Cold Frame, Hot House

Well this could mean a tent you use for a wedding in the garden, and a wedding right now if you could depend on sunshine would be lovely. All the yellow and orange trees, I’m being repetitive I know, but I’m so fond of them. Yesterday I took a drive down Chuckanut Drive with my friend Peter and had a lovely dinner at The Oyster Bar. I actually had oysters, which I love and don’t eat often. On the side came a lovely potato and vegetable serving. The potatoes where mixed with hunks of parsnips, which brings me to the garden and growing parsnips. They’re big and robust and delicious in soup. They look like carrots only yellow. They have the flavor of carrot and celery mixed. Delicious in soup with leeks, parsnip leek soup, oh, sweet on a cold fall day.

As the sun went down over the water and we talked about politics, religion, and …. No we never got to the third thing folks usually argue about, we just chatted away, which seems to be easy between us. The sun going down, a fine wine, great food, and good friend, what could be better?

So my neighbor at the pea patch is putting in rows of tenting for her little lettuce plants and parsley. Which made me think I might do the same. Or at least butild a little lean-to. A little greenhouse thing. I’ve built many cold frames, a rectangle of 2x8s with a window over the top. This could actually work as well for winter as spring. I have kale up and chard growing, it could perk it enough to keep it going all winter—depending on how cold it gets. My cat is getting shaggy already, and he’s an inside cat. What the heck, he’s doing something in the kitchen—I better check.

Okay, he disappeared, which he’s good at. He hears me going and is like a shape-shifter gone from licking the butter, or getting into something on the counter. I hear him again, but guess I’ll let it rest. So, cold frames of bent stacks and plastic, or wood and windows, or even plastic tacked to a house and then draped down over the bed. There was more discussion about deer, and the prints were going through all the newly put-top-bed plots, and then there’s the cover crop: buckwheat will freeze, red clover spreads, seems like winter rye is a favorite. I may try that this year.

Okay, got the grandbaby to do, so I’m off.
Ta ta--Flower

Stormy Weather

A storm came through in the night, some wind, some rain, nothing excessive. I don't know about farther south. Perhaps south they got the two inches predicted. I thinking now about excess, because weather can come in excess, but what I have in excess is stuff. What I'd like to have in excess is vegetables, then I could give them away. And eat more, of course. But we're all prosperous in different ways. I am reading a book by Allen Cohen called <a type="amzn">Relax into Wealth</a>. My dad always said we're rich if we have family and love and pets and a roof over our head, etc. This is true, and cash helps too—but I'm pondering excess stuff when there is no place to put it. I'll pick up the rest of my belongings at the end of the month and put them in storage. Storage makes no sense to me. I think that if one doesn't use something, then get rid of it. On the other hand, I have family heirlooms that won't fit in my 525 sq ft condo. So there you go.

Well, back to the garden. Once I had a garden that was practically the size of a small lot. I had a rototiller and my hubby at the time tilled the thing. My father-in-law gave me advice, just plant things far enough apart that you can till between the rows. Of course my garden looked like my closet, crammed full of stuff. I don't think there was ever any tilling between rows. But that was a good garden and it was on a lot that had fruit trees and grapes, filberts and asparagus. I used to garden in my bathing suit so I'd get a good tan. When I met the neighbors they snickered about me being out there in my suit. I was surprised. I had no idea someone was watching, after all there was a hedge along the street and the entrance into the place was narrow, situated between trees. I wonder if they had binoculars.

On that lot I also had a small greenhouse where I started my plants. The planting bed had heat coils running beneath the soil, as Spokane is slow to warm up in the spring, so the little plants had nice warm soil to begin their lives. I had great cabbage starts and broccoli and cauliflower. I planted a bigger variety of stuff then than I do now. Of course there was a family to feed, now just one person. In fact, I confess I do more eating out than I ever thought I would. I could start a dinner club. Just move from house to house on different nights of the week, always a guarantee of a home cooked meal. Now there's an idea.

Happy Gardening,
Flower

PS That's the Angel Face rose, like the one I have growing in Kingston.