Early Sunday Morning in the Greenhouse

This is one of the perks of a greenhouse.

I'm sitting in the greenhouse this morning, listening to one of my favorite sounds in the world: a gentle rain on the roof. Behind me, when the sound of the rain backs off, I hear the rainbarrel filling.

I'm surrounded by growing things and life.

The soft rains back off and the sun comes out, and I hear a flock of Canada geese on their way home.

Aaah!

Another Way to Egg On Your Starts

I've been fascinated by ways to start seeds without a huge expense. There are a couple of ways to use egg cartons to start seeds.  But this one may be my favorite, at least from an artistic perspective.

Seems like it would be easier to transplant, when the time comes, than the other methods, too. But I can't imagine growing large seeds - pumpkin or zucchini - this way.





Also, started some more carnival squash today.

Hanging Lemon Cucumbers

People look at me funny when I say (as I did recently) that Sun Sugar tomatoes are the holy grail for the greenhouse. The truth is that there's another holy grail. The tomatoes are my Sweetheart's holy grail.

Mine is lemon cucumbers. Mmmm.

I also added slugbait to the kale outside. Someone else has been enjoying it more than I can. We'll see if this works.

Made another batch of potting soil today, too.

More Transplants.

I think I got too excited in February. The starts are getting too excited, and are needing to be
transplanted before the weather is ready for them.

I put the rest of the kale starts out. The starts from Monday are doing well, and God looks like he's going to water my starts for me again, so might as well. They're young, but they're cold-weather friendly.

On the other end of the scale, summer squash is not particularly cold-weather friendly. These, too, probably can't go outside until mid May at the earliest (the statistical "last frost" for here is likely during the first half of May). But they've clearly outgrown their starter pots.

Fortunately, I wanted one hanging pot of Pattypan summer squash.

I'm thinking this greenhouse could be pretty full by mid May.

The Holy Grail (for This Greenhouse)

I haven't reached it yet, but it's in sight.

This is the closest thing to a "Holy Grail" for me. This is the main - or at least the best - reason for a greenhouse.

These are Sun Sugar tomato plants: orange colored balls of the sweetest, juiciest tomato goodness that will grow on on a plant. My goal was to have two hanging pots with Sun Sugars dangling from them, just for snacking.

Actually, they're pretty good, but they're not my thing. They're Sue's thing. My thing is ... is ... well, it includes herbs. Especially basil. 

Speaking of basil.... This is some of my basil this year. I suppose I should stop whining about herbs

being slow this year. I keep forgetting how sensitive basil is to cool temperatures. So usable basil in March or April probably isn't such a bad thing.

True confession: these came from the produce department at Trader Joe's. Now, they're a foot tall, beginning to fill out, and ready to grace some sandwiches and salads. Mmmm!







These are the basil plants that I'm growing from
seed. Maybe not so impressive. They're maybe an inch tall.

Actually, I'm probably ahead of schedule on these too. They probably shouldn't go outside until June. I hope they last that long.

Music to My Ears

I have a sound system in my home, on it, I play the kind of music that make me happy: jazz, 70's
rock, industrial, worship, classical. Lots of variety, but all music we enjoy.

Some time ago, I noted that the greenhouse also has a music system. (Hey, I'm a nerd. That's how it works!)

A friend of mine suggested playing birdsong, rainfall, gurgling streams. He had two reasons:

1. It might help the people who work in the greenhouse to stay a little saner, and 
2. It's the kind of music that's likely to make the plants themselves happy. 

So I picked up a cheap little iPod Nano on eBay, and loaded it full of nature sounds. All he recommended, plus thunder storms, Amazon rainforests, ocean surf. And it plays pretty much 24/7.

I don't know if the plants will like it. (Some folks say they do. Me? I dunno.) But the Missus and myself rather enjoy it!

Quick: Carrots & Kale

Just documenting a quick after-work update. Planted some carrots. This is a small patch, and they're the 2012 saved seeds, but they've sprouted pretty well in the greenhouse.

And then I also transplanted a few of the kale

I've been starting in the greenhouse. These are maybe 3 weeks old, since planting the seeds indoors. It's a little early, but they're going nuts in the sprouting tray.

The top right (near the BZUs, toward the garlic) is Russian Red, the other side (toward the greenhouse) is Smooth Leaf Kale. Let's see how they do.