Most Wanted Green Houses

 

I'm retiring in 2 years I will have 37 years as a public servant, and I'm hoping to have a greenhouse waiting for me as a retirement gift.   I have these greenhouses dancing in my head.  The picture at the top is my favorite, and the gift I'm hoping for just a little bigger.  I like the third one simply because the windows open.  There's a few other projects that must be completed before the greenhouse.  I'm adding a sunroom off my kitchen this spring.  It will be used for my craft room and the children's playroom.  I want to replace the kitchen lighting, repaint, and add a fireplace.  I need a new storm door, the guest room needs a make-over and so does my office.  The list goes on and on, so the greenhouse is at the bottom of the list. 

I've picked out the perfect spot for the greenhouse.  It will receive plenty of light and it's close to the garden area.  Not sure if it will have water, but electricity is a must for the grow lights,  heaters and fans.   I was thinking that I could install a few rainbarrels for the water supply.  A girl can dream can't she!  Which is your favorite? 

This Week's Harvest

I managed to can 7 pints of peaches this week.  My daughter and her family surprised me with a visit over the week-end, so I decided to show her what was in store for the baby.  I didn't put syrup on this batch as I had planned.  We're going to use it for baby food for the new baby due in November, so sugar will not be added to any of the baby's fruit.   

The Roma tomatoes are producing nicely.  I'm going to freeze this batch, there's just not enough to fill up the canner and create a mess in the kitchen.  I have a ton of tomatoes ripening, which I'm so thankful for.  My sister was visiting this past week-end as well, so the salsa disappeared quickly.  As a matter of fact, it never made it off the towels on the counter, lol. 

My peppers are starting to turn.  I planted green, orange, and red bell along with the banana, chili, and jalapenos.  I have a tone of chili and banana peppers that need to be harvested.  I going to make a pickled pepper mix this week-end with cauliflower and carrots.  I used the peppers shown over sausages this evening.  The red peppers are so sweet.  I will planting these again next year. 

My squash are producing for the second time this year.  I'm going to fry a few more, and than freeze the remainder for casseroles this winter. 

This pepper was huge.  I somehow missed it while I was in the garden.  I was surprised how sweet it was inspite of how big it got.  I've found that veggies get bitter or tough if they're allowed to get too big. 

I'm planning to plant peas and carrots this week-end.  A little late getting them in, but time has not been on my side this week.  I'm planning a baby shower for my daughter Labor Day week-end, so I've had to turn my focus to that.  My SIL asked me to plant collard greens, but I don't see that happening this year.  I need to extend the garden to have space, and I just don't have the time right now.  What's happening in your garden?  Will you be putting in cool weather crops?  Leave me a comment, I'll stop by.   

Homemade Salsa - YUM!

The tomatoes are producing and ripening nicely.  I must say for my first year, this rookie has been quite successful.  Everything I've planted has cooperated and produced lots of babies for mama.  I finally managed to get out of the garden with a handful of Sweet 100s.  They are so addictive.  Would I be greedy if I said I don't want to share them, lol? Thank goodness there are hundred's of them that I can share.   

I whipped up a bowl of salsa with the tomatoes.  I used fresh cilantro, jalapenos, and a banana pepper that I allowed to turn red from the garden and added a small red onion.  The recipe actually calls for lime juice, but I prefer mine without the lime juice.  As you can see, I also like my salsa chunky as well as hot.  It was so good.  I'll be canning lots of it for the winter.  I love munching on chips and salsa while curling up reading a good book or watching westerns when we're snowed under.  It's nothing for us to get a foot or two of snow during our blizzards in these parts.  

I made a dish of jalapeno cornbread this morning.  I have to do something with all the jalapenos that I'm picking, lol.  Spicy is the word in my house.  I've even converted my SIL, and my 3 year old grandson loves anything hot too.  His little eyes just water, but he devours whatever he's eating.  He loves fresh jalapenos and cheese on his tortilla chips.  I've digressed, anyway doesn't the cornbread look delicious.  It's my grandmother's recipe.  Crackling cornbread was a staple in her home.  I substitute the jalapenos in place of the cracklings.  I'll  be serving it for lunch along with a chicken and noodle dish that I made last night.   What are you whipping up from the goodies in your garden?   

Lilies From The Garden

I love having fresh flowers in my house.  I cut these lilies yesterday, and I was amazed how much they opened this morning.  The house smells wonderful.  The white is so crisp and refreshing on a hot summer day.  I'll be adding to the garden next year, I can't get enough of them. 

What's On Your Agenda Today?

What's On Your Agenda Today?  I've decided to make a list.  Organization is key for me; otherwise, I accomplishment nothing since I've turned into an addict.  Yes, my name is Rhonda and I'm a computer crack addict.  I must have my fix, either playing a computer game or blog hopping.  Computer games relieves stress, and I just love reading blogs.   If you follow my journey, I'll follow you.  Hell, I'll follow you even if you don't follow me.  If your blog is about children, gardens, scrapbooking or horses, I belong to you.  Sad but true, lol.   
Now that you know more about me, I'll get back to the reason for me doing this post.  My agenda for the day:

• Fight groundhogs, i.e. put up chicken wire to keep groundhogs from burrowing under the rabbit fence.
• Cut back shrubs
• Lay mulch
• Spend my gift card at Lowes.  Looking forward to this errand.
• Pick up fresh flowers from Wal-Mart.
• Order garden boots for my grandson.  (He will be visiting this week and helping Mama in the garden or wrecking it).
• Work on shade garden. 
• Browse e-Bay.  I forgot to mention, I'm an e-Bay addict too.

What's on your agenda today?

Spring Color - Azaleas and Rhododendrons Have Come To Life

I love the shade of this Azalea.  The pink is so soft.  I was hoping to have all of the beds mulched, but it rained just about every day during the month of April putting me behind on everything that needs to be taken care of outside.  Inspite of the beds being in a shabby condition, I'm enjoying the color. 

Rain is in the forecast the entire week-end, so I'm hoping to pull weeds a few evenings this week.  When I purchased these Azaleas, I thought I had purchased 2 red.  At least that's what the marker in the pot said.  When they bloomed, I had 1 red and 1 pink.  I decided to live with it.  It adds a little excitement to the bed, lol. 

My Rhododendron has lots of blooms this year.  It has become one of my favorites in the gardens.  This Rhododendron was suppose to be white.  It is lavender.  Yep, you guessed it.  I purchased it from the same garden center as the mislabeled Azaleas.  I'm looking forward to seeing the blooms opening in the next week or two.  Stayed tuned for more pictues.           

Backyard Visitors

I woke up this morning to find 2 ducks swimming in my creek.  The creek, wet weather stream bed actually, only runs when we have a lot of rain or snow.  It's been running for about a month now.  I love the country life, you never know what you'll find in your backyard. 

Composting Black Gold

Rain, rain go away!  It seems that it has rained just about everyday during the month of April, so I haven't been able to do much gardening or yard work.  The weather is suppose to be great this week-end, so I plan to spend the week-end cutting back shrubs, edging the borders around my house, removing dead shrubs and clearing the fence line.  I'll also be starting my first compost bin. 

I did a little research and found this baby on eBay for $50.00 including shipping.  The compost bin that I was looking at initially was at SAMs.  It was a little larger 170 gallons, but almost $70.00 more.  The bin shown is 115 gallons, but I believe will do the job.  As soon as it stops raining, I'll move it from the deck to its permanent spot behind my workshop.  I love the fact that it has 4 doors at the bottom.  Each door lifts, so I'll be able to reach my black gold from all sides.  We put this bin together in about 15 minutes.  It snaps together fairly easily, and for the price, it's study and I believe it will serve the purpose.  We didn't believe that we could build one for $50.00 if you consider materials and time. 

Since I'm a beginner, I did a little research on what I should compost.  Depending on what site you go to will depend on what you should or should not compost.  The only things that all sites were consistent on were dairy and meat products,  dog and cat waste, and human waste. 

Since I want black gold quickly, I decided to play it safe and use the following greens and browns:

Greens:

• grass clippings
• kitchen scraps (vegetables & fruits)
• weeds from the flower beds
• fresh clipping from shrubs

Browns:

• leaves
• dried shrub clippings
• shredded  newspaper
• toilet tissue and paper towel rolls
• dead flowers from the house
• brown paper bags

I have lawn service so my grass is mulched and and spread over the lawn, but my neighbor has graciously offered her grass clippings and fall leaves.  Friends have agreed to save their newspapers, so I believe that I can come up with enough items to decompose.  Once I get this bin filled, I've decided to purchase another.  I'm hoping to have 2 nice piles by the end of the summer.  One I will use for my fall garden preparation, and the other will be ready for spring planting. 

I separated my piles so I can ensure I get a good mixture.  The first layer is suppose to be a layer of brown, twigs, leaves etc. to ensure the mixture gets air.  I used the dead flowers from my deck pots and twigs and leaves from my shrubbery bed.  I than added more browns, shredded newspaper, shredded brown paper bags, and shredded rolls from paper towels and toilet tissue.  Next a layer of freshly cut grass, pulled weeds, and shrub cuttings, which I topped with my kitchen scraps.  The final layer was more grass and soil from edging my borders.  I sprinkled each layer with a little water before closing the lid. 

I need to get a compost bin for my kitchen scraps.  For now, I'm using my stock pot, which can hold a nice pile of scraps.  I throw in cucumber peelings, tomatoes, lemons, potato peelings, carrots, and egg shells.  I decided not to compost bread or styrofoam.  Most posts on composting say not to include it.   

This is shredded newspaper and recycled copier paper from my office.  I shred the paper in my office shredder.  It's heavy duty, so it does a great job. 

This is a mixture of fresh grass  and clippings from my shubbery beds.  My neighbor deposited 4 bags of bagged grass on my lawn.  It's amazing how many weeds, grass and leaves one can accumulate, lol.   I filled the bin in no time. 
I'm going to continue adding to this bin until it's full, so I will have to turn it weekly.  I'll keep you posted on the progress of my black gold!  I would love to hear what and how you compost.  Please leave me a comment.