a few more greenhouse pictures

One of my greenhouse goals for 2014 is to set up three more pairs of chains to hang gutter planters in.  I set three more as a goal because of the number of rafters that I have available to use to hang the chains.  Right now I have only enough planters planted for one more pair of chains.  So, yesterday when I was in town I picked up two lengths of chain and today I was able to get them hung and the planters in place.  So one more goal partially accomplished.  Before I need to buy more chains I need to get more planters filled and growing. 

While I was out installing the chains and gutters I took a couple more pictures of greens that are growing in the greenhouse.

spinach

red romaine 

claytonia

all star mix

arugula

The arugula is hanging in the new set of chains, along with the claytonia and all star mix. 

Other updates: the tomatoes continue to do well.  This paste tomato has twelve leaves

And look at the roots in the cup.

Yesterday when I changed the water on the sweet potatoes that I am trying to root, I think I may have seen a few baby roots starting to form.  And today I think that there might be one asparagus seedling starting to poke thru from the first batch that was planted. 

I watched a gardening video today that was about starting grape vines from hardwood cuttings and I was inspired to tromp through the knee deep snow to the arbor in order to prune away a couple of vines from the our established grapes and see if I could get them to root.  It sounds like it might be a long process taking up to a year or more to have transplantable plants.  We have used our grapes for jelly and i have a couple gallon freezer bags of frozen grapes in the freezer (thinking wine someday) Ours are all seeded versions and so far our grapes have been tiny so not too easy to eat.  I have not done much for pruning so the small size might be my fault.  I hope to do more pruning to see if it makes a difference in the size of the bunches.  If these cuttings root I am considering training them on wire to see if they are easier to manage. 

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Not everybody remembers the Mr. Rogers theme but it really is a beautiful day in Minnesota today.  It is 11 degrees outside (above zero) the sun is shining and there is no real wind.  Just lovely.  I am not a football fan and not hosting or attending any football gatherings so while everyone else is focused on the superbowl I have time to catch up on things.  I just spent  an hour in the greenhouse watering and have a few pictures to share.

This is Tokyo bekana, a mild chinese cabbage:

here is another picture:

These plants are finally starting to get some size on them.  The ones that were in the middle of the room were growing faster than these which were kind of stuck at a small size when they were closer to the glass.  Something, either my efforts spent moving the tables a week ago or the fact that the days are getting a little longer, is allowing these guys to take off.

This is a green variety of romaine:

These are collards:

And this is golden frill which will add a little spicy zing to salads when it gets just a little bigger:

One of my blogging goals was to do a new cookbook review every month and then every month following to do a recipe from the cookbook so yesterday when Caitlin was at the farm we did a recipe from the January cookbook review.  The January cookbook is a candy cookbook and the review can be found here.  The recipe that we made was an English toffee.  It was our first time making toffee and it turned out great.

The recipe is here.  It was a great day baking with Cait. 

I finished the February cookbook review and that post is here.  The February cookbook is a 'church cookbook' style cookbook that I purchased at the college bookstore on a visit to Caitlin while she was in college at Kansas State.  I have a whole list of recipes selected from that cookbook to try over the next year so look for the first one in March along with another candy recipe and the March cookbook review.  The cookbook reviews can be found on another place that I blog called A Dozen For Dinner and there is a link to the right side of this blog. 

Not much progress has been made on the garden goals since mother nature has the final say on most of those projects.  I have been working on the awning for the farmstand but there has not been enough progress yet to post a picture.  Another nice sunny day where it is warm enough to work in an unheated shed without mittens is needed.  The design has been determined now it is just to see if it will work.  Fingers crossed!

Many of the garden goals were structural things that cannot be accomplished until spring.  We have accomplished some garden 'stuff' though.  Nikole ordered the seeds from Johnny's and they have arrived.  Last year for the first time we saved seeds from our heirloom tomatoes.  When we started making our lists for our seed order we decided to see if our saved seed was viable while there was still time to order some if it was a failed attempt.  I planted nine cells of each of three varieties and they grew.  Some cells grew more than one plant so it might have been two seeds stuck together or planter error on my part but we did not order seeds for these varieties and decided to keep them under lights iu the house until it is done being below zero outside and then they will be moved to the greenhouse and potted up in to larger containers.  It will be a good chance to see if we can get a jump on the season.  here are a tomato seedlings:

The cherry tomato-Matt's Wild Cherry

The paste--speckled roman

The brandywine

These tomato seeds were planted three weeks ago. 

And then for Nikole who is dreaming of Italy and who stated that she just couldn't wait until summer for basil we have these little seedlings started.  Only an inch high but they will grow:

It is a little early to be starting garden plants but I am making a spreadsheet so I know when i need to be starting different plants to get the timing right for planting outdoors.  I am also getting a start on my garden plan for what to plant where and my early spring to do list. 

And then on the no progress yet list:

I am trying to start some sweet potatoes by suspending  a cut end in water hoping that they will get roots and then slips--nothing yet.

Asparagus seeds--I planted a few not wanting to risk the whole package.  They apparently can take a few weeks to germinate and ours have been planted now since January 23 so I have not given up hope yet.  I did a little reading after planting the first seeds and I planted another group after soaking the seeds in water for a couple of hours first.  We will see if that makes a difference. Those were planted on the 31st.

I think while the rest of the world is watching football tonight I will be checking my garden pins on pinterest.  :)

2014 goals

Before I started writing a blog I read a lot of blogs.  I read gardening blogs and decorating blogs and food blogs.  All kinds of blogs.  Through pinterest I found a blog written by Jim and Mary who are building a small farm from scratch.  I originally found them because of a pin with a cute barn door that we eventually copied to make a replacement door for our granary.  If you are not familiar with their blog and want to check it out there is a link to it on the right side of this blog called "inspiration".  They are doing a lot of the things that I am trying to do and they truly are inspiring. 

One of the things that they do each year is set goals for the upcoming year.  They do this about this time of year and they just published their goal list for 2014.  This has inspired me to create my own list.  The process that Jim and Mary say that they use is that each of them separately makes their own list and then they compare lists and create a joint list.  They then print the list and place it on their refrigerator where they can check off items as they accomplish them.  They have been doing this now for four years and it is amazing what they have been able to accomplish.

Since I am the lone list maker at Mom's Hobby Farm I only need to brainstorm a bunch of ideas and then fine tune the ideas into a list that is both ambitious and mostly doable.  I am choosing projects that require limited resources, mostly labor with little financial input.  I am going to have some farm goals and some blog goals.  I also have a few things that I do but would like to do better and I will list those as "15 minutes every day" goals.  Jim and Mary were able to accomplish much of their projects by doing a little bit at a time until all the bits became a finished project.  I plan to use this approach to do a better job with big, ongoing tasks--things that are never really 'done'  but would definitely benefit from some daily attention.  So here is my list--

Farm goals for 2014

Garden goals

Complete the south side of the cornfield in raised rows

Complete the line of posts dividing the south cornfield from the north cornfield and number

Construct the post rows in the north cornfield

Transplant raspberries to the dividing row

Plant asparagus in the dividing row

Plant cranberries in the sandbox

Replace last two long raised beds in the potager

Build trellising for the cornfield

Leaf storage

Purchase a chipper/shredder

Plant grapes to train on wire

Greenhouse goals

Four more tables for the greenhouse

Three more pairs of chains for hanging gutters

Rod for hanging pots

Farmstand goals

Six tables for the farmstand

Awning on the farmstand

Recipe storage

Sell excess seedlings in spring

Sell winter greens

Host a harvest meal for family July

Host a harvest meal for family August

Host a harvest meal for family September

Host a harvest meal for family October

“15 minutes every day” goals for 2014

Compost turning

Weeding the gravel and cement areas

Weigh produce harvested/sold

Blog goals for 2014

Cookbook reviews

Link posts of completed projects to parties

Link posts of harvest meals to parties

General goals for 2014

Grow more

Sell more

Preserve more

Eat healthier

Keep better records

Expand perennial fruits and vegetables

Add laying hens

And here is a picture of a Christmas present that will help me achieve one of these goals :

an antique scale from the 1940's

It might just be too beautiful to use. 

I am joining Susan at Between Naps On The Porch for Metamorphosis Monday.