Indoor Seed Starting

Here are many of my small sized seed packets, somewhat organized. I am not good at keeping seed packets neat, but must try to do better so I know what I'm saving from year to year and use up older seeds first. Fortunately, nothing is older than 2011 at the moment.

I am so late starting seeds this year. Normally, I start them around March 15th and I had been thinking about starting some of the slower peppers a week or two earlier than that. This year, I sowed on April 29th! I know I won't have early harvests, but I think they will still grow and have plenty of time to mature. They should get a quicker start since the basement is warmer this time of year. In fact, the heat mats probably won't even be running much (they have a thermostat). And, I won't be tempted to put seedlings out too early and have the usual concern about cold nights.

Peppers (sweets and hots). I'll probably plant some of these in the hoop house so they have a longer growing season. From past experience, the habs, lemon hots and hole mole peppers will probably need the extra time and warmth.

Tomatoes

Eggplants, raab and room for more...

I keep thinking that I should have managed to start the seeds on time despite having a new baby, but it's easy to say that now that I am getting sleep again. With feedings every two hours around the clock, I couldn't manage much else at the time!

I may sow some greens and herbs in the remaining space indoors, but most of my next sowing will be in the prepared pots waiting in the hoop house. Also, I need to do some direct sowing in the hoop house!

Hoop House Update

The hoop house easily withstood the only significant snowfall of the season. Here it is pictured on January 22nd.

I was too busy with the end of the pregnancy and then my new baby to do anything with the hoop house, but plants overwintered well even though I ignored them. I never did get a thermometer for it to record highs and lows, but next year I want to try that. Today, Jeff helped me with cleaning up the hoop house to ready it for planting. We left some flowering plants like kale for the honeybees that were happily buzzing around them. There are carrots, beets, Swiss chard, parsley, par-cel, dill, fennel and scallions to eat.

I filled pots with potting soil in preparation for starting winter and summer squash, cukes, pumpkins and zinnias in the hoop house. The trays with the shallow channels will be used to start seeds indoors. I intend to have them sowed and under the grow lights by the end of the weekend. I will be starting my tomatoes, eggplants and peppers very late, but expect they will still do ok with our fairly long growing season. We just won't have them very early like other years. A few of the longer to ripen peppers I'll put in the hoop house so they have a chance to fully develop.

It is exciting to be starting the garden for the season! I think James was interested in all our activities. He was outside with us in his stroller.

Soon, Jeff will till the garden and the peas will go in. Not only will Jeff and I be enjoying the garden produce this year, but James will have homemade baby food from the garden when he starts on solids in addition to breastfeeding.

Follow up

Just thought I'd post a picture of the garden completely tilled to follow up yesterday's post.

I love the new hoop house. Even though the main garden is put to bed for the winter, there is a little bubble of summer.

It's doing well even though I don't have the core strength or flexibility to weed and really take care of it at the moment. The camera lens fogged over in the warmth and humidity in there, but you can see some parsley, kale and dill. I think it is time to make some minestrone soup with the kale!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are using the holiday weekend to work on things that need doing around here. Today, we did the remaining garden cleanup which consisted of cutting eggplant and pepper plants and carrying them to the burn pile, pulling up stakes, picking up bricks and removing plastic mulch. Then, Jeff tilled the entire garden. I love seeing it all neatened up for winter and waiting for the spring planting!

The light is getting very slanted and wintry looking.

There were lots of chickadees flitting about the trees near us and V's of geese honking overhead.

It was quite a beautiful day for being outside. I hope we get a couple more good days for outside work. There are some leaves to rake, though not like other years, and I need to neaten up the patio area. Then, the burn pile needs to be torched.

Tomorrow, Jeff will work on the nursery doors and maybe that bit of trim for over the cubbies. I'll work on house projects too.

I'm just eating little meals that are healthy and full of protein, so I didn't do the Big Feast this year. We ate pretty much normally and I made some mini quiches in a muffin tin for dinner filled with turkey sausage, broccoli, onion and cheese. They were delicious. If you ever want to not overeat during the holidays, just time a pregnancy so you are in your last trimester then! I've actually lost a few pounds lately and the doctor says that often happens as you have less and less room.

We have a lot to be thankful for this year! You can imagine I am especially thankful that the nursery is finally functional!!!

Garden Construction Project: Building a Hoop House PART 3 (of 3)

With *snow* in the forecast, it was high time to do the finishing touches on the hoop house! We have not had fall yet this year...the leaves are still green on the trees and we still have some flowers in bloom like this rose by the patio. It's one I got at the grocery store a few years ago as a house plant, but it's been very happy to live outside year round. There are peppers to bring in from the garden too.

So, when I left off with the construction posts, the next step was to build and hang the doors. The doors came out really well after some aggravating planing here and there. Outside, with the hinges and latch showing.

And inside, showing the diagonal supports. I need to put a hook and eyescrew on the inside so I can keep the door closed when I'm inside.

The door on the back wall is the same.

Then, we had to create the roll up ventilation with pipe, clips, crank and some anti billow cord. The entire side can be rolled up at once! It will stay up too, with the handle braced on the edge of the end wall, but I think it's a good idea to put clamps on a couple of the ribs along the length just to add a little support for the roll up part to rest on.

This picture shows the crank. We have it held off the ground with a loop of rope. I wouldn't want it to be frozen into the ground on the first warm days of spring when we need to open the house up! There is plastic at the ends of the ventilation section to prevent any major drafts getting in under the ventilation flap.

A view of the side showing the ventilation set up and the anti billow cord laced down the side. Look how tight the plastic gets when the weather gets chilly!

Inside, there are some finishing touches to do like the hooks for the doors. I need to level the ground for my potting bench, but am just too pregnant for that amount of digging right now! You can see my coat/tool rack on the potting bench. I need to hang that on the end wall.

Of course, there needs to be a lot of planting too!!! I have gotten too pregnant to do much of that or much weeding. Also, we have been dealing with the moth/caterpillar attack. At least there is some greenery in there. Most of it I planted, but a few tomatoes volunteered and I have left them growing to see how they take the cold.

Parsley.

Cilantro (some of which will go in a chili later today!) and basil.

Carrots. I'm hoping for some super sweet cold weather carrots for xmas!

Radishes.

Swiss Chard, both Fordhook Giant and Bright Lights varieties.

A view down the middle bed showing German Winter thyme in the box, Evergreen Bunching scallions, marjoram, par-cel and various herbs, Winterbor kale, dill, fennel...

My beets, spinach, broccoli and broccoli raab are trying to grow, but have suffered the most from caterpillar attack. Next year, I will use organic treatments to try to protect them better. Johnny's Seeds has suggested I use Dipel.

It has been quite the adventure to build, but we are so happy with the results. I know we are going to use it a lot. I hope it holds up well and doesn't need much more maintenance than a new 'skin' each season...I'll keep you posted, of course!

Now, it's back to house construction...working on the nursery project. I hope to have a post about that in the near future. That cutesy due date countdown ticker in the corner of the page is becoming a little stressful with all the work that needs doing. Let's hope he's not an early baby!!

Chicken Korma

This is one I've cooked and blogged before, but it's so good I have to share again! The recipe is from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I so enjoy the process of cooking a curry--it is a real sensory experience! It's visually pretty, smells amazing and sometimes I like getting immersed in methodical slicing or dicing.

I picked the green chile and cilantro from the garden. The chilies are going by in the colder weather, but the cilantro is thriving in the hoop house.

Although the recipe calls for green chilies, I just had to use this red mariachi from the garden too! It was perfect!

Chicken Korma simmering on the stove top.

I also picked a few radishes from the hoop house for a crunchy, tasty garnish.

It is exciting when dinner time finally arrives and all the toppings are arrayed in preparation.

All ready to eat! Yum!!!

Fall Growing

My hoop house growing has had a set back. I've never had trouble with cutworms and caterpillars before, but now I seem to have a plague of them. I am wondering if they arrived with some composted cow manure I bought and added to the soil, only to discover it wasn't very nice at all.

Jeff and I have been looking for pests and squishing all we find. I'm hoping our friendly toads will eat some of them! The toads have made themselves at home in the hoop house and there are little 'toad wallows' here and there where they dig in a little for coolness and moisture. They amuse me, but they also startle me sometimes when I am planting or weeding and they shrug up out of the soil!

The pests have been attacking my parsley, basil, cilantro and broccoli. They have demolished the beets and spinach. They even got inside collars when I tried to protect the seedlings...boy, was I mad then!

So far, the collards, radishes and carrots are doing ok, but I'm a little afraid to say this in case I am jinxed! Some little radish seedlings:

I know things will get better, but it is frustrating at the moment to plant and watch it get eaten. However, I LOVE the hoop house! I am looking forward to writing up my last construction post to show you the roll up side and the doors on hinges.

1st Day with the Cover

We timed the skinning just right! Yesterday, we had a hot day for attaching it, which meant the plastic was flexible and stretchy. Today, the temperature was quite cool (60's F) and the plastic tightened just right and really looks good!

Here is the north side.

Here is the south side with the ventilation needing parts/finishing.

It is cozy and fun inside! I can't wait to get the doors on!

Ignore the 2x4 bracing--that is leftover from our preparations for Irene. We will only use them as a precaution in the most severe weather as the house is quite solid.


The rain from the remains of Hurricane Lee is a good test of the covering. We have one small drip along the hip board that we will have to locate and cover with some repair tape I have ready for just such times. Also, water has not pooled anywhere on the plastic, which is really nice to see! I won't need to worry about going out in storms to dump water off it.

Garden Construction Project: Building a Hoop House PART 2

After the exhausting long weekend of preparing for, getting through and recovering from Irene, it was nice to get back to normal and have a holiday weekend to continue work on the hoop house.

The next step was to affix the hip board to the south side of the house. This is to help with the roll up ventilation. Hopefully, water and snow won't pool above it too much.

It was fastened to the hoops with c shaped pipe straps. Even though it is a metal to metal contact, it is a tight fit and doesn't slip! (Our back up plan, if they had slipped, was going to be cutting bits of old bike inner tubes to squeeze between the contact points.)

The hip board was attached to the end hoops with a self tapping screw. There are two rows of wiggle wire track on the hip board as we need to have eyelet screws in between for lacing the anti billow cord over the roll up ventilation section.

Here is how the wiggle wire track looks on one of the end walls.

All potentially sharp or rough edges were covered with felt tape.


The plastic was cut to length (we have a roll that will cover it twice). Then, we started pulling the plastic over the hoops and temporarily secured it with clamps and 'tacked' it down with the wiggle wire in places until it was pretty well aligned and tight. Then, all the wiggle wire was snapped into place.

Progress shot. The rolled up part will become a proper roll up side for ventilation. We need to assemble some pipes and attach a handle/crank. It will be further secured with anti billow rope laced between the hip and side boards. A couple of narrow strips of plastic will be attached at each end, between the hip and side boards. Having this double layer at the ends will help keep out the wind.

Inside the 'bubble'!

So, still remaining to do is the roll up ventilation, neatening up the ends of the plastic on the end walls, cutting the doors to size and mounting them on hinges and deciding what latches to use. I think after that, all I have to do is get planting!

Habanero Hot Sauce

Today, I tried making Bob's Habanero Hot Sauce, a seemingly very popular online recipe. I went ahead and made it pretty much as written with the full amount of peppers since reviewers seemed to think that worked well. The only changes I made were to strain the liquid off the peaches to avoid making the sauce too runny, I reduced the mustard to 2 tablespoons, I reduced the black pepper to a half tablespoon as I used some pretty strong, fresh grounds and I reduced the salt to just 1 teaspoon.

It is VERY, VERY hot! Really too hot for anyone pregnant, like me! It does seem tasty as far as I could tell before my tongue felt no sensation other than burning. So, I'm going to try this again using just a couple of peppers and see if I can make something I can enjoy even while pregnant and use in greater quantity in general.

It seems like it will be a good 'jerk' style marinade for chicken.

Jeff will use some of this batch in tiny amounts and he'll take some to work for the hot pepper lovers there!

Irene

We were very lucky! The wind was tropical storm rather than hurricane strength and the rain was minimal, I'd say less than 2 inches. Still, I did not enjoy the wind we did get! It is unnerving to see spruce trees blowing about like palm trees!

Before the storm, we were especially concerned about the new hoop house under construction. We really did not want it tested so soon! We braced it in each corner with 2x4s and the neighbor loaned us some ground anchors too. It did just fine--didn't budge at all!

Every time I go to a hardware store, I look at the generators and think we should have one. Well, Friday morning, we decided we had to have one immediately and, of course, they were all sold out. We went on a bit of a road trip to one of two stores I was able to find with some in stock. They would not take orders over the phone, so we had to drive there, fully expecting them to be sold out by the time we got there. Luckily, there were still a few to choose from, though they were selling fast! The store had them right by the door, already on trolleys, with a gas can and heavy duty electrical cord. And, they had a couple of strong employees to lift it into the truck for us.

When we got home, Jeff set it up to run in the back of the truck, which is probably a 'don't' in the instructions, but we needed it close to the house and not in the elements. Jeff organized a good set up with the shop light for night time, the fan to help keep the motor cool and a wattage meter. Next time, we will wire it into the house, so we don't have electrical cords running all over the place!

The road trip paid off as we did lose the power from about 9:50 am Sunday to about 11:50 am Monday and we were able to save all our garden food that is squirreled in the deep freezer. We were also able to run the fridge and check the TV for news updates.

We had computers on battery throughout the storm, but the internet was down!

The garden got such a beating! The larger, more fragile leafed plants like cukes and zukes got torn to shreds. The peppers and eggplants looked like they were getting broken. I took some pictures toward the tail end of the storm when the winds had weakened and I dared go outside. Here are the peppers and the flattened sunflowers in the background.

More peppers.

A detail of the green bells.

A detail of the Holy Moles.

The eggplants really looked doomed!

Most of the tomatillos were flattened, except for some that grew up through cages.

As evening came, we were able to open the house windows a little to let in some cooling breezes to clear out the hot, humid, tropical storm air. We had some candles for light in between running the generator. I wished I'd bought more than one of these cute Ikea lanterns! Maybe I will look for them again the next time we are there.

Monday, work was closed due to the lack of power, so Jeff and I cleaned up sticks in the yard. We didn't have that many. The neighbor to the south lost most of a tree and some fence and the neighbor to the north lost some tree limbs, but nothing like it could have been. Some of the trees don't have many leaves left.

We worked at staking the peppers and today, they are looking perkier!

This hab was flat on the ground after Irene, but we gently lifted it and tied it up.

Likewise, a Holy Mole.

The eggplants are really surprisingly sturdy plants.

Quite a few peppers fell off the plants and most of them are under-ripe, so they are a loss, but we will still have plenty. The eggplants are probably ok, though perhaps a little bruised. All the fruit fell off the apple trees and the grape vines. It smells like a winery under the trees!!

I just hope everyone else in the path of the storm can get back to normal soon too!!!