its on dad so bring it lol. These three pictures are from last year but again, we won't talk about last years garden, ugh.

Early seedlings 2009

Here are some of the seedlings that I have already started. You might say, WAIT, its tooooo early, and it might very well be, but I am planning on moving most to a cold frame so I think it will work out. Lets keep our fingers crossed. I planted one flat of onion seeds, almost 1 flat of impatiens with two rows of pansies and the three pots filled with herbs (basil,parsley,thyme,sage,rosemary,cilantro,oregano) in early January. The other seedlings I have started in early February are jicama, lemon grass, celeriac, cumin, broccoli, chinese cabbage, pak choy. The February seeds haven't had time to germinate.

What a mess!!

So as you can see, I have a lot to do. The back yard is a mud pit which the dogs are always tracking inside. There is grass in the back yard but from the looks of the picture you would never guess it. The truck load of wooden palates are, with any luck, going to become a composting site in the back corner of the yard. And I can't forget about the tree I still need to get chopped up and hauled off along with the gigantic stump on the east side of the house.

The snow is beautiful but hopefully it will be gone soon soon soon. I am more eager to play in the dirt this season than any other. We won't even discuss my garden problems last season, well, maybe another time.

The day after Mother Nature decided she was not quite finished raining on my parade of plans. We got 13 inches of snow all together, so needless to say I won't be cutting anymore bamboo or putting up fencing or working on my cattle panel greenhouse.

Then we had mother nature hit.

The start of a new year

I have new plans for my veggie garden this year. I was busy cutting my bamboo for my trellises and stakes I am quite pleased at the sturdiness of them. I also ran out and got some cattle panels for a make shift greenhouse and started to round up scrap pieces of lumber for different projects I always have on a back burner. The temperature has been bitterly cold but with the sunshine I was inspired to get a jump start on things I could do in winter.