Been a while

It has been a while since I last posted. Much has been going on in the garden and a lot more has been happening outside the garden. My wife and I decided that we needed to tear down the Patio Enclosure we inherited with the house when we bought it many years ago. It served its purpose all these years. We have many fond memories of our sons' birthday parties, our many family Christmas open houses, the many Christmas' we spent in there as our son grew up. One memory that is very present is when we bought him a huge Lego Starwars set for Christmas. The thing must have had a million pieces.

He and I sat down on the floor and began the task at hand. And, as I sat there watching him connect the pieces (with little help from me), I marveled at how he systematically and logically assembled that behemoth of a starship. It was the first time I can remember being in awe of him. 

But, all good things come to an end. Lately, when we were in the back room, you could feel the floor giving in and shaking a bit. It was time for it to go before we procrastinated too long. So we have been on a journey of getting contractor bids, and deciding how and what we wanted this new room to look like.

Trust me, it was a process that soaked up bunches of time with conversations with the contractor, deciding on the contractor and the myriad decisions attendant to creating a new living space. It's going to be worth it as the old room certainly outlived it purpose.
So, I have been away from the blog but have been busy with getting the garden roaring into summer. It's been quite a balancing act these last few weeks. I was out one morning at around 4:30 with my work light and head lamp transplanting my tomatoes. Had to be done and couldn't be delayed much longer. I know it seems a bit extreme but you can get a ton done at that hour of the day. The birds kept me company once the sun started to rise and I think I chased off a few pesky squirrels.
I will endeavor to try to post during our construction phase which starts in a little while. Here's hoping it all goes without a snag. But, lets be realistic here, there will be issues. We will persevere. Until the next time, Happy Gardening everyone!

Progress with the winter vegetables

I was quite pleased with what I saw when I entered my greenhouse.  It seems, as you shall see, that even though the temps have been average to a little below average, the plants don't seem to mind.  First, the early planter of carrots continues to thrive.  I have been watering them on an every other day schedule which seems to be the sweet spot for them.  I started them and watered them every day.  After about 2 weeks or so, they began to show signs of slowing down and some of their leaves were actually browning out.  That was the point at which I decided to back off the water and try to gauge how often they required it.  Eventually, I figured out that every two days was where I needed to be.  Here is a picture of them at this point.

I trimmed the brown leaves off of them about a week ago and I can see that they are now beginning to show more vibrant leaves.

The later planted carrots seem to be thriving also.  I really didn't do anything different other than plant the seeds in a deeper container.  But, I believe they are growing well.  I used a technique I saw on another site.  I sowed them in a circular motion starting in the middle.  I left about an inch as I circled the pot.  I estimate that I have about 30 plants after I thinned them out. I can't wait to eat some of these as they are so much tastier than store bought.

  

The lettuce plants are a mixed bag of results.  Two of the plants seem to be producing well while the other two pots are not as hardy.  Same seeds but different results which occurs more often than gardeners would like to acknowledge. 

                                                

 As far as the newly seeded pots of lettuce, spinach and swiss chard there is hope.  Of the 19 pots I started in early January, 18 of them are now showing healthy growth.  I'll take that kind of return every day.  I believe, given these results, that I should be able to definitely grow my seedlings of early crops within the greenhouse.  That is a major advantage given they will receive direct sunlight instead of grow lights.
That's all for today.  Please feel free to check back as I will be posting more updates regarding my new garden design and greenhouse activities.  Until next time, Happy Gardening everyone!