Greenhouse and Garden report

I haven't posted much lately about the greenhouse, but there has been much progress since my first planting of seeds April 25th!

The tomatoes were purchased at a local nursery, but were much smaller when I transplanted into their containers.   And the lettuce were the first seeds I planted in April.... really, the lettuce was my main reason for wanting to have the greenhouse built!  I love salads, and wanted to be able to grow my own salad fixings! 

I harvested my first little pile of lettuce leaves this morning to add to my lunch... can't wait to try it out!

The radishes, shown on the right above, were planted in the same time frame as the lettuce.  I may be able to harvest some soon!  On the left are some basil seedlings and bell pepper... both in the early stages of development, but coming along nicely.

Above are some cukes I planted in a raised planter the other day... they spent their formative days in the greenhouse, but the weather is warmer now and they should do well in this environment.  I have them well protected from the prairie dogs and elk, and have a trellis in place to train them on.  Right now, I have a strip of shade cloth clamped to the trellis to protect the cukes from the intense sunlight... we have sun for at least 6 hours a day, and it gets pretty warm!

Yesterday, I brought home some color to add to several planters: 

 

 

 It's a start, but I think I'll be bringing more home soon!  Monsoon season will be here before you know it, and then the yard will be bloomin' all over!

Nocturnal visitors and Greenhouse update

This morning, my hubby and I took our usual walk around the square (we live on a dirt road out in the boonies!).  About halfway down our property line, I started noticing elk prints.  We are about a mile from the treeline, and they sometimes come through the area, but I haven't seen any in awhile.  Anyway, we got back to the house, and did our circuit around the perimeter of the property, and I saw quite a few more prints:

This one was in soft dirt out front of our driveway... not the largest I've seen, but you can get an idea of the size next to my foot.  These guys are at least 5 1/2 feet tall at the shoulder when they are fully grown, and it's pretty awesome to see a herd of them meandering through the neighborhood!

On another note, I have been adding to my greenhouse population and doing a little maintenance outside:

I got cinder rock laid around the pavers this morning, so that should keep the weeds out along with the weed cloth.  I've been hauling a lot of dirt over to behind the garage, then brought the cinder rock from a large pile next to the garage... great exercise!  My shoulder was a little sore last night, but it's fine today, so I'm good to go.  Oh, and I ordered a trellis yesterday for some cucumbers I'm going to plant in one of my outdoor planters, and it will provide some shade for lettuce that I will be growing there as well.  I may finally be able to make salads this year from my own home grown produce... woo-hoo!  

Busy week!

Last Saturday was the Artists' Coalition Spring Marketplace, and I had a good day:

I decided to add this shirt to my wardrobe...

A shot of my booth

My friend Cinde, showing off her purchase - a 'cairn' made by fellow ACF member Dudley Bacon.

Cinde and I both did well at the show.  Next, I got an order from a friend for a t-shirt with the 'Neon Graffiti' batik pattern I used for my mounted batiks... 

I'm still working on making a shirt board large enough so that I can stretch the shirt over and not need spring clamps to make it taut... probably will need to get some more foam board and cut larger than the ones I currently have.  But I did make some nice inserts for the sleeves this time, using regular corrugated cardboard. 

Finally, I made another coiled fabric bowl yesterday using some african batik print fabric I bought years ago in the downtown L.A. fabric district:

I should take a picture of the fabric as it is before I cut it out, so you can get an idea of the beautiful patterns, but even cut into 1 inch strips for the bowl, I love the rich variety combined with solid black and some hand dyed muslin in palomino gold.

This one is about 10" across by 3" high.  I'm starting to make them wider at the bottom, so I could make them higher and wider at the top, but this is a nice size for an accent piece... never get tired of making these!

Other than that, I've been watching my seedlings sprout in the greenhouse... no pictures yet, but I'm pleased with my progress so far.  I have lettuce, carrots, scallions and cucumbers sprouted, and  planted radishes and basil this week.  Still waiting for my bell peppers to poke through, and before you know it the weather will be warm enough for me to transfer them into the raised beds outside!  I promise to post pictures soon...

New toys

Last weekend, I bought a small greenhouse on sale at our hardware store. I have wanted one for a long time, but they always seemed to be out of my price range. Not this one! This little beauty was on sale for $29.99! I should have bought 2, but wanted to set it up first to see how well it was made. Here it is:


Isn't it neat? It's 64" tall by about 35 1/2" wide. Should be great for starting seedlings, growing herbs, etc.

My other new toy is my new sewing machine. My old one was broken and could not be repaired, but I found a new one... another Pfaff, my favorite machine, and it was on sale to boot!

I have done a little sewing on it and it's a different feel from the older one, but it does free-motion sewing very well. I will get around to trying all the bells and whistles eventually, but I'm just glad to have a working machine again!