What is Happening This Week in My Neighborhood!

Linking up today with Blooming Tuesday!

http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/
and Fertilzer Friday
http://www.tootsietime.com/

I know many  of you have your yards a blaze with blooms!  I love seeing what is coming my way.  I live in Idaho and we are just at the beginning of Spring wonderful happening.

Here are a few pictures of things starting to wake up:

Apricot Tree Filled with Blossoms

Please don't freeze for the next few nights!

  Bleeding Hearts - Brand New!

 A Few More Dafodills

 The First Tulips and Grape Hyacinths

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In the Greenhouse

Hosta Seeds are starting to pop up!

 Moon Flower seedlings peaking up too!

    Today I am grateful for the spring time burst of energy happening all over our beautiful area!

This Week - Snow Snow Snow Snow!

Linking up this week with Tootsie over at Fertilizer Friday
http://www.tootsietime.com/

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This week has been an up and down week in the neighborhood!  Monday we had snow.  Tuesday it was 70*. Yesterday it was 60* and today we are in a blizzard. Snow is actually drifting in the road.  Sheesh!

This week:

1. I finalized our play yard area plans. (Details next post written on Monday April 2, 2012.)
2. Some daffodils are blooming.
3. Cleaned up the Side Yard.
4. Planted a few more things in the greenhouse.
5. Shoveled the walk!

Here are a few pix:

Side Yard before cleaning - it was a mess - all the clean up stuff filled a pick-up. 

I let the leaves stay in the side yard to help protect my darling plants through the winter. 

 After cleaned and washed:

 Daffodils are blooming - a full month ahead of time.

Does this mean we will be ahead of time all season?

Poor Mother Nature - it looks more like Christmas this morning than it did at Christmas!  The weather is all mixed up here.

That is all for the week. Hope you have a wonderful Easter. 

Today I am grateful for Jesus Christ and what He did for all of us!

Plans and the Play Yard

Check out all the fun gardens on this weeks blog hop.

Linking up today with Blooming Tuesday!  Blooming Tuesday

Tuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage Tuesday Garden Party

Wednesday - Outdoor Wednesday Outdoor Wednesday

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I was totally excited to go out into the yard this morning and work.  The sun was shining - I opened the curtains and this is what I found....big change of plans! 

So I spent sometime doing some research finalized the changes I am making to the play yard - pictured below. 

(The date on my camera is off by one day - oops!  

We have 10 grandchildren, one is six and the rest are under four years old.  Most of them are boys and we have to have to have some more activities for them when they are here.

Here are a few of the ideas I am planning to do:

This is from www.thisoldhouse.com   I want to build a fort back in the right corner just behind the tires.

Next to it I want a square that is a nature square. This picture is from: www.progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com

Next to it, right behind the treehouse I am going to put a 4x8 piece of plywood with astro turf on it that the little boys can drive their trucks on.  I don't have a picture of it.

I want to add a chalkboard to the back fence. This picture is from: www.blogs.babble.com

I am going to add a sound wall with a thunder drum.  This pictures is from  www.progressiveearlychildhoodeducation.blogspot.com  I am going to move the fence forward on the right side and make the sound wall the fence on that front side.  It will be about 4 feet tall.

Both pictures above are from   www.parqueparabrincarepensar.blogspot.com. I want to add this tire climb to one of the openings in the tree house.

On the left side  I am pulling the fence out and this will be the side of that fence - a water wall - it will face out so the water doesn't go into the play yard and will be about 4 feet high.  This picture is from

www.shareandremember.blogspot.com

I want to add a simplified version of this to the water wall that will just spray out when the hose is hooked up to it.

Where I pull the fence out, I am going to add this tire mountain - loe the bright colors and the fun the kids would have on this.
 

I already have a hopscotch in there - but I am going to let each of our g-kids decorate a block - this one is really fun - it is from www.nearlycivilized.ca

When it warms up a bit and I have the fence where I want it - I am gong to have all the little boys come over and help me paint - isn't this so great!

There are a few more ideas - I will take pictures as we begin the renovation.  

I told our 6 year old that when I finished the greenhouse we would start working on it.  Last week when I finished, he said to me, "So now we can start the new play yard right Mimi?"   How can you say no to that?!?!?!?

Thanks for stopping by!

Today I am grateful for new beginnings! 

Progress in the Greenhouse

Linking up today with Tootsie at 

http://www.tootsietime.com/ 
and
Jeanne at Blooming Tuesday!
http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Check out all the great gardeners in the Garden Blog Hop Today!

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I have never done seeds before like this and they are growing!  YIPPEE!

 This is the herb box - growing everyday...

 Look how much the chives have grown!

 This is the broccoli grown from seeds I gathered in the fall.

 These are the tomatoes  they are pretty happy.

 The entire greenhouse from the door looking in...

 LOVE all the green!

 My helper today....

 OOOOHHHHH

Love Love Love the color!

 Finally - I have a few daffodils blooming outside - not sure what to think - they are blooming one month before they normally do.

They are lovely and I love having them, but does that mean my whole gardening season will be a month earlier than normal? 

I would love anyone's suggestions about this.

Today I am thankful to be a part of all this energy exploding all around me as the earth comes back to life!

March in Idaho in our Yard!

Linking up today with Tootsie at http://www.tootsietime.com/ 
and GArden Bloggsers Bloom Day

If you want to see some amazing gardener's, check out these two links and take the tour - it is always amazing!

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This past week has been a busy week in our yard.
1 - I planted peas outside in the grow boxes. I saw the video linked below about planting peas outdoors in the winter and I wanted to try it.  It was wet and soggy and I just kind of shoved them in.  I am actually quite excited to see if they really do grow so soon.  I should have peas about the time I normally plant if it works and free up those boxes for other things.  It is great nitrogen boost to the boxes as well.   http://www.simplylivingsmart.com/2012/01/peas-in-by-presidents.html

2 -  All the boxes in the greenhouse are planted.  There are all kinds of veggies in there, as well as herbs. (Pix below) (Beans, pease, lettuce, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, and more.)
 
3 - We planted 18 flats of flower seeds.  I really have no idea what I am doing with this one - totally a new skill for me to learn. ( i have been reading lots of Tootsies posts about this!)  When I planted our side yard (pix in header above), full of  all shade plants and I had never done shade plants before that time. I studied and studied until I felt like my head was going to fall off.  That is how I feel right now about the greenhouse.  I don't know what I am doing!!! 

4 -  I saw this on how to re-grow store bought celery - very cool!  So I planted on - if it works I will do more.    http://rawfoodrehab.ning.com/group/t...w-store-bought

This next week I am going to plant the flowers that need consistent 70* - researching the how to's on this.
 
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Here are a few pix I took on Monday - I would go and take some more to show the progress but it is a blizzard outside and I am a wimp. I will do another post in a day or so to show how much things are growing out there.
 

This is a pix of the herb square all cleaned out.  These are the herbs I have been using all winter.  They were planted in about October.  They look great!  So happy there.  I cleaned up a few and replanted Cilantro, Basil, Rosemary, Parsely, Savory,  and some  Radishes in the empty spaces. 

 This is the bean box.  It has blue lake bush beans.  The green things you see on the edge are onions. 

 These are chives.  When I was out there yesterday they are about triple the  size and height.

 This is one of my helpers.  You can see the milk cartons in this one that helped to keep the temps up in the winter.  I will leave them there until it warms up in late April.   Like I said I would go and take more pix, but it is pretty stormy out there.

 Here is another helper. We all had fun digging in the dirt on Monday!

 You can see the end of the greenhouse where we are putting the seeds we are propagating. 

Also look at the green in the boxes! 

It is awesome.

  

Thanks for stopping by!
Today I am grateful for our wonderful world that is coming to life! 

Also for a warm and cozy house. 

Seed Gathering

I am so excited!  I have been harvesting my seeds - that isn't exactly right - in the fall I cut all plants with  seeds and put them in boxes in the garage.  I finished in October - then it was the holidays - so now I am getting them all out of their pods etc and packaging them up.  I have alot of seeds!  I am so excited that I actually did it.  It is my first year. 
CARRONTS and BEETS take two years to get seeds from them.  I covered the plants with straw and let them grow back up last spring and it worked!  I have read a bunch of stuff about digging them up and replanting them.  I have tried that a few times and it NEVER worked.  So in 2010 I covered them with straw and in the spring they  popped right up and in the fall I had seeds - WOO HOO!
CUCUMBERS - Cucumbers are a little tricky.  You cut them out of the center and leave the junk stuff on them,  cover with water, let them fermint and then the seeds float.  Strain them out and then let them dry.  I haven't done tomatoes, but I have read they are the same process.
RADISHES, BROCCOLI, BEANS, PEAS are all easy, you just let them grow till they come to a seed head, let dry and then gather.
This next year I am going to try new plants and new seeds.  Planning all of that now....

Greenhouse and Gardening - January 26, 2011

It is the third week of January and I think all gardeners thoughts turn to gardening this time of year.  It is snowing outside today in Idaho.

I am excited to go through an entire growing season with our greenhouse and garden and learn how to make it all work together.  As I have been studying I am learning that I can plant cool weather crops in a couple of weeks in there.  A few days later, I need to plant my seedlings for warm weather crops that will go into the garden.  I am getting really excited about the entire process.

I went out and checked my flowers that are under a low tunnel with Christmas lights keeping them warm and I have a few little flowers blooming.  I will do things different next year but this year we did pretty good for not having any idea what we were doing!

I would like to make a record through the year weekly about what I am doing.  Hopefully it will help me next year and maybe someone else too.

Winter Greenhouse Gardening Research

This is a page with information gathered while researching Winter Greenhouse information:

Heating Options

Nightime Heat:

Depending upon what you are intending to grow, your greenhouse can be either heated or unheated. If you live in a northern climate, then an unheated greenhouse can be used to extend your growing season but will not allow you to grow plants and vegetables year-round. If you want year-round produce or wish to grow tropical plants, citrus fruits, or orchids, then you will need to plan on heating your greenhouse. On average, in an unheated greenhouse the temperature remains about 10 degrees higher at night than the outside temperature. So, you would be able to grow plants about one hardiness zone warmer than you live in. On a sunny day temperatures inside the greenhouse are much warmer than outside, perhaps up to 50 degrees warmer. Heating costs can vary widely depending upon the location, size of greenhouse, and materials used to construct.

http://build-a-greenhouse.net/greenhouse-structures-and-systems-planning/

Heating Bricks at Night
How to Heat Bricks for Small Greenhouses


Greenhouses extend the growing season into the months on either side of the growing season. Insulated greenhouses with a heating source allow plant cultivation in the dead of winter. Small greenhouses don't need as much heat as larger greenhouses because they have less space to heat. Heating a greenhouse is done by mechanical heaters, passive heating or heating an element of the greenhouse, like bricks, and letting them give off ambient heat throughout the cold nights. Heating several bricks may be all you need to keep your small greenhouse warm.

1 Turn on your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2  Place bricks inside the oven. How many bricks depends on the size of the greenhouse and how low the temperature is expected to get.
3 Remove bricks with hot pads.
4 Place the heated bricks in the center of the greenhouse away from plants, as 350 degrees will burn any leaves that touch the bricks. Bricks will stay warm to hot for up to a day.

Passive Heating
1 Cover the bricks with black plastic. A garbage bag will work.
2 Set the bricks in the greenhouse where they will be in direct sunlight all day.
3 Move the bricks to the center of the greenhouse on the floor, so they can radiate heat to the plants.
Read more: How to Heat Bricks for Small Greenhouses
http://www.ehow.com/how_7186773_heat-bricks-small-greenhouses.html#ixzz1bpxjdRlk


Ideas to keep the heat at night (including barrels, milk jugs, etc)

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=008j9G

My Homemade Solar Heated Greenhouse

http://thegardenersrake.com/my-homemade-solar-heated-greenhouse

Over Wintering in Unheated Greenhouse Article

http://www.ehow.com/how_5553364_over-winter-plants-unheated-greenhouse.html

Forum about lowest temps plant can handle

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/strucs/msg1021431114759.html

Temps for Germination

Here's a link showing the optimum soil temperatures for seed germination. http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1061/ANR-1061.pdf
If it still a bit too cold outside for most of those seeds to germinate. I would recommend bringing them inside until they germinate and then putting them back out into your greenhouse once they have.
Article about Temp's
http://www.ag.auburn.edu/hort/landscape/temperature.html

Post For Seed Storing

As I run across seed storage ideas - I will add them to this post.  I will be looking for more of these in the coming weeks as I get my seeds ready to be stored.

This one is a great one:  http://chiotsrun.com/2011/01/15/my-seed-organizing-stash/  There is a complete tutorial on organizing her seeds on this blog.
 
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This one is from Martha Stewart:
http://www.marthastewart.com/273482/storing-seeds

• 

To ensure that seeds wake up refreshed from their long winter naps, take the time to tuck them in properly. Moisture, heat, and fluctuating temperatures are a seed's worst enemy, so don't simply abandon your leftover packets to the elements by leaving them in a garden shed. By the next spring they will have lost much of their vigor -- the ability to germinate quickly and healthily -- and many may have died. Instead, place packets in an airtight container, such as a canning jar with a new lid. Then make a few moisture-absorbing sachets to store with them by wrapping 2 tablespoons of untreated cat litter (avoid colored or scented litters) or powdered milk in a double layer of tulle. Close the lid tightly, and put the jar in a cool, dark place.

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This is a similiar method to Chiots Run above - a little differnt - great ideas!
http://homesteadrevival.blogspot.com/2010/05/organizing-seeds-and-planting-records.html

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Here are some templates for making smaller envelopes:
http://www.studiogblog.com/plants-natives/plants/seed-storage-supplies-8-great-sources/