Planted - 75 strawberries!

Can hardly wait to enjoy them (next year)!

Seedlings

Here are the seedlings now. Tomatoes, watermelon, cauliflower, canteloupe, peppers...

Spring pics... March, out like a lamb!

Greenhouse construction

We have finally pretty much finished the greenhouse. My sisters came and helped me put together the base and hoops, there were 3 moms and 9 kids working on it and we got it done in a short afternoon! Tom and I constructed the frame for the ends/doors and attached the plastic over the hoops. We now have just the doors to install. We have moved the chicks out to the greenhouse with the heat lamp and it is working well for that at night and then we bring them outside during the day or they get too hot. I am looking forward to getting some tables/shelves and raised beds added for growing things year-round. I got a 4' fluorescent light from a friend so can start some things out there tomorrow! The last pic here is taken at night of the greenhouse illuminated by the chick's heat lamp. I need to get the camera out there to get an inside pic once we have the doors on. It was a fun project that didn't cost too much and will hopefully be very useful in our garden venture!

Cool weather bed planted

I got the "cool weather bed" planted today. Here is a pic of the updated/actual drawing of what is planted where. The tomato and pepper are still to be transplanted when it is warmer, but everything else is transplanted or seeded! The kiwi vines have also been planted, though the arbor still needs to be built. The pumpkin/watermelon/squash of course is not in the ground yet.

Here is a pic also of the actual "cool weather bed". You can see the cabbage/collards/lettuce and broccoli transplants. I say broccoli, but honestly I am not sure if it is broccoli or cauliflower. I kinda got them mixed up in their little pots indoors. So, will be a surprise! :-) Not much to look at yet, but soon it should be full and green.

March has arrived, "In like a lion..."

We had about a foot of snow that fell on March 1st through the morning of the 2nd. Here are some pictures of the beauty that swept over our yard and woods, covering the crocus blooms but also covering the mud and dirt and hiding from view all the To-Do lists that scroll before my eyes when I look out in the yard these days. We haven't had a snow like this in as long as I can remember here in Virginia... and we've been here for 12 years!

We all enjoyed it of course, and my happy seedlings are tucked away in the kitchen enjoying the light and warmth provided artificially. The peas had not popped out yet, we'll see when they appear.

The pics show the back yard where the veggie gardens will be, a rose bush with buds bent over into the snow (this is also where the crocus are buried), and my little frog wind chime near my corkscrew willow tree. I got some macro pics of the snow on the corkscrew branches too, those are on my photo blog.

The almanac predicts colder than average temps

through March but April should warm right up and be good with rainfall and temps. So, maybe the saying will hold true, and March will go... "out like a lamb."