The old school (like before the Netherlands started selectively breeding them) tulips are blooming!
Category: Gardening
Apple Blossoms
Luckily the apple blossoms seem to have come out after the last frost of the year.
Greenhouse Repair
Last year, we built a 26′ greenhouse in the garden. It took a few days to get everything sorted, and we tried a few different methods to adhere the thing to the ground without any stunning successes. As we disconnected our most recent attempt, our phones blared a weather alert. A severe thunderstorm was headed our way! Looking to the west, it was really close. Rain started to fall and thunder cracked. We ran inside. For the next half hour, we all stood at the front windows watching the greenhouse not budge in this storm. Until …
My lovely greenhouse went somersaulting across the yard and became impaled on a tree. We extracted it and checked it over — some bent metal tubes, a broken tube, and several holes in the cover. It was so late in the year that we decided we didn’t actually need a greenhouse for the year & left it as a project for early spring this year. We did, however, purchase a few sections of 10′ EMT last year in preparation for the repair. Well, it’s early spring!
Scott pounded the end of an EMT and bent it in the vice, then drilled it to recreate the broken bottom pole. We fastened an EMT to a few bent tubes.
He then cut a section of copper tube and cross-drilled it so it could fit across the two sides of a broken tube.
A little more bending and straightening, and we were ready to put the cover on again. This time, there are dozens of concrete blocks holding it down. It’s been up for more than 24 hours … so we’re doing better than last year! Tomorrow, we’ll move the started plants into the greenhouse.
Gooseberries are flowering!
The gooseberry plants we put in last year are flowering!
More Sprouts (and chicken chow!)
The tomato plants are starting to get big — still a few weeks before we can plant them outside, but we have plenty of healthy plants.
I had basically given up on the asparagus (they were older seeds), but I finally have five plants sprouted — this is part of my endeavor to get more plant once / harvest yearly stuff growing. 
And then there’s the chicken chow — this is Bocking 14 comfrey. It doesn’t go to seed, but provides a high-protein leafy food for chickens and turkeys.
First Daffodils!
We have our first daffodil blooms of the year — Anya noticed some of the little ones by the detached garage had bloomed. There are a few larger ones in the same area that flowered.
Sprouts!
We have tomato and pepper sprouts! Still waiting for the watermelons, though … I really hope we get to eat some fresh-from-the-vine watermelon this year.
Purple Crocus Blooms
The deep purple crocus are starting to bloom — and daffodils are popping up all over the place, so we should have all sorts of flowers soon.
2023 Garden — Seeds Sprouting
Most of the tomatoes have sprouted, and two types of peppers. Peppers seem to take a long time to sprout! I’ve also got an arctic kiwi leafing out beautifully and several grape vines that are starting to sprout leaves.
2023 Hazelnut Flowers
The bright pink bits are starting to emerge from our hazelnuts — hopefully we have bunches of nuts this year!
