Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Springing forward.

Things are warming up and looking lively on the ole homestead.  Both calves are growing and doing well.  Steak seems to have survived his bout with scours and is enjoying the pasture during the day.  Flurry, our baby goat, is a ball of energy and provides lots of entertainment.  The chickens are as grouchy as ever and it is apparent that the daughter of our broody hen has a lot of her momma's dna.  She's even more hateful than her mom.

My pepper plants are coming along.  I have moved them out to the greenhouse though I check the forecast every day to make sure night time temperatures won't dip low enough to harm the small plants.  Yesterday, the princesses helped me plant a small lettuce and chive bed inside the greenhouse.

I started my tomato seeds a few days ago.  The varieties I have chosen for this year are:  Super Sioux, Mortgage Lifter, Arkansas Traveler, Paquebot Roma, and German Pink.  Hopefully, in a few days I'll have some baby maters popping up in their pellets.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The Greenhouse Is Up!

I am so excited!  TH and I worked on a sunny afternoon to put up our little greenhouse.  It is 6x8 but is a little taller as TH placed and anchored it on top of railroad ties.



I'm a little concerned about my pepper germination rates.  Out of 8 seeds planted, only 3 came up.  I've started carrying them out to the greenhouse during the sunny hours and have restarted the pepper varieties again.  I'm starting more of each variety this time to ensure I have enough come up.  I am also adding some jalapenos, hot hungarian wax, and cayenne peppers.  I had forgotten about hot peppers but thankfully I had bought some hot pepper seeds during last year's clearance sales.  I prefer to buy my seeds from companies like My Patriot Supply or Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds but I always grab some cheap seed packets when I see them discounted to $.10 and below.  It was great to have them on hand so I could plant them last minute.  I encourage everyone to plant heirloom varieties so that you can save your own seeds for future years.

I'm only two entries into my gardening journal and I've already got eraser shavings all over it.  Hope to have even more as the year progresses and plans change for the better.