Delivered

  

With your future, got your future babe (here I am baby)

Here I am baby (signed, sealed, delivered, I'm yours)

"Signed, Sealed, Delivered," Stevie Wonder

How can you not love Stevie Wonder?  If you haven't noticed, and it'd be pretty hard not to, I'm a big, big fan of music, almost as big a fan as I am of plants.  I'm also a huge fan of deliveries.  And my hubby arranged for a huge one today:  four scoops of enriched soil from our local nursery.  It came in on a dump truck -- woo~hoo! 

We filled the rest of our three raised vegetable beds (we already had quite a bit of leaf mulch in there), and tomorrow we're going to finish the dry stream bed. 

I had a migraine, so when I say we, I really mean he. 

I sort of wandered around, in and out of the house, in and out of the greenhouse, in and out of the hubby's way, trying to assess everything that I haven't blogged about in a while -- and a lot of these items are things I've learned about from the blogging community, so THANK YOU wonderful gardeners who share:

One tray (old strawberry container) of mustard in the greenhouse (moved just to experiment)

One smaller tray (old strawberry container) of spinach in the greenhouse (moved just to experiment)

Three pots of lilac shoots in the greenhouse -- from a lilac bush that was given to me by another gardener (no matter how beautiful, unique, or unusual a plant is that I grow from seed, none compare to those that have been given to me from a fellow gardener's home -- there is a rich history, which deserves its own post later on, in those plants)

Two peat pots of peas in the greenhouse

Greenhouse temperature definitely seems to be warmer now with the trashcan

One basil batch in a juice bottle greenhouse

Three pots of echinacea in an outdoor sunny spot

Three peat pots of liatris under the grow light

Three peat pots of aubrieta under the grow light

Three peat pots of bedder sage under the grow light

Completely destroyed my first batch of chandelier lupines -- too wet in the cake tote; started some more today.  Hopefully, this time I will not turn them into a stinky pile of mush.

And last but not least, relented, took a migraine pill, sat down, and wrote about all these things that make me feel good, and voila, felt Wonder-full :)

 

Lewissii in the Sky with Diamonds

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head . . .
Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,"  The Beatles

This past weekend I purchased some blue flax (Linum Lewissi) seeds and debated using them.  Today, I decided that I definitely would and started them in some peat pots and placed them in some plastic Ziploc bags to germinate.  I debated starting them because the pictures that I saw online of them showed some rather scraggly looking stalks as it is a wildflower.  What won me over was the history of the flower. 

First and foremost, they are named after Lewis of the Lewis and Clarke Expedition.  They are a native plant that was one of the 178 that Lewis and Clarke introduced to the world as American plants.  For more on their history go to:  http://www.santafebotanicalgarden.org/subpages/POM%20May09%20Blue%20flax.html

In addition, they are attractive to butterflies and birds.  I am hoping to attract some beautiful wildlife to our front yard so that by the time our wrap around porch is ready the blooms, birds, butterflies, and bees will give us a beautiful vista.

As with the blue flax, I found more information online about another of the dry stream plants I've chosen:  milkweed, which I sowed two weeks ago.  Three of the plants have germinated and moved up to the grow light.  What excited me about these was an post written by Jan at http://thanksfor2day.blogspot.com/2010/08/monarch-for-wildflower-wednesday.html


Center tp pots:  Milkweed seedlings



She explained that milkweed is the only place where Monarch butterflies lay eggs!   Jan also provides information on having your garden certified as a Monarch Waystation.   Wow!  Now, I am so hopeful that my ciderellas take off.  If you'd like free milkweed seeds there is a website that will send you some:

http://www.livemonarch.com/free-milkweed-seeds.htm

Head to Dave's for Seed Sowing Saturday!

http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/

The Sun in Winter

I'm not expecting to grow flowers in the desert,
But I can live and breathe and see the sun in wintertime
In a Big Country, Big Country

The first day of spring is still a month away, but the weather we've been having in "winter" of late has made up for the nonstop cold from December through January.  Yesterday was no exception, 59 degrees, sunny, and windless.  We were outside all day.  It was absolutely fantastic!

We managed to fill some of the dry stream bed with enriched dirt from our favorite nursery.  It's going to take a lot more than I had originally expected.  I placed most of the rocks and made pockets for my plants.

My hubby put our tumbler composter together (my Valentine's present).  Some folks may think a composter is really unromantic, but I thought it was perfect!

I got brave and began some spinach and mustard in some old strawberry trays.  I set them out in a sunny spot near the back deck.  Greens are a favorite of ours, so I'm hoping I'll be successful.  Growing food is completely new area of gardening for me, but in a big country, exploring new terrians just comes with the the territory!

Chandelier Lupines

Oh, the crystal chandeliers light up the paintings on your wall
The marble statuettes are standing stately in the hall
But will the timely crowd that has you laughing  loud

Help you dry your tears

When the new wears off of your crystal chandeliers?

"Crystal Chandeliers," Charely Pride

Crystal chandeliers definitely have nothing on chandelier lupines.  They are so beautiful, and they bring me a lot more comfort than the crystal ones in Charley Pride's song.  I had my first experience with "chipping" seeds this week while starting them.  I have no idea if I chipped them correctly (which is becoming a common thread among all my posts "I have no idea" that is), but my seed packet instructed me to use fingernail clippers to chip them, so I did.  Then I placed them in their little tp pots and put them in a plastic cake carrying case to germinate them.

I bought the case over three years ago for my son's birthday cakes, which I made for his first birthday party and had to transport.  At the time, I had visions of being a Paula Dean kind of mom -- I've used the carrying case once.  A gardener I am; a mother I am; a recycling reusing chick I am, but a birthday cake baking, decorating, and toting Mom, I really am not.  Like Shakespeare said (in the voice of Polonius), "To thine own self be true."  The chandeliers have given me a good reason to actually use a misguided impulse buy.   And if anyone has tips on how to "chip" seeds, please share!  I still have many of the seeds and do not want to destroy them.

Head to Dave's Seed Sowing Saturday for some great tips: 

http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/2011/01/seed-sowing-saturday.html

Sweet Thing

We shall walk and talk
In gardens all misty and wet with rain
And I will never, never, never
Grow so old again.

Sweet Thing, Van Morrison

I was going to save this song for the first really beautiful spring day of the year; as it turns out that day is today, February 18!  75 degrees!  Who knew?   

There is nothing that makes me feel younger than driving home with my window rolled down, working in the garden while the sun warms me, and finding the first flower on my forsythia.

I found the forsythia flower while we were working on the dry stream bed this afternoon.  I have no idea why it is here already, nor do I know why there is only one flower on the entire bush -- the rest is covered in buds.  At any rate, it is there, and it distracted me from time to time while we covered the planting area of the dry stream bed garden with landscaping fabric.   I placed a few of the rocks that we've been collecting, but it'll probably take me a while to get them all exactly like I want them.  I foresee many rearrangements, which is fine.  There are still many, many days ahead before anything can be planted, and it will be fun to see it all take shape.

The front portion of this area is where the dry stream bed will begin.  The rear is the garden..

Within the dry stream, I am planning on creating small pockets to plant juncus hedgehog and lavender.  The lavender seedlings are growing nicely, but I haven't even started juncus hedgehog yet.  I may also plant catmint as well. I'm not even sure if the pockets will be suitable for my plants, but really there is only one way to find out -- do it.

Plants for the dry stream garden:  agastache, lavender, blue fescu, blue love grass, Irish moss, and delphinium

It may not be officially spring and planting may still be months away, but my spirit feels ten years younger after this sweet, sweet day.

With One Shop Light

But me & Cinderella
We put it all together
We can drive it home
With one headlight
-- One Headlight, The Wallflowers

I've been wanting to start more seeds for a couple of weeks now, but the top row of my grow rack was full, and I only have one light, a shoplight, which is very strategically placed.  My Park Seeds order came in on Friday, and with it came an idea, one that I should have thought of a long time ago.  Seedlings need twelve to sixteen hours of light, not twenty-four.  I would like to say that I  had an "a-ha" moment, but it was more like "oh, duh."  I can rotate two rows.  I can give each row twelve hours of sunlight simply by rotating one set to the light and one away every twelve hours!

With that in mind, I started making my toilet paper roll seed starting pots last night.  This morning I woke up, moved my seedlings to the kitchen table (near two big windows), filled the pots, opened my

Asclepias incarnata 'Cinderella,'  which has been described as a hassle free, native perennial that attracts butterflies and smells like vanilla -- who can resist that?  Another bonus is the fact that the seeds are big, making them super easy to see.  (When I started my Irish moss seeds of few weeks ago, I wasn't even sure they made it into their little tp pots.)  Now my little Cinderellas are warming under the shop light! 

For some fun ideas on how to start seeds, head over to Dave's Seed Sowing Saturday!  http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/

If you try sometime

I saw her today at a reception
A glass of wine in her hand
I knew she would meet her connection
At her feet was her footloose man
No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
And if you try sometime you find
You get what you need
-- The Rolling Stones

I had planned to start my newly ordered seeds today.  But, they haven't arrived.  I started off  the day thinking, you can't always get what you want, but by this afternoon, my tune had changed.

Because we couldn't do what I wanted, the hubby and I opted for what I needed:  landscaping fabric. 

Recently, I read about several methods for keeping weeds out of the garden (I purused Mother Earth News in the grocery store while I was supposed to be purchasing cheese or something that I don't even remember, nor do I care about -- the grocery item was just an excuse to go somewhere where there was a garden, albeit in a magazine, and pretend winter was gone) but there seems to be no easy solution.  I thought I might turn the chunks upside down and smother the weeds while retaining the top soil, but I read somewhere else, that doesn't work.  It seems the more you disturb the weeds, pulling one peice up and exposing the roots to sunlight, the faster you propagate more weeds.  So basically, I was left with the following process:  cut the sod, dig it up, knock as much of the soil off it as possible, and chuck it over on some area of the lawn where the grass is dead.  It has been a little arduous, and I'm not even close to a completed bed. 

Eventually, I will finish. 

The hubby and I headed out to purchase the landscaping fabric, which is very much needed in order to finish the weed eradication project, and while we were shopping we noticed some really gorgeouse wine crates; filled with bottles of wine.  We drink wine from time to time, but not enough to buy an entire crate of a brand we've never heard of.  But I kept thinking about how pretty it would be if I created a centerpeice for our picnic table out of it.  So, I asked the manager of the store if they ever sold just the crates.  She said they did not because they went back to the vendors.  I was a little disappointed.  Then, she said that if there happened to be one that was mostly empty, we could have it -- for free.  I was very happy.  Then, we went to investigate.  All the crates were full.  I was a little disappointed.  But to my surprise, she emptied one and gave us the box.  I was very happy, not just to receive the gorgeous crate for free, but to meet someone who would take the time to do something really nice for a complete stranger.  It was as if the Rolling Stones song was being rewritten with a little kitsch thrown in:  there is something wonderful about wine, someone else trying, and sometimes, getting what you want and need on the same day!

Sunshine in a Trashcan

Oh oh oh oh oh
I ain't happy,
I'm feeling glad
I got sunshine in a bag
I'm useless but
Not for long
The future is coming on

-- Clint Eastwood, The Gorillaz

I am hoping to have sunshine in a trashcan.  My hubby and I set up a 32 gallon black, trashcan in the north corner of my little greenhouse Friday night.  This sounds like a dumb thing to do; it was thirty five degrees outside and drizzling.  My fingers felt pretty numb as we dipped buckets of water into the rain barrel and filled the can.  When it was almost full we secured the lid.  Now we’re waiting for Sunday when the temperature is supposed to reach fifty, and sunshine is on the agenda all day.

I am thinking about the future, the very near future.  My agastache trays have long roots dangling from the bottoms, and the roots of the blue love grass are starting to poke through the peat trays as well.  I don’t know for sure, but I think this is the sign I’ve been waiting for that they need to be transplanted into bigger pots.  I’m anxious to get them outside in the greenhouse and move the blue fescue, which germinqted very nicely this week up to the grow light.  The only problem is that February has just begun, and the temps in the greenhouse are way too low. 

I first started considering trashcan heating for my greenhouse after reading a post in a wonderful blog that I enjoy:  http://naturalgardening.blogspot.com/search/label/cold%20houses

Of course, the method referenced is used in a university's experimental cold house.  The design is probably more sophisticated and sound than my dubious "Sunshine in a Trashcan" method, but I have to start the learning process somewhere.

After I read the post, I started researching the idea.  I found a University of Missouri publication that reported on the use of black barrels for the passive heating of greenhouses, which is where I got the idea to place the barrel on the north side of the greenhouse:  http://aes.missouri.edu/swcenter/research/solarghbarrel.pdf

And yet another website mentioned there should be a gallon of water for every two square feet

http://greenmethods.com/site/weblog/2007/10/cut-greenhouse-heating-costs-with-water/

I’m thinking that my 48 square feet of greenhouse will be adequately heated by 32 gallons.  We’ll see.  At the moment, it just appears that I have a useless trashcan sitting in my greenhouse, but hopefully, not for long.