Last Sunday
Today was a gorgeous 60 degree, sunny day. We worked our booties off out in the yard though! :) We got lettuce and carrot seeds planted under cover in row 1. I planted lavender seeds under plastic 2-liter soda bottle cloches to lock in the warmth of the sun (same concept as the cold frame). And we cleared the spot for row 2.
It's far too muddy to try to do any major digging, however, the raised beds were just perfect moisture and condition for planting. I'm so glad to be able to use more of our compost this year. Not only is it tilled into the soil / southern red clay in the bed but in some cases the seeding trench is lined with this beautiful rich-black soil-like compost and every row so far has been covered in compost. This helps to provide intense nutrients back into the soil and marks the row and well, quite frankly, I think it looks good. I'm glad Chief Farm Hand Chris is so meticulous.
- You know I have pics! lol - You can see them by clicking here!
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| Caribbean habanero & Sweet basil (from seed) Spearmint x2 from cuttings |
Made a delicious, easy, and quick dinner with chicken, honey, and fresh herbs from the garden including lemon thyme, parsley, Greek oregano, hot & spicy oregano, German thyme, rosemary, and even a leaf or two of spearmint.
- Click here to find the recipe for the chicken and for the kohlrabi-broccoli slaw with which this was served alongside rolls and baked potatoes.
This is becoming a regular weather report! lol Today was gorgeous, sunny, warm, and nearly 70 degrees out! I got to open the cold frame all the way up as it was pushing 90 degrees in there by noon! May I remind you that it was snowing this time last week? Crazy weather!
I'm so excited to have made some new friends across the country in my seed exchange facebook group! I have several packages mailed out that included lemon thyme, cinnamon basil, pimiento, sweet red bell pepper and am getting a few other seeds in return. I can't remember all that I'm getting but I am pretty sure there are leek seeds on the way, which I'm excited to get because I can plant them at any time now (in row 1) under the plastic cover.
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| Chocolate mint - newly planted root cuttings |
Wednesday
Weather bragging day. Last week at this time, I was stuck inside watching it snow more than I've seen it snow here for probably 20 years! This Wednesday, here I am sitting outside on the back deck in capris, short sleeves, flip flops, and sunglasses working away on the laptop. It is still February and it did just dump over one foot of snow on us last week. Oh, wait...the sun is so bright...I can't see my computer screen! ;)
The high today hit a fabulous 77 degrees and when the sun isn't ducking behind the scattered fluffy white clouds, it's so fantastically warm on my skin. The sky is a brilliant shade of blue ranging from light Carolina blue to azure to deep nearly royal. I am in heaven right now. Almost.
The cold frame and other covered plantings got a nice drink of water this morning. The cold frame lid is wide open for plenty of those hot, yellow rays of sunshine to inspire the little seedlings to greatness. The green onions are fully uncovered in row #1, which vents it for the other, more freshly planted lettuce and carrot seeds. The caps are off my plastic 2-liter cloches covering the new lavender seeds in the herb garden.
All the little seedlings from indoors are outdoors on the deck railing lustily soaking in rays and fresh air. Hopefully this warm air and sunshine will dry out the sod and ground enough (and rain stay back) so we are able to get the raised bed built and installed for row #2 this weekend!
Made an easy potato-hamburger casserole for dinner seasoned with all the fresh herbs from the garden and some of my dried basil. My daughter used the refrigerator bread and made perfect rolls to accompany our dinner. She is really an awesome baker!
Thursday
Another gorgeous North Carolina day! It was slightly cloudy/overcast but a nice, mild 65 degrees by 11:00 am so I had the cold frame vented until the sun came out more. My four year old son and I repositioned the plastic cover on row 1 so that the green onions are fully exposed and the rest of the seed rows are still covered by just one ply of the opaque plastic. I also rearranged the plastic cover on the sweet peas and separated a big pile of sod from its dirt and made some plant markers today. All the seedlings indoors went outside for the day and since the low tonight is 60 I will probably leave most of them out there. We wound up with a high of 78 degrees today!
Today was my little boy's day to learn how to make bread with the pre-made fridge bread. Last night's was so delicious that every piece that my daughter baked was gone before sunup. My son wanted a "butter-jelly samwich" so I told him he had to help make bread. It took only a few minutes to knead it, separate into roll size pieces, and shape into balls and he had fun helping. We allowed them to rest for 30 minutes then bake for 20. The tough part was making him wait about five minutes for the bread to cool enough to cut and make him a peanut butter and pear jelly sandwich. He reveled in the idea that what he was eating he had made with his own two hands. Great experience for a four year old!
My daughter also made bread today - her first batch of sour dough bread that turned out perfect! (Remember the sour dough starter I started on January 2, it's almost two months old now but getting that nice sour flavor even though I do keep the starter in the fridge.) We ate the sour dough rolls for dinner along with an easy, hearty, homemade three-bean and rice soup.
Friday
Thunderstorms this morning but still a nice warm day! After I finishing my day job work, I made a nice, moist white bread. My little boy wanted "flat bread" for sandwiches so I made a loaf of bread for slicing plus a dozen rolls for dinner. We had honey-herb chicken, rice, and sauteed fresh asparagus using a recipe from one of my seed-trading friend's site Baked Lava. (Check out her site - it's really cool. She is traveling and cooking meals all over the world from her RV!) Oh my gosh - the entire meal was so good but we found ourselves simply crunching asparagus spears at the end of the meal until I had to force a stop! Delicious! Thanks Laurrie for sharing that! :)
Saturday
YAY for weekend garden workdays! Have you ever patched a pair of jeans? My good old comfy work jeans have a nice rip in them in a spot that requires covering. I tried. It didn't work. So I had to elevate (or demote?) another pair of jeans to red mud work duty.
Chief Farmhand, Chris built the raised bed frame for row 2 and installed it yesterday all while I was messing around with wardrobe malfunctions! I finally got out there and he referred to me as 2nd shift. Sorry, dude. I did get a lot of work done though. I separated sod from usable dirt (still more to go), cleaned up my herb garden, separated daffodil bulbs and planted them, reseeded lettuce for the third time in the cold frame (so ready for fresh salad!), pulled out two cabbage plants that seemed to have rot down in the cabbage head, tended to the other gardens, and helped Chris however he needed me to. It felt much warmer in the sun but our high today was 64.- I will be uploading new pics to the Garden album from yesterday so be sure to check that out.
Other Posts this Week You Don't Want to Miss
- The Ramsey Farms version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscano sausage/potato soup
- Honey-Herb Chicken and Kohlrabi-Broccoli Slaw
- Garden Planning - Our garden on paper
I hope y'all have a really happy week! Remember that only YOU are in control of how you feel and how you react to the world. If you don't like the way things are, do something to change it. Don't whine and don't make excuses - this is your one and only life - live it & love it. :) Smiles, Ramsey
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