Spring Cleaning.

I spent this morning cleaning up the hoophouse and storing all the pieces in the basement. The cardboard under the concrete pavers has nearly disintegrated. The pavers were used to create a makeshift path through the upper meadow around the fruit trees and down to the lower area of the back yard. I also used a few to provide a walkable surface between my three lower beds. In a couple of weeks, I'll be getting a truck load of compost for the two beds that still need more soil. It's good stuff, made by the neighbor of a coworker.



In one bed, the wintersown cabbage are doing great. I hope they have time to head before it gets really hot. I never have much luck with spring cabbages. I need to remember to do them again in the fall.



Ahh...feels good not to see all that "trash" in the backyard.



Now it all resides in the driveway. It'll be gone in another month or less. The high temperatures in the 80s this week should cause some rapid growth with my seedlings.



More "trash" will soon become lattice and trellises for pole beans and cucumbers. These came from a grove behind a coworker's house. She told me to take all I want and come back for more if I need it.



The figs have been repotted.



Lots of planting out this morning. I'm taking a chance on no more frosts, I know.



It's 57 degrees, up from a low of 52. The high should reach 70 shortly after lunchtime.

Day Four

This is the fourth day of an eight day work week for me. With three under my belt, I'm itching to get my hands dirty. This morning, I'm hoping to sow some seeds of cool weather plants. I'm thinking cabbage and snow peas. They'll go into the hoophouse. I need to change the batteries and check on my wintersown containers. I'm not expecting any sprouts yet, but who knows. At the end of the driveway, they're still frozen solid. It's 19 degrees.

The kitchen is calling to me as well. With warmer weather in the forecast for the next 10 days, I'm likely to spend most of my free time in the yard. The plan was to have the kitchen finished before it warmed up. Cold weather zaps my energy, so that hasn't happened. But it is on the list.

I need to clean and restock the cloner, too. I just filled my second cup of coffee. The wood heater is coming back to life. My pajamas are nice and warm. 58 is the forecasted high today. We'll see.

10:49am - Coppenhagen Early Cabbage, Pak Choy, Italian carrots, and Sugar Daddy snow peas have been sown. I'll put them in the hoophouse before work. I'll need to get dressed first.

The cloner has been cleaned. I discarded a couple of yellow/orange brug cuttings that were mushy. I also tossed out a couple of Carla's roses. They were turning brown. Others have calluses so I should get a few of these very fragrant pink roses. The lantana still hasn't rooted, but cotoneaster and a couple of brugs did. They were potted into quart sized containers. I need more dirt.

I've also started on the kitchen again. More on that later. A little at a time.

11:23am - It's 43 degrees. The hoophouse is very warm inside. The batteries have been replaced, just waiting on an update from the wireless thermometer, but I would guess somewhere in the upper 50s. No sprouts yet. Hopefully next week. It's very moist inside.

11:53am - Assessing the damage.

The first daffodil has popped. This one is along the edge of the butterfly slope near the orchard.



Nice fat buds on the Belle of Georgia peach. The Morris Plum and Thundercloud seem to have come through the cold nicely too. Not so sure about the cherry tree.



The brown turkey fig has some issues. About 18" on each of the three branches has turned soft. I was planning to prune it hard anyway. I would have liked to have made cuttings from the tips.



Under the kitchen porch stairs, the container of black mission fig cuttings is still frozen solid. I'm okay with that. Hope they stay that way a while longer.



Knockout roses by the front walk have buds. I bet them open next week, with lots of freeze damage.



My oldest gardenia cuttings from Sharon's bush is still green. That's a good sign.



Husker's Red penstemon has survived in a tiny quart sized container at the end of the driveway. Several sprouted in the fall. They're tough little buggers.



Cornus mas is no mas.



Surprisingly, the Oak Leaf Hydrangea still holds on to its leaves. This one has been through some trials and tribulations with me.



It's 43 degrees. No jacket required. A beautiful day. Still no word from the hoophouse. I must have installed dead batteries.

Got New Shoes.

And I gotta break them in. So this morning, as soon as the sun topped the trees out back, I was in the yard. First on my list, two raised beds in the current tomato patch. I pulled the cabbage for a stir fry tonight. The smallest ones went into the compost bin. I planted them too late.



These beds are merely stacked landscape timbers. I haven't drilled or hammered the rebar yet. I'm afraid I'll change my mind before spring.



From the kitchen side of the house, the potager looks nice. I may keep it. I picked up several buckets of small rocks, tossed lots more into the woods, and finally did something about that black garbage bag of soil that was laying at the end of the tomato patch most of the summer. I raked everything smooth and filled in the holes where I had dug the stumps. Next spring, I'm going to be rooting a few figs for the area behind the largest bed. I'll also move my fig out of the shrub island here. The butterfly bushes in that bed need more sun, so they'll go on the slope where I planted grasses and asters. The blueberries need to be moved too. I didn't give them enough room and really just wanted to get them in the ground for the winter. The thundercloud plum tree in the perennial bed will be moved in a few weeks as soon as the leaves start to drop. I'll put it in the bed where I had corn and beans this year. There's not enough sun to really grow much there in terms of veggies, so hopefully it will be happy enough. Lots of plans, huh?



While working on the tree yesterday, my mom got a good look at my old workboots. It wasn't long before she suggested we go to Wal-Mart and buy another pair. I give them 3 months before they're in the same shape as my others.



It's currently 51 and cloudy. This morning's sun went away quickly as I got busy working. If the clouds and wind remain through the night, we might be able to stave off an early frost. They're forecasting 36 degrees by 7am tomorrow. Next week, we'll be back in the 70s during the day. Oh please, oh please, oh please don't let it frost yet. My yellow brug is trying really hard to open. Fortunately, it's under the canopy of a large oak tree that still has most of its leaves. I'll cover it tonight with a sheet and hope for the best. I want to see this one bloom at least once this year.

For this afternoon, I plan to rake and shred the leaves collecting in the front yard and driveway. I'll use them to mulch the areas I raked clean this morning.



It's only noon, but it feels like I've done an entire day's work already. Tomorrow, I have to go back to the store. I wish I had another week off.

3:04pm - Rounded up all the leaves and used the blower/vac to shred them. Also picked up enough stone the tractor turned over in the gully to finish the daylily border.



That's a full size bed sheet sewn together to create a sack of sorts. It works great. Thanks again Kris!



I used the last two bags of Cypress mulch on the rose garden. Broken bags, half price, etc.



I spread the chopped leaves on the butterfly slope between the raised beds.



Possible location for the patio. The soil here is like concrete. Nothing but periwinkle and poke weeds grow here. I can't really mow it because of all the small rocks all over the ground. Pick one up, another two take its place. The hammock used to hang between those trees. It's in the basement for winter storage.



All the frost tender plants are in the basement too. I'll wheel them back out in a couple days once the chance of near freezing temperatures has passed. I've decided this year not to have so many indoor things to take care of. The brugs will take up most of my space under lights.



That's it. I'm done for the day.

How I Spent My Fall Vacation.

Carla came over this morning. She dug some holes. I helped when I could. We planted...

Double pink rose of sharon. The Magnolia will be moved this fall once the dead oak tree is cut up. There's a house I can see from my bedroom window, with a security light.



Lord Baltimore hardy hibiscus.



Cherry Brandy hardy hibiscus. This of the same name as the rudbeckia actually has red blooms and nice purple foliage in full sun.



Hilda's upright elephant ears. I'm getting confused as to the botanical name.



A trio of Salvia greggi, Furman's Red.



I gave her my mandevilla in the hanging basket. She gave me a gallon sized ziplock full of ripe figs from her yard. She borrowed the truck. I watered everything in. I set up the sprinkler in some areas. I hand watered other items. In the meantime, I had removed the tomatoes and planted two kinds of cabbage, Stonehead and bok choy.



After Carla came back with the truck, I set out 15 heucheras purchased for $0.25 a piece. Clearance racks are evil. I have 5 more, already have a plan for them, just couldn't get it done today.



The leg is screaming at me. Walking up and down the slopes of the backyard, bending over, moving things, etc have taken their toll on me. I plan to spend the rest of the afternoon sorting seeds from chaff or napping. I think we know which one I will choose. I strained and rinsed the tomato seeds this morning. They've been spread out to dry on the windowsill.

The pile at the end of the driveway is smaller than before. We also planted out the final Confederate rose and I put 4 4-inch mums in the hanging basket by the front door. I didn't actually get the basket to the front porch, so it's hanging on the hook the mandevilla used all summer.



This morning, while having my second cup of coffee, I took this picture. The "orange" rose really likes this location. The cosmos were sown sometime in July. I really shouldn't have done that.



When everything was done, I set the whirligig sprinkler in the cabbage patch. I sat down in my chair across the way and watched. Hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, all sorts of flying critters swooped in and out to catch a bit of moisture. Someone nearby was using a weedeater. C-130s from the Air Force base circled the town sometimes passing over the house. Bird hopped from limb to limb. I saw a hummingbird take a sip from the Red Texas Star on the right, just to the left of the Rose of Sharon.

Click to embiggen.

It's 77 degrees, sunny, and nice. 63 was the overnight low.

Starting seeds and transplanting

It's 36 degrees and sunny. Yes, sunny. Finally. It was 28 overnight with a high in the mid 50s forecast.

I sowed some seeds on the bottom heat contraption this morning. Yvonne's salvia, double yellow datura, buddelia 'white profusion', and an impatien mix I got from a trade. I'm starting these early so that I can use the aerochamber to propagate more in the spring. Some may be sold in the plant sale this year. Others will be used to fill in the bare spots between perennials that won't bloom their first year.

I'm also transplanting some of the willow that's been sitting in a glass with water for the past few days. The roots are large enough to move to soil on 4 or 5 of the cuttings. I want to get them into soil sooner rather than later to avoid transplant shock.

The rest of the day is up for grabs. I need to work on a cover letter for a job I intend to apply for early in the morning. I need to feed the compost bin and might even turn it over. I also want to transplant some of the cool weather crops like cabbage that have germinated in the hoophouse.

Two cups of coffee down and I'm thinking I need another. Still waiting on answers from the new client regarding his project. He's waiting on the higher-ups. In any case, I intend to put my hands in some outdoor dirt today.