Garden Peas

We're continuing to busily plant and work on the greenhouse garden. Seeds to transplant to the outdoor garden will be next. We had a small set back with our first batch. Our soil mix was not so good. The seedlings were coming up very poorly. I bought a professional (organic) seeding mix to make the mini blocks from and the seeds have been germinating within days of planting.

We're experimenting with the greenhouse (meaning - we're learning as we go). I'd like to try a little of everything in there. The plastic cover of the greenhouse is like moving 500 miles south. So we used the dates for planting 500 miles south from the USDA Zone maps calculating with an Excel spreadsheet. The first thing we've transplanted to the greenhouse are peas. Garden peas are hardy annuals which can be seeded in the garden 6 to 8 weeks before the last frost. Today I plan to transplant onions and radishes.

It's a nice sunny day here which makes it feel like Spring is on the way, but the weather forecast says we'll be back into the 20's next week. The peas will be glad to have that greenhouse cover and a blanket for keeping warm.

Soil Block Planting

I have 420 seeds planted (Jan 9 & 10). Using the soil blocker method, it takes a small amount of space at the seeding stage. We've transformed our basement into a garden plot for the time being. Using a heated mat set at 70 degrees ( spinach, lettuce, peas, pansy, bok choy, arugula, cabbage, Sweet William and onion), spinach has started to germinate at 3 days.

Experience tells me, I must keep good records so I thought I'd put info here as well as in several other places. The specific varieties and planting dates are written in my garden diary in a Word document on my computer and also in a table / chart.

I hope to plant several hundred more onions today, which will go in the garden around March 20. Plotting out planting and harvesting dates seem to make the year go by quickly.

Getting Ready to Plant

We're new to greenhouse planting and just found out from Eliot Coleman's book that you can use the planting dates for two zones south. A quick calculation in the spreadsheet says that we can start planting several vegetables - Celery, spinach, peas, beets, kale, cabbage and salad greens. So now, we're scrambling to get the seeds started in the soil blockers which will then be set out in the greenhouse. This is also the date to plant onions (seed) for spring planting in the garden. We're hoping to sell at Farmer's Markets or here at our farm stand this summer. How many to plant - that is the question. I'll start with a couple hundred onions and will plant more next week. This is so exciting - I can't wait to see everything green and growing.

Furry Friends

Here's our BIG dog. His name is Buddy.

Christmas Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas 2010?? Can it really be the end of the year 2010? I’m feeling like the calendar is racing from one year to the next. It’s not the days that go by so fast, but the months and years (gulp). It seems like it was just yesterday that I was hurriedly putting Christmas cards in the mail and here it is déjà vu all over again. The New Year arrived and then summer came and went and we rolled up the garden hoses and put away the lawn mower, fired up the fireplace and in the blink of an eye – it’s Christmas and the end of another year! Whew. Time’s just going too fast.

I’m not planning any new year’s resolutions this year; I’m still working on last year’s and the year before. Time is just going too fast. I guess it doesn’t matter – just keep on peddling and if you lose your place, just start over. You know the story of the turtle and the hare. Let’s see what was that? Oh, yeah. The moral is that the early worm get’s the apple or something like that, but you know what I mean, time’s just going too fast. Have I said that already.

We’re all fine here at our house. There’s just the two of us (real people) and then the four / five dog people. We made it through the first six months of Bob’s retirement (AKA – twice as much husband and half the income - ha ha). We’re planning to live off the land with our big garden. Training the dogs to like vegetables as much as hamburger will be a real trick.

We stay busy with eating, sleeping, running and playing and “Bark, bark, Look, it’s a UPS truck.” says the husky yellow lab to the multicolored Walker Coonhound. “Bark, bark” choruses the other BIG black dog sleeping in the corner. He slowly lowers his head back into snooze position deciding to let the others take care of this matter. He’ll save his energy for the next feeding frenzy. He remembers fondly those tasty dog biscuits the cook made – liver and whole wheat. Ummm.

A highlight of the 2010 garden year was to see Bob’s ’71 John Deere combine chugging through the field to bring in a bounty of buckwheat seeds for future planting. Due to minor mechanical difficulty, the trusty ole combine will need a few more hours of intensive labor to participate in another harvest, but we’re hopeful.

This holiday greeting and my cards are somewhat post Christmas, but like I said, it’s a calendar thing – it’s just going too fast. I know I’m among people who understand this time challenge. One year we received a Christmas card in April (you know who you are) and we were glad to get it (better late than never).

UFOs - They're Everywhere!

I love to start projects. Finishing is the big challenge. I'm easily distracted -- usually by a new project. Judy at www.patchworktimes.com has thrown down the gauntlet so to speak - she's daring us to finish some of those UnFinished Objects in the coming great year of 2011. The UFO challenge button on the right will link you up with the guidelines if you want to join us.

My camera is in hiding (probably tucked under one of those UFOs). So I will just do a listing of said UFOs to be completed as the number is drawn.

1. Green and Black throw
2. Flowered bed cover
3. Red / Blue knitted Scarf
4. Off White Baby Blanket (crocheted)
5. Bow Tie Quilt (Yellow & White)
6. Duck Throw
7. Fleece Throw (Pink)
8. Knitted Baby Sweater (Red)
9. Striped Fleece Throw
10. Ball Fleece Throw
11: Denim Quilt
12: Pink Knitted Scarf

There's my list. Can't wait to get started finishing.

Design Wall

I'm working on this jacket. Decided to add more colors to the pattern and have started over a couple of times, but it feels like I'm making some progress. You knit two identical rectangles and stitch them together. I'm still learning how to count rows and can get confused easily so I decided I'd better work on both rectangles at the same time. I have about 8 inches of each side at this point. The finished rectangle will be 50 inches. I plan to begin wearing this in the fall of 2011 although sooner would be nice too.