This is a picture of our greenhouse (the first of many, I hope). As you can see by the white stuff on the ground we had a bit of ice and snow. Our greenhouse almost collapsed from the weight of the ice. Jeff and Matt had gotten out that morning and scraped the ice off and that was repeated throughout the day. In the background you will see a huge pile of what looks like brush. It is actually a huge pile of bamboo. I am planning on cutting those into manageable stakes for the cut flowers and possibly the tomatoes.
This is the inside of the greenhouse. The posts in the middle were added during the ice and snow to help keep it from collapsing. On the left are the seeds that I had started in January. On the right are the seeds that I had started the day the picture was taken. On the floor you will see a small black and gray box which is the heater we use to keep it above 40 degrees in there. However, with all the cold weather and the snow that we've had lately it was not keeping up the job. So what Jeff is working on is the propane heater that my brother had gotten him for Christmas. Now that thing really keeps it warm in there. The chair in the right is facing the table where I actually do my seed work. The buckets behind Jeff have the Red Bud tree saplings in them that we are hoping to plant at the farm.
The nest two photos are of the seeds that I had sown in January. I am so tickled that these little babies are growing. I am very proud of myself for getting the little guys to grow. I believe this is cabbage.
I apologize for the lack of clarity in this photo. I was just so excited about it that I had to snap the picture and share it. Out of all the seeds that I had sown the carrots were the last to poke through. So when the first one popped up I was very excited. You will notice the small little green dot next to the big white thing. That is the first carrot seedling. It was the pelleted ones that came up first and then the purple haze carrots waited another week and then they came up. I was getting worried that I had done something wrong in sowing them.
In this picture are the seed trays that I had started 02/02. They are actually sprouting up now. We have been noticing little holes in some of the trays. It looks as if something has been rooting in the soil and burrowing a small hole into it. At first I thought it was drops of water from the plastic but then a few days later even more showed up. As the seeds began to sprout I figured out that whatever it was had rooted around in the soil and ate the seed. I was furious!! I had no idea what it could be. I had Jeff put a mouse trap in there to try get whatever it is. As of today the trap has remained empty but no new holes have appeared either. I am hoping this is the last of my little thief and that everything else will be ok.
This is more of the seeds that I had sown on 02/02. In this is included Kale and Swiss Chard. Those two actually sprouted before anything else. I have to be careful at this point not to over water or the seeds and the sprouts will rot. Between the heater and the clear plastic on the roof it gets to be about 100 degrees in there during a sunny day. We have only had a few sunny days so the soil really isn't drying out much. On the next watering day I am going to introduce the fertilizer to it and see what progress that makes.
In the back of this picture are the buckets with the Red Bud saplings in them. I think we have 10 of those. In the other buckets we have iris tubers that Robin had planted at the Farm when she had a business there. The irises came from her and Jeffrey's nanny's house. So to us they are special as a piece of a generation gone by that will be there with us. In the other buckets are gladiola bulbs that I purchased. These are going into the cut flower beds. There about 5 more buckets in there now that contain the cuttings we got from my grandmother's garden. They are of an Oak Leaf Hydrangea bush that she has had at her house for as long as I have been around. We are bringing pieces of our families and previous generations together on the farm. Now this week i will be heading to my mom's house to get cuttings from her yellow bell bushes to add to the mix.
This is just a picture of the outside of the greenhouse. Some might get a little clostrophobic in there but it is a little haven for me. It is a very zen thing for me when I am in there sowing the seeds. I do have some window clings to put on the windows and the doors so that the birds won't be flying into them.
The next one we build won't be near the pine thicket. The pine cones can really do some damage to one.
This photo I couldn't be more proud of. This is Jeffrey's master's degree. He worked so hard to make this dream come true and I am so very proud of him. It took a lot of patience and a lot of driving back and forth to Raleigh but he finally got it. Way to go honey, your dream is coming true!!
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