From the Greenhouse

Saturday was gorgeous here, so of course we spent a lot of the day outdoors. And boy, did my muscles forget what yard work was! Pretty funny, actually.

The morning hours were spent pottering in the greenhouse. I have two benches filled with planted flats, with another two benches waiting to be filled. So far we've got eggplants, peppers, tomatoes and basil growing. A few other things are sprouting but since they're still pretty tiny I'm not going to count them as growing yet. A lot can happen to a sprout before it becomes dinner so I'll let you know on some things as they get further along.

What have we got planted in the greenhouse? There's way too much to mention, and I'll probably forget a lot of it, but aside from the above four there are flats of zinnias (purple, of course!), acorn, butternut and Lakota squashes (all winter varieties, with long growing requirements so I try and get them started early), delicata squash, artichokes (again, a purple variety that's so gorgeous it's almost a shame to eat them), cosmos and marigolds, carnations and bellflowers, lupine and some other varieties of perennials, as well as all the stuff I've forgotten. I've also decided to begin another herb garden near the greenhouse so I planted thyme, chives, oregano and dill.

Still to come? The usual stuff. Cukes, beans, summer squash, corn...you know the rest. All the tastes of summer we all love so much.

There are a few unusual things this year...I planted fennel. Did you know the seeds themselves actually smell like licorice? I ended up planting twice as much as I'd intended to, just because I got such a kick out of the seeds. Walking stick kale, just for fun. This is a kale that grows up to seven feet high, supposedly, with a center stick that can be used for carving. This, I've got to see for myself. Don't worry. If it grows like it's supposed to, I'll take pictures for you to see. Or maybe you've grown walking stick kale already, and can give me a few pointers? Hmm? Also on the sort-of-different list this year is red ornamental popping corn. They'll go in next month or early June, in a separate little garden by the barn. The picture on the seed packet was so pretty I couldn't resist giving them a go. We'll just disregard the fact that I don't like popcorn!

Saturday afternoon I cleaned out the big strawberry patch. I love strawberries, especially those we grow ourselves. It might be my imagination, but home-grown anything just tastes better.

Then, we took a walk in the forest before coming inside. A great way to spend a gorgeous day. It was such a perfect day that we hardly minded the snow that fell yesterday!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend. What kept you busy?