Post Chill and Hiatus

Today I moved the starts back to their original home in the grow house since the temp seemed to even out. I also transplanted about 18 plants into bigger containers. Not only will they have to survive the change in temp, but also the shock of a new container.











































I fastened the coco baskets to the lattice set up. In April when I plant everything for the most part, I will put the Clematis in these. The rain barrels are also set:













































I also have a mini greenhouse that I will eventually harden off my starts.































We'll just see how it all goes. This may be a bust but I'm giving in a go this year. It might be a while until I post since things should be pretty quiet until April when I plant everything.

More Stuff I Don't Need Or Have Room For

Many moons ago, I used to have a killer horse radish plant growing on the ubber shady area of my apartment deck. I made some pretty killer horseradish sauce out of it and the plant was beautiful. Today I found some horse radish roots and bought them even though I don't have the room to commit to it yet.























The wife also convinced me to buy a couple Clematis plants to start at the top of some lattice we have (hiding my home made rain barrels) that was supposed to be filled in by Don Juan climbing roses last year. I am a pretty cheap individual but after getting home and hanging the coconut basket in place on top of the lattice frame I built last year, I was convinced this was a good idea. The top wil be cascading with Clematises and the bottom will continue to be filled in with Don Juan climbing roses.

Cold Snap

It is currently February and snowing. I started 192 seedlings out in the newly created "grow house" this year. For $16, I picked up a shoplight that will give me the proper lighting coupled with a choice oil heater to get the seeds growing early. This has been a way to rid some of the spring growing fever which I find myself afflicted with every year.

With the cold snap, I found my other tenancy (being cheap) to overrule the idea of heating the grow shop to the adequate temperature. I moved nearly 200 starts indoors to the guest bedroom under some intense lighting. I'm sure this makes for a great nighttime show with the lighting penetrating the blinds and giving the appearance that my housing is solely used for a grow op. I'm sure the neighbors think I am growing illegal substances. I would love for the police to raid me and find several Brussels sprouts growing under the lights.

Attached are some pictures of the setup before the cold snap and the current move situation:

Soil of Blood

I picked up quite a bit of mushroom compost, steer manure, and top soil to add to my understandable depleted beds from last year. As I am hacking open the backs of compost, the razor blade jumps the confines of the plastic I wish to open and into my fingers creating a really ghastly laceration. I’m sure the blood from my finger equates nutrients in the soil.

Seeds Seeds Seeds

Being so far removed from the growing season leaves me on edge. I finally got the chance to express my gardening desires when I was alerted by my mom that Fred Meyer was having a seed sale. Of course I picked up way too many seeds but at least there is some inclination of Spring in the foreseeable future. I also started planning my veggie gardens.

Some seeds:

This year's plans:

Here is a picture of last year's garden in action: