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.

Wintersown Germination.

In the hoophouse:

Ox Eye Daisy
Salvia Blue Queen
Dianthus Firewitch
Orlaya Grandiflora
Salvia officinalis
Dianthus knappi
Echinacea Harvest Moon
Rudbeckia triloba
Great Blue Lobelia
Dianthus Depford Pink
Monarda fistula
Ageratum
Penstemon Husker Red
Coreopsis Mahogany Midget
Pink Touch Me Not Impatiens
Siberian Wallflower
Lavendula Augustifolia


71 2-liters have germinated:

Chives
Red Mexican Hat - 2
Cardoon
Shasta Daisy White Knight
Diathus Firewitch - 2
Phlox Laura
Siberian Wallflower - 2
Chloeme - 2
Queen Anne's Lace - 2
Rudbeckia hirta brown - 2
Orlaya grandiflora
Rudbeckia hirta Cherry Brandy - 2
Drummond phlox
Potentilla
Evening Primrose
Ox Eye Daisy - 3
Red Lychnis
Great Blue Lobelia
Malva
Migonette
Lavendula Augustifolia
Bronze fennel
Buddleia White - 2
Obedient Plant
Helenium
Hardy Geranium Brookside
Gaillardia yellow
Fennel
Blue Flax
Foxglove
Echinacea purple - 6
viola tricolor
Touch Me Not
Buddleia purples
Golden Margureite
Chrysanthemum Robinson's Red
Amsonia
Marsh Mallow
Columbine purple
Rose Campion pink
Pearl Grass
Dianthus Depford Pink
Rose Campion white
Salvia Blue Queen
Culver's root
Garlic Chives
Double Red Monarda
Rudbeckia hirta
Hollyhocks
Bamboo white dragon
Verbena hasata
Malva mauritiana
Verbascum Wedding Candles
Verbascum Milkshake
Salvia Lady in Red
Dianthus knappi

Germination in the hoophouse has been good. I was expecting better, but I'm not going to complain. Just a quick count tells me that so far, assuming 4 hunks of seedlings per 2-liter and 8 containers of each in the hoophouse that should net at least two hunks, I've got about 556 holes to dig. This doesn't count the 125 Rudbeckia hirta cups that have sprouted and will need to be divided into at least 2 clumps at planting time. If I manage to get it all planted out, it will be beautiful. I still have about 100 tender/annual varieties to sow. I'm a long way from being done.

While checking on my containers, I moved the sprouted ones forward. I'll be watching for the second set of leaves before planting out. Doing this early reduces loss and makes for hardier plants. I used this same method last year with decent results.



I took some time this morning, after the wood was split, to pull back some of the leaves on the perennial bed. The soil is very wet. It needs to dry out a bit before I can plant. Hopefully, the sun shining on it with the light wind we're having will help. The low humidity certainly will. I shredded the leaves and scattered them in the meadow. This spring, I'll shred more leaves from across the street to put back down to reduce watering and continue to add to my organic mass.

I found two new crocuses under the leaves by the street.



Another Montauk daisy is coming back to life near the driveway.



Golden Jubilee at the birdbath is that beautiful purple that will turn lime green as it warms up. This one was self sown.



I planted all eleven of the penny nandinas. One was tossed into the woods. Five went into the beds behind the house. The other five went into the shrub island near the meadow. They all look sad right now, but each had fresh growth under the cold damaged leaves. One was suckering all around the edge of the pot.



I also planted out my cabbages. The carrots didn't germinate well, so I will probably wait until fall to try again. The peas didn't sprout either. I sowed the other half of the pack in place and covered the bed with plastic. The 8 plants in the background are Foster Hollies. They were a penny each too. The leaves are all brown, but the pith is still green. I'm going to wait before declaring them dead. Three tea olives were also part of that bunch. I've got them in part shade near the hydrangea bed beside the driveway.



Everything in the hoophouse and the 2-liter containers got a drink of water. I disturbed a couple of stowaways in the hoophouse.





It's 48 degrees and still sunny. I'm done. I need a nap.

Snow More.

The snow is melting quickly. The roads are nearly completely clear. It's 36 degrees and sunny. There is a cold wind blowing from the West.

Friday, I got the strings laid out for one of the lower potager beds.



The hoophouse hasn't been bothered by snow, ice, or wind.



The gully still has plenty of snow.



The stream is a great source of water for the birds.



I noticed on Friday that I had poppy seedlings in the meadow.



There's lots of standing water everywhere. The soil is saturated.



The camellia shed all her blooms.



Another crocus has bloomed. When the sun hits it, it will open.



I'm off tomorrow. The forecast is for sunny and 47 degrees. I'll spend part of the day removing the leaves from the meadow bed. I need to mulch them and respread them. I'm hoping the sunshine next week will cause more poppies to sprout along with whatever other seeds remain.

I have a sprout.

It's in a container in the hoophouse. I didn't have my camera yesterday while flipping the batteries around in the wireless thermometer. Yes, I put them in backwards. No, I still don't have a signal. It's in a container with red canna seeds. I'm pretty sure it's not a red canna, but a weed. That's the bad thing about sowing seeds in recycled soil. Or maybe it's a pansy.

It's 48 degrees this morning. The next three days are going to be incredible. Real sprouts should be coming along shortly in the hoophouse, possibly in the driveway containers.

The 10 day forecast.



11:51am - lunch. It's 57 degrees and climbing steadily. I just checked the hoophouse. Other containers have sprouted. These are not weeds (I Hope).

Dianthus



Rudbeckia hirta



Pak Choy



Other containers in the driveway are showing signs of sprouting soon. Siberian wallflowers have cracked their shells and are sending out roots. I should see green in a few more days.

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.

02 NCAC 48A .1206

No person shall distribute, sell or offer for sale nursery stock or collected plants without a valid nursery dealer certificate,
plant inspection certificate or nursery registration certificate as required in these rules

There's also this.

A certificate is required to distribute or sell nursery stock or collected plants. Nursery stock is defined as all wild or cultivated plants or plant parts, trees, shrubs, vines, bulbous plants and roots, grafts, scions and buds. Included in this definition are strawberry plants, turfgrass and bulbs. Also included are vegetable and tobacco plants when required by other regulations. Excluded are other annual plants, cut flowers, true seeds, decorative plants or plant parts without roots not intended for propagation, and perennial plants intended for indoor use that are produced in North Carolina. A collected plant is nursery stock ( other than currently certified nursery stock ) which is dug or gathered.

When nursery stock is grown at a location for distribution or sale, that location is considered to be a NURSERY

From what I'm reading, it seems as though I could sell cut flowers or annuals, but not perennials or other items like shrubs, figs, etc, unless I apply for certification. So let's assume I do that. I would then be required by my town to apply for a business license. The state would require me to pay sales & use taxes. I would effectively become self-employed again in the eyes of the Federal government and the local/state municipalities. Once that happens, any items I've purchased with my employee discount would be subject to review by my employer. If I have used my discount for business purchases, I could be subject to termination. Long story short, I'm going to have to dig a lot of holes in my yard this spring. It's going to be beautiful come early July. So that's the end of that.

It's currently 25 degrees and sunny. The hoophouse temperature dropped to 29 overnight and is slowly rising. Yesterday, the temperature reached 51 degrees inside. Outside, it was a blustery 37. We might actually hit 40 today. Thursday, rain and snow is expected for much of the Southeast.

11:29am - I've cut and split more firewood. Off from work tomorrow, I'll spend half the day getting more sawed into manageable logs for the splitter. Don't want to deprive my nephew of the joy he gets operating that machine. He's excited about coming for a visit. Last year, he went home and built his own "hoophouse" from some sticks and a piece of plastic my dad had in the building. I'm also planning to pick up some stones from the gully to finish the edging on the rose garden. If I'm feeling plucky enough, I'm going to see if I can at least toss enough out of the gully to complete the shrub island too. I hardly think I will get them all in place in a single day, but one never knows. I've got plenty of coffee in the cupboard.

It's 49 degrees in the hoophouse.

Nineteen...

degrees. The wind is blowing. Today is going to be a cold one. That once in a generation cold snap the National Weather Service was predicting has arrived. The last one occurred in 1977 and lasted nearly two weeks. Over the next 7-14 days, it's possible that the temperature might remain below freezing for extended periods of time. The wood heater will certainly get a workout trying to keep the house moderately warm. Last year, it was 50 degrees by late afternoon on January 3rd. I built an Adirondack chair that night in the basement while recovering from a cold.

Outside, it's 28 degrees in the hoophouse. The other half of my wireless thermometer is sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by all those containers I sowed yesterday. The sun is just starting to top the trees out back. I'm expecting about 60 degrees for the high in there today. Our high will be in the low 30s.



In the basement, three brugmansia seeds have germinated. Originally, I had placed one per 4" pot using Christmas lights for bottom heat. Four of the seeds rotted. Six others survived, so I wrapped them in a damp coffee filter and put them in a plastic bag. They're laying directly over the ballast of one of the lights. I've already transplanted the three sprouting seeds into a single container filled with sterilized soil.



Yesterday, when I came home for lunch, there was a box on the front porch. Someone baked me brownies. She was so happy with the seeds she received in the swap, that she wanted to thank me. They were delicious. Were. Thanks Carol!

Not much planned for today. I'm doing laundry, need to sort a few seeds for someone in Colorado, and will head to work again at 11am. I'm hoping today doesn't last as long as yesterday. It was freezing cold out there when the sun went down.

10:31am - It's 27 degrees and partly sunny. The hoophouse is at 41 degrees. I spent some time this morning potting a few rooted cuttings from the cloner. I potted three Miss Huff lantana, two cotoneaster, a Mystic Spires salvia, and one of the rose knockout cuttings. I still don't know what I intend to do with that thing. I can't sell it. I don't want more of them. It's really just a test to see how to root roses.

I also took cuttings from Miss Sarah's brugmansias. These were bare cuttings she brought to me at the store this fall. She says they are yellow and pink. I have no idea which is which, so I'll just call them Miss Sarah's Brugs. They're in the cloner now.

Heading to work. Still not above freezing. The water hose is in the basement thawing. The water barrel is empty after the marathon sowing session this weekend.

Four hundred, eighty-four.

That's the total number of containers sown so far. Last year I sowed a total of 712 according to the official tally keeper on the wintersowing forum. I didn't count them myself.

Last night I sowed 136 2-liter containers.



This morning, I started at 7am sowing the 224 quart pansy containers. Eight containers of 28 varieties are now in the hoophouse.



I also sowed 120 9-ounce cups of Rudbeckia hirta, from the yellow flowers I collected. I'm doing this to test something. I put a pinch of seeds in each cup. I'm hoping to be able to divide these cups into two or three containers once they've germinated. There just might be a plant sale in my future.



I also moved 30 small fig cuttings into the coldframe. These were tip cuttings I thought were too small for sand box storage container currently residing under the kitchen porch. The rooted gardenias also went into the hoophouse. It's supposed to be extremely, unseasonably cold for the next 2 weeks as a historic cold snap is coming down from Canada affecting most of the South. I don't want to lose these cuttings.



With everything closed up tight for the next few weeks while seeds start to germinate, I'll keep a close eye on the temperature. I'm thinking I will need to cut a few vent holes in the sides of the hoophouse to keep the temperatures from swinging so wildly on sunny days. Last year, I didn't monitor the actual temperature and everything worked out just fine, so maybe I'm worried about nothing.



All done for the morning, I need to clean the basement, but I have to work from 11-8 today. Maybe I'll save that for tomorrow morning.



It's currently 27 degrees, clear and sunny. The hoophouse is at 35 degrees and rising. As I said, Game ON!

A Broken Record.

Remember when music came on large round sheets of vinyl? Remember when one of those black discs got a scratch and repeated the same couple seconds of music over and over? That's what the 10 day forecast reminds me of. More of the same, over and over. Somebody bump the jukebox, please.



In the basement, the cloner cuttings have responded well to fresh water.





The Confederate Rose cuttings taken from Carla's neighbor's yard are leafing out, finally. I wasn't sure they would make it. Seems they might actually be rooting after all.



It's 25 degrees and clear. The hoophouse dropped to 27 overnight. The sun has finally topped the trees out back. We're up to 28 already. I'm thinking I need to hit the thrift stores this week looking for a couple of old quilts. A little extra nighttime protection wouldn't hurt. I might even install some Christmas lights. I bet the neighbors will love that, a big green glowing tunnel in the backyard.

More firewood will be split before work today. At 6pm, it was 69 degrees upstairs with no electric heat being used. It's currently 64.

12:06pm - It's 39 degrees and windy, again. The hoophouse is at 77 and still rising. By 2pm, a little shade will fall across the surface causing the temperature to reverse and fall.

Making plans for the gully.

This morning, I spent a couple hours cutting more wood from the dead oak tree in the gully. I was finally able to remove all the pieces of wood from the neighbor's property. There are still a lot of branches and small limbs from other trees that it took out when it fell this summer. Because this is such back breaking work, I can only give it a couple hours at most before I am just completely tuckered out. I made some nice progress though. Still a lot of wood to cut/split and burn this winter.



I've known for some time now that I need to address a situation that this dead tree has created. There's now a very walkable path from my garage door to the neighbor's property. As the wood is split and removed, it's getting easier to imagine all sorts of vagrants slinking through my backyard late at night. They'd have to be nuts, but I know the type.



Standing on the neighbor's furthest corner, Brown Ave, full of rentals and undesirable elements, is just a quick skip through a very thin border of privet.



Crossing over the privet hedge, one can see my house and the backyard. The privacy I've spent the past couple of years creating vanished in a single afternoon in July.



Where the cut wood currently sits, there used to be a creek. Years ago, I'm told the city blocked off the creek and installed drains on 7th street to funnel rain water into this gully. Prior to that, this entire area was used as a neighborhood garden. The woman that owned the house next door collaborated with the former owner of my house to keep the garden open for everyone to use. Twenty years later, the trees have taken over again. Ivy and periwinkle has covered nearly every inch of soil. Privet has sprouted and blooms, reseeds, and sprouts again every year. When it rains, as it's done a lot lately, the gully collects water. It absorbs slowly in our heavy stone and clay soil. Even in the middle of summer, it's not uncommon to find water in the lowest spots of the gully. Today, there's a bit of running water under the wood I cut into manageable logs.



It's already been suggested that I create a rain garden in this area. I've certainly got plenty of seeds for swamp mallow, lobelia cardinalis, and other bog loving perennials. As I remove the wood over the next few weeks, the size and layout of the rain garden should become more apparent. I don't plan to dig anything. I don't plan to move any earth aside from what is necessary to plant. I want to leave everything pretty much as it is, just adding some blooming interests and food sources for the native wildlife. I need to do some research on NC plants suited for wet locations.

The final plan for the gully includes a Magnolia grandiflora that I planted two years ago in the backyard. It's currently in the shrub island. I found it in the woods one fall day. A branch had fallen from another tree and pinned it to the ground. The stem had grown some large white roots under the leaves from the previous fall. I snipped it free from the mother and moved it a couple weeks later to its current location. I knew when I built that bed I would need to move the Magnolia. I had hoped to give it away, but the fallen oak tree gave me reason to rethink that idea. I'll be moving the magnolia in a couple of months. The hole it is planted in was once an anchor post for an old clothesline. I've cleared out a lot since this photo was taken in June 2007. The dog wasn't happy about my being there, let me tell you.



Standing in the same spot, you can see the magnolia exactly where the clothesline post was. The old crape myrtle is to the right and has regrown many new branches. I cut it down in the summer of 2008. I committed crape murder.



I'm sure the magnolia has a massive root system already. I hope to move it in early March if the weather cooperates. I'll plant it directly in the path that has been created by hauling wood from the neighbor's property. Other wintersown shrubs and cuttings will be used to create a physical barrier along the property line. The surveyor's tape is still visible along the rear of the wild. I'll be well within the bounds of my property so no one should complain.



It's now 45 degrees. Inside the hoophouse, it's 81. I placed the other half of a wireless thermometer in there this morning. I'll use it to keep track of the temperatures over the next couple of weeks. Too hot, and I'll need to think about venting. Too cold at night, and I'll look at other ways of capturing the sun's heat. The larger hoophouse will need some tweaking over what I learned last year with the smaller one.