Success!

I planted on the 11Th and didn't really think that anything would sprout for at least two weeks but yesterday I saw some good germination . Today they shot up to be a fine green line in the dirt. I am amazed. Any day that has some sun,the temp shoots up so much that I have to open the ends to keep it below 90! Yesterday it got up to 107 before I got the ends open. At night the temperature goes down to outside temp but I think that the ground is still warmer than the air ,with a little flywheel effect from the daytime heating. Next week it is going to be a lot colder again and I don't know how the new sprouts will fare. This photo shows how nice of a setup this is. Now I need to be smart enough to plant it wisely. Also shown is my temp. sending unit so I can see the temperature from the house. This one is good for 200 feet.

Bad photo but the sprouts are up.

I started cleaning up the other raised bed today because it was such a great day. The soil in the bed was workable and just perfect,while the rest of the garden is muddy. It will be weeks before it will be tilled.

Here is the side by side shot. My little tiller/cultivator I got last year works well for this . It is lite and does a good job.

I have been thinking of adding two more raised beds this year but my truck is in the shop and it may be expensive so I have to wait and see.

Sugar n Spice and Everything Nice

I just added all of those things up and this is what I got! I guess that old rhyme is true.
Macy thought that this was pretty cool too so I gave her "ride".

And the tipping part worked out too. I have shown this to a dozen people and they all have the same reaction....WOW ,THIS IS GREAT ...WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH IT? So far I don't have a good answer. But I will someday,maybe.

Pot at the end of the Rainbow?

Okay ,you may think that I have finally gone over the edge ,and I don't blame you if you do....but I have acquired an unusual item this week. A 40 gallon stainless steel ,tilting steam heated pot. It has a double bottom that steam flows through to heat the contents of the pot. I have no idea what I am going to do with it but it sure looks cool. My mind is racing trying to think of a use. Maybe I will start making wine ? Beer? (Kevin what would you use it for? Beer making? I could make a lot of bread dough in this! I could do 25 loaves at a time!

Cranking the handle tilts the bowl and it work real easy too. Nice.

You can see the pipe where steam runs through the bottom of the pot.

It cleaned up well too. I still need to use a cleaning pad to shine it up .

I looked up the price here of a new one in case someone wants to get one. (:

It sure helps to have some friends hey. Anyone think of a use ,chime right in..Please!

Raised bed hoop house

Today I checked out my raised beds. The weather was in the low fifty's and the birds were sings so I got restless to do something in/for the garden. When I looked at the frames I saw weeds coming up here an there and though, wow maybe I could plant some cold weather stuff. So I worked up the soil (it was not too wet because of it being raised),got the hoops up and covered the frame with some plastic that I got at the auction. I planted some Swiss Chard,two kinds of lettuce, and some Japanese spinach. All cold weather plants.
Then we covered it I put a thermometer in and saw that it got up to 78 degrees today! Not too bad for a cloudy day. This will be interesting to find out how early I can plant. This is why I built them in the first place. The rest of my garden is very muddy now and rain is forecast for the next few days. My timing is perfect. The soil won't get soaked in the frame. I'll keep you updated. I will feel better if I see some germination in a couple of weeks.

A walk in the Snow one night

One night last week,we took Macy for a late night walk in the snow. She didn't believe that we were going to do it at first but then got very excited. I think that it is good to do things outside of your comfort zone...expands the mind kinda thing. We walk/ran out to the back and she loved it. I was suprized at how far she roamed away from us which shows how secure she must feel. We looked for tracks,followed trails and just listened to the snow fall.