Wintertime News

Hey there!!

I got a Christmas card with a special request in it nearly 2 months ago now. .

I'm not the quickest. .

But I AM perseverant!!

Ms. Sue from Michigan was hoping to warm up her winter with some pictures of my greenhouse! And I did oblige quickly with some pictures. .and then took my time to get them up! In the meantime though, we endured a nasty ice storm. .and then some 80 degree days this past weekend. .so I have a few photos from that to share too!

A few years ago I bought a pomegranate tree. It flowers well. .and has grown some tiny pomegranates. I had read somewhere that the decorative trees aren't designed to be able to offer edible fruits.

So I was surprised that these little fruits appeared. .

They grew for a while. .but when they got big enough. .They split open. .to reveal the tiny little, normal looking pomegranate seeds inside! That was fun to see!

I have only used the greenhouse the last couple winters to house my succulent collection. .

But I felt like I might have some extra time to worry over tomato plants this season. I just did little grape varieties. .yellow and red. Jeremy is eating them as fast as they turn.

My two big ferns are looking mighty good for this time of the year!! I have been growing them in self watering planters on the east deck all summer. .which is the only way that this lazy over-scheduled gardener can keep them living. .and this is the first year that I have overwintered them successfully too! They should look great when the season changes! The big pots of succulents are doing well too. .but I think I neglected to get photos of them on!

In January we had a yucky 3 day ice storm. Our old elm trees didn't fare very well at all! This tree is in the front of the house by the pond. .

The guys had to use the tractor to get the branches out of the pond. They did this on day two when we were kind of in between systems!

It was BEAUTIFUL. .

But look how thick that stuff is on the lilac bushes!!

It took us a lot of days to clean up. .

In fact, we still aren't done yet-but the majority of it is cleared out into big piles, waiting for a match when the time is right!

Jeremy ended up taking down a lot of the old, ugly elms. .which I was sad about. I am still fighting for the few that are left. I want them mainly for the bird habitat until our younger trees get bigger! It is a battle of the wills!!

It was a little unnerving to stand in the house, listening to the CRACK-CRASH cycle all around.

But it was the quietest, still air in between the crashing. The ice-blanketed world made the atmosphere seem unusual!

CRAZY!

Fast forward into mid February!!

Two days above 80 degrees!

The boys got a very old fishing boat a few weeks ago. .

And spent countless hours cleaning it all up and fixing the brokenness.

Sunday it was ready for it's maiden voyage. .

It was a gorgeous afternoon with zero wind. .And while we didn't catch a thing. .It was great just to relax and soak up some fresh air and sunshine and DREAM about summer!!

I do have a few pictures uploaded to the blog already. .

Just waiting on a few minutes to spare so I can tell you what everyone has been up to!!

April Gardens

It's the middle of April. .

How does that happen!!

Kansas can't decide on winter. .

or spring!!

Last week, after some very SPRING like weather. .

We had a rainstorm. .

with hail. .

and sleet. .

That ended up icing everything over long enough to delay school by a couple hours the next morning!! This week also forecasts rain AND snow!

The daffodils were nearly spent already. .

but the tulips were really starting their show. .

They have been so much prettier already this spring than last year.

I was so burned out on drought gardening last fall. .

that I hadn't ordered any bulbs. .

I have identified some locations that would really benefit from having some planted next fall.

There are quite a few clumps in the memory garden that I had forgotten were there! And some gorgeous ones (that I haven't gotten photos of) near the waterfall that I don't even remember planting there. .

I wonder. .

Maybe I have a Fairy Garden-mother. .

Ya think?

My little clump of creeping phlox is blooming. .

It looks so cool snuggled around the boulder. .

I think I will dig it up, and make several new little plants out of it.

Here is the fence of the memory garden. .

We are going to start doing a little food gardening in there too. .

Along this fence, on both sides, I planted some Jersey Knight asparagus crowns. .

I HOPE they come up!!

Do you see the buckets of sheet rock mud that the guys have used up and cleaned out. .

LOTS of that going up right now!! And painting to take place in the next few days!

My most exciting find last weekend. .

Clematis stems. .

Since I planted this one probably 5 years ago. .

This was the first time I have ever had anything coming up from the root. .

The same stem always gets green leaves on it and a few blooms. .

 but never any more vines. .

I hope it really goes to town this spring.

Some little anemones near the waterfall. .

as well as the little pink flower on the living stone succulent plants.

Not sure whether it work or not, I dug out the old fragrant honeysuckle I had planted by the boy's bathroom so it wouldn't get demolished in the construction.

I put it in a big pot and it is growing new leaves already. .

Not sure where it's new home will be. .

somewhere I can smell it for SURE!!

I never really thought that I would have to be the one who would need to relocate ALL the limestone I had hauled in. .

And more than once, we have joked about the next owners of our home having to doze them all out if they decided they didn't like 'em. .

BUT. .

The boys and I had to move all the ones from the east and north sides of the house. .

It turned out to be a large and messy pile. .

NOW. .

to get them all put back before the rattlesnakes take up residence!!

The possibilities on design should be pretty endless. .

I hope that I won't start a project that will call for another trailer load of them. .

I'm afraid that Jeremy's patience will be pretty thin with me and my ideas by then!

The greenhouse is FULL!!

The purple salvia seedlings in front and the love lies bleeding starts on the left side are all promising blooms already!! It is supposed to hit 25 again at night this week. .

so that will delay their new home placement for a bit yet.

                                     

The lemons are growing. .I think there are 7.

Another fun project is this little pomegranate plant. .

complete with a little fruit. .

I was disappointed after I bought it to read later that very few plants like this will bear fruit to eat. .

So far, this one seems to be enlarging and looking like the real deal. .

I will have to keep you posted on whether we get any harvest from it or not!

Even if it doesn't. .

the plant has gorgeous little flowers and really interesting leaves.

Not able to wait for non-freezing weather. .

I planted some gladiolus bulbs in containers to get them a little earlier start. .

I should be able to lift them out easy enough and put them in a final resting place later. .

I still have plenty left in the sack to put out as well!

Still harvesting tomatoes. .

big and small!

Here are the summer starts, awaiting planting time.

There are also several peat pots of chives. .

I did plant 3 little pots into the area that will be planted with perennial herbs. I had to transplant my sage into the area, which only has a huge rosemary plant in it right now. .

I also rescued a couple starts from the tarragon plant and put them into nursery pots and buried them in the ground. .

That is how I grow the sage too. .

so it doesn't take over.

The tarragon was given to me years ago by Grandma Pat. .and it overran it's little area, that will soon be buried under a concrete patio.

The cucumber Diva has provided us much winter enjoyment. .

and I seeded a few more plants in the existing setup to get us through until the summer crop starts. We ended up with 3 cucumber vines. .

And next winter I will easily double or triple that amount I think.

The Carmen peppers have been sluggish. .

but the peppers are really sweet and yummy. .

We've picked more of them than any other pepper I've grown in the greenhouse. .

so they will likely be on the winter list for next fall again too.

I've been rooting lots of stuff. .

including a couple small honeysuckle plants from the vine we moved. .

several pots of different succulent plants. .

The red sweet potato rooting hung out in the greenhouse this winter waiting for spring with the rest of us. .

I've also repotted some lemon grass starts that I germinated from seed a few months ago too. .

It's been fun to look through the gardens, seeing what has reseeded and what is peeking through the ground that survived 2 drought-y, hot summers and is ready for another chance to live.

My favorite part of spring is just that. .

the promise of new life and a second chance at growing. .

For flowers and vegetation. .

And for my own soul and life!

Have a GREAT weekend!

See How my Kansas Greenhouse Grows. .

It's still the dead of winter. .without promises of spring for a couple months yet. .

But it is looking like the best season we have had in the greenhouse since we got it 3 years ago.

This year we are trying a trellis. .seen in the background. It is in an out of the way spot. .situated north and south, as to not shade anything out.

The cucumber leaves are a little ratty looking. .

but the cucumbers have been producing well. .

We used Johnny's seed catalog and purchased Diva. .

a cucumber that is well suited to greenhouse gardening.

We have been picking them at about 5-6 inches long. .

and they have a non-bitter thin skin that you don't have to peel.

You can see two of the little fruits. .

I'll bet we have picked 10-15 so far. .

with another 6-8 on there now. I think I will plant a few more seeds in my pots to increase our yields a little.

The taste has been  phenomenal!

Diva is also suited to outside growth. .

so maybe it will keep us eating cukes until the summer vines start producing.

Here's a view from the greenhouse doors, looking to the west. .

The tomato plants and squash are on the left. .

And the citrus plants, peppers, and miscellaneous plants are on the right.

We had such good luck with Sweet Baby Girl in the greenhouse last year. .

that I have 4 plants in there now. .

They are all fully loaded and ripening by the handful. They are deliciously sweet; and seem to love the conditions! It has definitely been a great producer! Last year, I took the one fruiting plant to my mom to grow on her patio. .and it continued supplying her with lots of tomatoes for much of the summer!

This is a larger tomato. Knowing that you are all familiar with my fairly poor means of keeping my garden straight. .

I know you will not be surprised to hear that I can not remember which varieties I started from seed. .

so it will totally be a surprise when these ripen. I suspect it may be Brandywine. .

and I'll be honest. .

my mind has been trying to plot a fried green tomato meal!

I took these photos over the weekend;

and these small tomatoes are ripening. .

They seem to be the chocolate cherry variety. I'm excited about that. .

because in the last two years of growing them in the excessive heat and drought. .

I've eaten nary a one!!

Should be a score by next week!!

This pepper is another Johnny's seed. Called Carmen; it's a sweet pepper designed for greenhouse growing. They too, are just now starting to turn pink. It will mature to a red and then be ready for picking!

Here is a bell pepper variety. .

It came out of a mixture, I'm almost sure, judging by the color.

I'm excited about the peppers too. .

I've not had good luck with them until now. Even with the regular bells like this one. This year I used deeper, bigger pots. I wonder if that is making the difference; or if it's the sunshine? I didn't grow many this year, because of the poor luck I had in the past. There are two white peppers, that are already larger than any peppers I have harvested previously. .and about 6 of the Carmen peppers. They take up very little space. .so if they work well, I may have to add numbers next year.

The grasshoppers nearly decimated this Meyer lemon tree two summers in a row. .

It grew 3 lemons the second year I had it. .

and it hasn't fruited again until now.

This is the second round of blooming; and you can see, to the left of the small cluster of buds. .

 is a little green lemon. There are two on the tree. .

and hopefully some more will take with this next batch of blooming. I have noticed some tiny ants on the blooms lately, and wonder if that is helping the fruit set.

Here, at the bottom of my little lemon tree. .

is a red leaf lettuce that self seeded from last winter.

Yellow squash is another thing that is new in the greenhouse this winter. I've enjoyed not having squash bugs! We haven't eaten any fruit yet. It seemed that when they got about this size, the end would blossom rot. .and then I'd pick them and toss. I wondered if we were getting them too moist. So now we are down to watering them only about 1-2 times per week. Two of the fruits are bigger than any of the others have been before getting yucky. .

so my fingers are crossed on these. It would sure be a fun change on the dinner plate.

I need to divide this purple fountain grass soon. I would like several pots to plant in the spring. I love the colors and especially the purples seed heads! I've been slowly going through a couple of my favorite garden catalogs. I ordered some self watering containers a few weeks ago that I saw advertised in a garden magazine. After struggling with the drought, heat, and Johnson grass in my garden. .

I am only planning on doing the potted veggies this year. I do have some garlic out in the garden; which is very slow to emerge this time. And we may plant a row of beets and carrots in the garden with a soaker hose. If the boxes work as well as I think they should. .

it will be easier to tend them and the yield will be better. .

plus, I could move them to a location with a little afternoon shade to help in the heat. .

and since our high slated for the first of next week is to be SEVENTY FIVE degrees. .
I'm already a little nervous about the summer!

I've also seen online plans for a person to make their own pots. .

but for nearly the same money as what these cost me. .

without whining to my guy for help!

My friend Becky has already solicited a greenhouse-hopping spring plant buying escapade for us. .

and I know it will be here in two blinks of an eye!! I think I'll be ready!

Enjoy the rest of your week. .

and thanks for stopping by this humble little blog in the heartland!