The Greenhouse Goes Up!

Oh, exciting day! It felt just like Christmas morning when I awoke. Our contractor is putting our greenhouse up today!  What seems liked a zillion-pieced jigsaw puzzle to us, is like a "Lincoln-Log" project for him.  He and his helper got right to work at 8:30 and by noon had the side walls and rafters up.  He's hoping to have it mostly done today with a little extra electrical and water work to finish up on a second day.  I warned him I'd be taking pictures all day for the blog. I've been snapping shots every hour or so, but other than that I'm leaving them to their work.




Side walls up by 9:00 A.M.

 



Doors framed by 10:00 A.M.



Rafters up by lunchtime.

Half of the windows are in by quitting time. 



The windows are taking a little longer than my contractor expected. He has to clean them, and seal them, before setting them in and trimming.  He'll be back in the morning to finish the build.  Oh, happy day!

We're declaring the growing season started!

April 8th, 2011 - Our granddaughter's 8th birthday - And the snow has just finished melting.  We broke out the rakes and hoes for our first real taste of the new growing season.

I headed straight for my flower beds. I left a nice thick leaf blanket on them all winter. I have to peel back the leaves to let the tender new sprouts see a little sunlight. I don't mind this task at all because it's a little treasure hunt to see what is already popping up out of the ground.  Crocus have been appearing for the last week or so; popping right up out of the snow.  How welcome they are!

These tulip leaves have already been chewed on by deer and rabbits.

And there are the tulips - well, tulip leaves anyway.  I don't expect more than 3 or 4 tulip blossoms next month, even though I've planted hundreds over the years.  I have lost this battle to the deer and the rabbits.  Already I can see evidence of their mid-night snacking.  They chew the tulip leaves right down to the ground as fast as they appear.  Last year I tried laying wire fencing flat over the tulips.  This did slow the critters down; they did not like to step on or through the wire fencing.  The only downside was that other perennials got caught as they grew in the fencing also; and were slightly damaged when I pulled the fencing out in June. I'm not sure it's worth the bother.

There are other perennials peeking up: chives -  looking healthy; Jacob's ladder - just planted last year; coral bells - a couple varieties; primroses - divided these plants last fall; hyacinths - must taste bad, critters never touch these; poppies - briefest blossom ever, but so reliable; and my favorite violets - one of the "happiest" flowers I know.  Welcome back, friends.

Chives - Will be able to eat real soon.

Primrose

Coral bells just peeking up.

Poppy

And what about my DH. Yes, he has spring fever also.  Last night he transferred all the greenhouse pieces out to the "construction site".  We're now just waiting on our local builder.  Today he attacked his vegetable garden with vigor.  He's moved dirt, cultivated the soil, put in new timbers for the raised bed, and planted -- yes I said planted -- peas, spinach, onions, lettuce, carrots, and beets.  They are the cool weather crops, and can be planted early, but is he pushing the season a bit?  Maybe.  He says he has seeds left over; that's good in case this first planting rots in the ground.  I'll keep you posted.  Needless to say, we are both experiencing the immediate results of all this work - lots of sore muscles! Our backs are not what they once were.  However, the satisfaction that we get from our gardens makes our aches and pains worth it.  Spring is here, and life is coming back to the land!

This raised bed is getting new edging timbers.

Cool weather crops are being planted.

Greenhouse is awaiting construction.

Where is Spring?

A few crocus have shivered their way up to give me hope.

It's April... April 5th in fact.  Okay, so March will be wintery; we know that. Usually there are a few days that tease one into thinking spring.  Not so this year. I don't think it ever got above freezing all last week.  And this week is not too much better. It snowed again today! -Not enough to shovel, but enough to dust the ground.  UGH! We are so anxious to start the new growing season.  Come on, Mother Nature.....

There is a little progress.  The greenhouse is now all stained.  Wow, were there a lot of pieces! We have tried to stain the outer pieces to match the house color. Inside pieces were stained clear to bring out the beautiful cedar color of the wood.  We hope we knew what we were doing or we may have a funny looking two-toned building.

The grey pieces match the house. The clear cedar pieces go to benches inthe greenhouse.

My DH has been growing, splitting, and propagating his geraniums and some coleus all winter. They are starting to take over the basement again, and we've even argued over space - his plants vs. my quilting projects. (For those who haven't found my second blog - quiltagain.blogspot.com - I am also spending a lot of my time with fabric arts.) That greenhouse can't go up quick enough. The base has just peeked out from the snow, and our contractor said he'd try to get here later this week.... Yippee!

Geraniums, geraniums, geraniums....

DH has started a few seeds in the basement already. He just couldn't wait. He's planted spinach in a pot, coleus, impatients, and petunias.  Spinach is up and growing. Can it reach eatable size in this pot? Time will tell. The coleus is just getting its second leaves, and the impatients are just popping up out of the ground. 

spinach in a pot

Coleus in the back, impatients in the middle.

So, Mother Nature, come on. I need to have some temps above 50.  I need a little more sunshine.  We've been patient, and we are thankful that we've seen no earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis, or other natural disasters. But it's time; it's April; we're ready.

Happy St. Pat's

OK, I'm not Irish, and I'm late by a few days, but we do like corned beef and cabbage once a year.  Today was the day. I had purchased a nice hunk of corned beef; it's always on sale this week. Carrots freshly dug from the garden, potatoes, and cabbage are a must. I used my crock pot to slow cook it all day. It was hard to wait for dinner because it smelled so good as it simmered away. And we weren't disappointed.  It turned out great; very flavorful and fall-apart tender.

I used the recipe Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Cabbage from Allrecipes.com with a few modifications. I started in the crock pot with just the meat + 1/2 bottle of beer and water to cover, on high for about 3 hours. Then I removed the meat and discarded the liquid. (This helps cut down on the fat and salt.)  Next I put the meat back in the crock pot + the rest of the beer + carrots and potatoes. I added water to cover and 2 beef bullion cubes. It continued to cook the rest of the day. About an hour before dinner time, I added wedges of cabbage. (You don't want the cabbage to be overcooked.)  I took the meat out 10 minutes before we ate to let it rest. That makes the slicing so much easier, and I was careful to slice it across the grain.  It was perfect; even DH agreed. The meat was tender, flavorful, but not too salty. The potatoes and carrots were soft and flavored from the meat. The cabbage was softened, but not limp. Yum!

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Irish

Irish who?

Irish you a happy St. Pat's Day!

Waiting for Spring

The sun came out on Tuesday... then again on Thursday. Oh, welcome, welcome, friend! It's been too long. Yes, I'm starting to see a robin or two, geese have been flying overhead, sap is running, and even a couple brave flower sprouts have peeked up from the earth. But it's the sunshine that I crave the most.  Well, milder temps would be awfully nice also, but if the sun will just shine, my whole attitude brightens.

And so, I headed to the garage. It's time to make some progress on our greenhouse project. I bought stain to match the house; my plan is to stain all the pieces before construction. The first step was to arrange some staining stations in the garage. That meant moving a few things around. Two old sawhorses work great for long pieces. A couple large boxes could serve to hold small pieces. And finally, I moved the lawn wagon into the center and put part of the crating box across it to create another stain station.

Carry the pieces to their stations and wipe them clean of dust with an old sock. OK, now what? Turn on the radio, stir the stain, and get at it. I started with a disposable sponge brush. It worked fine, but disintegrated before too long. I then went to my own method of staining. I put disposable latex gloves on both hands, and an old sock on my right hand. I dip the sock lightly in the stain and rub it onto and into the wood.  This may seem strange to some, but it works for me. Good coverage, and no drips. 

I worked at this project for about 3 hours and felt pretty good until I really looked at how many pieces of wood there are.  It will take me a week or more of staining to get them all done. Oh well, the garage door was open, the sun was streaming in, the radio was playing...  I was soaking in the SPRING!

Staining in the sun - Felt Great!

Many more pieces to go... but at least it's started.

Digging for Gold

March is a month of planning. What shall we grow this year? Which seed catalog has the best deals? Which vegetables and flowers did well last year?   Do we want to add new beds, new plants? These questions keep us busy dreaming and planning for the upcoming season.

Meanwhile, it's time to check on what's left from last year that we should eat up? I just used the last of the spaghetti sauce; it was good too! I have a few jars of pickled beets left, and the freezer still has green beans, spinach, corn and red peppers.  I see red pepper bisque, corn chowder, and minestrone soups in our near future.

The snow pack is receding, so DH went out to the garden with his shovel. Winter blessings - carrots and parsnips!  It's a real treat in March to get produce straight from the garden. He always mulches them in the fall, and then we forget about them. They are too hard to dig in the midst of winter, but come now... it's like digging for gold.

Parsnips and carrots freshly dug from the garden.

 

Carrots and parsnips - looking good now that they're scrubbed!

I decided the carrots were a great reason to get out my new food processor (Christmas present!). Zip, zip, zip and I had 4 cups of shredded carrot for carrot cake. I used a recipe from Allrecipes.com - Carrot Cake XI.  I liked this recipe because it calls for oil instead of shortening similar to my good zucchini cake recipe. I substituted pecans from Texas for the walnuts, and 1/2 cup orange sauce (juice + pulp pureed) for 1/2 cup of the oil. (Normally I would have substituted crushed pineapple instead of the orange sauce, but I had oranges from Texas that needed to be used.) The cake needed longer than the recipe stated to bake, but other than that, it was fantastic. So moist and flavorful - didn't even need frosting, but it sure tasted good with a dollop of ice cream.

DH is the cooker of parsnips. He introduced this vegetable to me, and the way he prepares them, they taste as good as candy. Now remember, I said tasty, not necessarily healthy.  First, he peels and juliennes them to french fry size. Then he parboils them until just barely soft.  Lastly, he finishes them by sauteing them in butter until golden brown. The butter is the secret! Yu-um!

Amaryllis Morning

There were a couple of nice surprises waiting for us on our return from Texas and Alabama. First of all, the grandchildren had made us a very nice welcome home poster with balloons to greet us when we walked in the door. Thanks, kids! As we looked around, the house was spotless; we thought our daughter-in-law must have really gone above and beyond. The kids said, "Yes we cleaned", but she laughed and said, "No, you left it this way. I just told the kids not to mess it up."  The truth might be somewhere in the middle; thanks so much for tending to our house!

Then we checked our plants. They all looked great - thanks again, C. The orchid that bloomed just before we left was now in full bloom; and the amaryllis had grown 2 feet. One is in full bloom. See Anticipation.  The blooming amaryllis has 2 blossom stalks. One stalk has 3 blossoms; the other has two. The blossoms are a variagated red/white - just lovely. The second amaryllis is poised to blossom soon - can't yet tell what color it might be. 

The only problem the amaryllis seemed to be having was that they were both too top heavy for their small pots. Without leaning on something, the whole pots just want to tip over. I went to the garage in search of a larger pot that might help them stay upright. Instead of a pot, I spotted 2 plastic tubular containers. I believe they were part of the supplies used in creating the footer for our greenhouse. Concrete containers, maybe? Anyway, they worked perfectly! All I did was carefully drop each amaryllis plant - pot and all - into the tubular containers. Problem solved!

I also checked the internet for amaryllis care directions. They seem to be very happy with their location. All I need do is keep them slightly moist and enjoy. When both the blossoms and leaves have died back, I'll the trim them back to the bulb, and put them away for next winter. I did find, on the web, a beautiful photo story showing the whole amaryllis process from bulb to die back. It's worth checking out. Amaryllis Photo Journal