Spring Is Coming!

It is FINALLY warming up enough that gardening and yard work is not far behind.  The snow has melted, and the rain storm we had Monday washed away the cold weather.  It also revealed all the dog .... remains...that I need to clean up once the ground dries out a bit.  Right now, it feels like I'm walking on a sponge every time I walk in the yard.

I was able to seed the ditch which runs along the County Blacktop.  The county road crew came in November, and dredged out our ditch.  Too late in the season to seed it then.  I decided to seed it in white Dutch clover rather than grass because the sides of it are now a bit steep for mowing regularly.  I also seeded some areas of the side yard that see a lot of foot traffic and the clover will hold up better to that.

I also moved a batch of seedlings out to the cold frame.  I put out the cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and some winter buttercrunch lettuce to harden them off.

I'm hoping to be able to plant them in the raised bed next Monday or Tuesday.

Still inside are bell peppers, hot peppers, some flowers, and tomatoes.

I brought in a tray of various flower seeds that had been  chilling out in the cold frame.  They are now sitting on the warming tray so I'm hoping they will sprout soon. I'm also hoping that by next week I'll start to see some signs that the seeds I sowed in jugs in January are sprouting. I have galliarda, several different kinds of sunflowers, African daisies, columbine, flax, and I don't know what all else.  :-)

I hope I'll more to report next week.  It's Spring Break, and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous!

Let It Snow!

We haven't had much snow this winter, but the storm that rolled in last night dropped 5-6 inches before tapering off around noon. The garden is covered in a blanket of snow, and the birds are nestled into the white pine trees amid the sheltering needles.

The ground is frozen again, so no additional work in the raised bed this weekend.  I did do a couple more winter sowing jugs -- one with marigolds and one with blue flax.

I spent Friday and Saturday down at my parents' house.  For my dad's birthday earlier in the week, I got him an elevated raised garden on wheels.  Mom and Dad both love gardening.  Mom grew up on a small family farm, and Dad worked in a nursery/greenhouse all through high school and college.  Mom and Dad are in their late 70s, and both have bending problems.  So I think they will enjoy this.  Dad and I had a good time putting it together -- it was easy and straight-forward, but Dad is recovering from cataract surgery, and needs a new reading glasses prescription now.  So he couldn't see the heads of the screws!  We just got to laughing about it, and I told him I was his seeing-eye dog.

Since this is a "hurry up and wait" time for the garden, and I can't do much till it starts warming up, I've been pondering building a large cold frame so I can grow some things over next winter -- carrots, parsnips, winter lettuce, and the like.  I found a fantastic article about cold frame gardening online, and I'm really intrigued by the idea.  When seeds go on sale at the end of spring, I'll stock up on a couple of the recommended varieties, and maybe we can manage to have greens all winter!  I will have to contemplate where I'm going to put it.  The best choice is our south-facing back yard, which is where the raised beds are already.  I also think the easiest way to do the lights (the clear panes on top for those of you not up on the lingo), is to just get an inexpensive storm door.  It's by far the least expensive way to do it -- I can get an inexpensive storm door at Menard's for less than $60, and the lumber isn't expensive, either.  The most expensive thing will likely be an automatic venting device.  Otherwise the cold frame will overheat on warmer days.

I'll have to get help from my Dad because I have no way to make the angle cuts I need for the side slats on the frame.  I mean, I suppose I could with a hand saw.  HMMM.

I'm also looking through my plant schedule.  Once I can REALLY start planting things, I'll need to adjust the schedule accordingly, and extend it through the summer and into fall.