It wound up being a gorgeous day. Lots of sun shining, warm temps and warm breezes helping the snow to melt.
Now we are just waiting for the frost to go out and the snow melt to go away.
In the meantime ...
It's official. Little baby lettuce and baby spinach.
This time around I'm following the advice of the YouTubers and keeping the tray up close to the light.
Things were fine last year when I didn't have everything up close to the lights. I'd like to see what happens when I do follow this advice, though.
The day ended pretty grey. Weather is supposed to be not as nice. Either snow or rain, depending on what area you are in. We shall see.
Yesterday someone asked me how Porkie is doing. Porkie is well. The warmer temps agree with Porkie. We are seeing him twice a day, most days. He's getting his oats and a sprinkling of rabbit feed now. He seems pretty content. When he sees us he does his little grunt sound, which I assume is him showing he's happy.
This weekend was beautiful, weather-wise. The sun was out for most of the weekend. A little bit of wind on Sunday. The wind helped to get the snow melting.
I opened up the greenhouse this weekend. It's amusing to say that since I can't put anything out there yet. I had to take a hammer to some ice and break it up so I could open the flap door and go in.
I did spend a few minutes in there each day, thinking about how excited I was to get it last April.
I bought all those fabric pots last year, and hardly used any. I have plans for them this year. And all those water jugs that I had water in, to try and use as a passive solar heater. I don't think they did a bit of good. It's too cold up here.
I looked around for damage of any kind. It looks like someone tried to nibble their way in, before the snow got deep.
Depending on which thermometer you looked at, it was either close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit,
or somewhere around 80.
I made a quick walk around the house.
The angel is getting uncovered.
The one big "puddle" has returned. It will be here until the frost goes out.
And a gorgeous view of the garden area.
Speaking of the garden - what's this?
If my eyes aren't deceiving me, I do believe I have some itty bitty baby plants. I spotted them this afternoon.
I tried to get a close up shot. Hard to focus that close.
They may be as close to instant gratification for seed starting as it gets. Wow!
Speaking of seeds, I remembered to take a photo of my outside project.
Nothing fancy. Just a few small starter pots in a small planter.
I'm wondering if I should stick this over into the greenhouse, but then I'm worried the seeds will get too hot, sprout early, then die over night.
Sometime last year I came across a YouTuber who was making videos showing off these solar water fountains she was making. My husband said he told me about solar fountains. I vaguely remember him telling me about them. My memory really stinks sometimes.
Anyhow, I was watching more of her videos, and decided to order myself a solar fountain pump. I gave it a try this weekend and it really does work! I had tried it with a bucket and the hose. Nothing fancy. Sunday we went to Men@ards and picked up a inexpensive bird bath.
I gave it a try this morning, with a spout cap. It's lovely, and the sound of the water was so soothing to hear. It' will be a while before I can set up my water fountain. This will be a nice substitute until I can get my big fountain set up. Then I can set this up, and maybe another one or two, over in the garden area.
Fun, right?
One other thing I did this afternoon, before dinner, was to make an upside down pineapple cake. I use a recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. Yum!
I was so excited for this weekend to start. You know why?
Because I get to finally start some seeds! Woo hoo!
This year I'm trying my hand at making seed starting mix. I purchased a few (or four) bricks of coconut coir and a few bags of vermiculite.
I am wondering if I should have mixed some perlite in.
Okay, so I might have started some earlier than what I listed on my calendar.
Last year was SUCH a great learning year for me. It was my first successful year starting seeds. This year I took the time to find out my average last frost date and determine when I should start the various seeds. I've also be watching a whole lot of youtube videos. MIGardener and The Rusted Garden are two good channels to watch.
I got to break out the seed storage system that I've been seeing all over on YouTube and decided to jump on the bandwagon.
I've seen people have all sorts of organization systems for their seeds. I decided to go alphabetical.
Sooooo ... On Saturday, March 6 I planted:
Black Seeded Simpson
Buttercrunch
Iceberg A
Igloo
Gourmet Blend
Looseleaf Blend
Spinach - Salad Sensation Hybrid
Spinach - Bloomsdale Longstanding
So far I've filled one 1020 tray full of 72 plugs. Today I set my indoor seed starting space up.
I had the light on only for taking the photo.
I also decided to try an experiment with starting some chive and poppy seeds outside in a makeshift winter sowing greenhouse-ish thing. I forgot to take a photo of it and now it's night time. In the past I haven't been as serious as I should have been about trying to start poppy seeds. I feel determined to give it a really strong effort this year. I remember a house in my old neighborhood had poppies on the south side. Every spring it was a gorgeous sea of poppies. Years ago my MIL purchased a poppy plant at a rummage sale and it flourished at her house. I may try a few different methods. Wish me luck!
