Morning fun

I was able to get 3 flats of onions seeded yesterday as well as a flat of broccoli. When I went out this morning the greenhouse was already a comfy 60*!! Here are a few pics of the now in use inside of our greenhouse.

The middle picture is the dirt in the back that I have marked off in square foot sections and are planted. There are tiny little sprouts there now!! Still needs to be more organized but we're in!!! Yay!!

We also has a little fun this morning, we are trying to trap a raccoon that is living in our unused chimney and so we have a live trap up on the roof and a corresponding ladder. Well, after breakfast this morning, Cosmo decided to go up the ladder and get in the trap. He was up there howling and talking to us while Gene was asking why he feels the need to do things like this??!!

Way too funny !!! Hahaha!!! What a great way to start the morning with a little feline comedy!! Cosmo is always doing something ridiculous that makes us laugh. Needless to say we brought the trap down and put the ladder down too!!

Constitutional Amendment for Ohio health care

Ohio Liberty Council to Force Statewide Vote on Health Care Mandates
COLUMBUS – The Ohio Liberty Council, a statewide coalition of over 25 grassroots groups, today submitted a proposed state constitutional amendment that will “preserve the freedom of Ohioans to choose their health care and health care coverage.” The amendment, drafted by the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, would protect Ohioans from the financial burdens and individual mandates contained in the new federal health care measure passed by Congress. The group filed constitutional amendment summary language and nearly 3,000 signatures from registered voters in 48 counties with the Ohio Secretary of State and Attorney General.
The amendment language is available here.
Twenty-six state legislatures have introduced bills to propose constitutional amendments to block the individual mandates contained in the new federal regulations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Today’s filing by the Ohio Liberty Council is the nation’s first citizen-initiated action.
Read more here http://www.ohiolibertycouncil.org/?p=1947

Finally, Ohio is set to have her own law regarding health care which would be done under state sovereignty and would make the federal law un-applicable. This is a wonderful opportunity and should appear on the ballot in Nov for the people to vote on. Perhaps the people of Ohio can accomplish what our elected officials cannot. Ohio is not alone in this endeavor and will not be the last I'm sure.

Today I was able to poke a few seeds in the dirt in the back of the greenhouse. I put out some spinach, lettuce, beets and Chinese Cabbage. Can't hardly wait for that fresh produce.
Below you will find and list of all of the produce that we are growing this year.

These are all NON-GMO, non Monsanto seeds mostly from Fedco Seeds and some from Seed Savers Exchange. There are quite a few heirlooms and varieties included.

Green beans; Strike, Jade, ½ runners

Sweet Corn; Incredible, Ambrosia, Bodacious

Zukes; Golden ,  Spineless Beauty

Cukes; Marketmore 76 , Mexican Sour Gherkin

Squash; Yellow Crookneck , Carnival Acorn, Sweet Dumpling, Waltham Butternut, Long Pie Pumpkin

Carrots; Scarlet Nantes , Atomic Red, Purple Haze

Beets; Detroit Dark Red

Radishes; Easter Egg

Onions; Copra, Expression, Varsity, Red Bull

Lettuce; Winter Density, Anuenue. A summer mix, Rossa di Trento

Greens, Tatsoi, Verte de Cambrai Mache, Claytonia

Chinese Cabbage; Fun Jen

Tomatoes; Green Zebra, Pineapple, Amish Paste, Sun Gold Cherry, Wisonsin 55, Current Sweet Pea, Nyagous, Brandywine(red), Moonglow

Peppers; Hungarian hot wax, Garden Sunshine, King of the North, Bull Nose Bell, Quadrato Asti Giallo, Jalapeno

Potatoes; Irish Cobbler, French Fingerlings, Adirondack Red, Nicola, Katahdin, Red Pontiac

And garlic of several types

I am excited about getting things started this year. Hope you all are getting hungry for some fresh produce!!

Mostly Complete!!

We did it!!! The outside of the greenhouse is done-praise the Lord!! Gene even got the dirt all leveled out and I have some ideas about using a couple of raised beds in that general area for some flowers and veggies!
Now we need to build some tables for the inside-not to difficult- and Gene will hook up the electric to operate the shutter you see on the backside picture.

Here is a shot of the inside. You can see the dirt in the back, that's where I intend to plant directly into the ground. We did not have the roll-up curtain quite done yet when I took this but it is done now! You can see that  in the picture directly above. It rolls up really easily and will make a great vent this summer!

Exciting Progress

We started working on getting the plastic on around 10am yesterday and did not even stop for lunch until 3:30!! We got both layers of plastic on and those blue blocks you can see positioned to separate the two layers.The blocks eliminate the need for a blower.
 There was no wind before noon when we started which was quite a blessing. By the time we were ready for the second layer of plastic there was a steady (with gusts) breeze that was a challenge!
We will be working on the roll-up side curtain today. We have to get some more hardware to finish the ends and we need a door too! Gene has the shutter for the east end all ready to be installed. That will require a trench from the house to the greenhouse to lay electric line in to be operational.
There is a bit more to the building of this than I thought. Gene knew but decided to let me see as we go! He is a wise man-praise the Lord!

.

Gene is making some tables for me and we are using chicken wire for the table tops! Someone has to level out the dirt yet too! Hmmmmm, wonder who that will be! Maybe some seeds can be pushed into that leveled out dirt!
We are grateful to God for allowing and enabling us to build this together. We grow in Christ everyday as we labor! God is good to His unprofitable servants

Greenhouse progress

Over the last two days we have been able to get a few more things accomplished with our greenhouse and here are a couple of pictures for you to see what we have done!!

This is the front and in between the two big upright posts will be the door! There will be a shuttered vent on the other end for good air circulation.

We have some brace posts to remove yet and as you can see, we still have all that lovely dirt to move around and level out. Once we get the plastic on then Gene is going to make me some tables to put flats on but you can bet that in the meantime I will be working out there!! The back 5' will be bare dirt that I can plant directly in and I really want to get some fresh greens growing soon. Spinach is sounding really good too!!

Greenhouse progress

Well, on Saturday Gene and I put the corner posts in for the greenhouse. Gene says that everything else is fairly simple once the corner posts are set...they must be square or everything is off!!
We also got some gravel in for the floor.

The next picture also shows the top of the new septic tank we had to install last fall which is between the greenhouse and the driveway. We have to level out some dirt and I intend to make it beautiful with various plants and greens!

Next picture is looking towards our house. The big pile of dirt will be leveled out and take up the back 5' or so of the interior of the greenhouse. I want to use this space to plant directly into the ground and extend out the growing season for some greens. The idea is to try to have something fresh and green for us to eat most of the year. I hope to be able to have greens and some root veggies growing there over the winter months. The neat thing is that the stuff planted in there will just be dormant when there is little sun, like Dec-Feb but not die. God's beautiful sunshine will bring growth and hopefully a cutting of greens to eat!

The next picture is one of our feline sun-worshippers...Phoebe!
Oh how the cats enjoy laying around in this beautiful, warm sunshine.

The next picture is surely a sign that spring is just around the corner!!
Some early spring daffodils poking their little heads up from the dirt. How encouraging to see something green and growing.

 

I hope to have more pictures very soon of the greenhouse in progress. It looks like the weather is going to be nice for at least 2 days. We can get a lot done in that time Lord willing.

Perhaps I can even move all my things into the greenhouse this week and get some seeds in trays to begin growing!