On a sunny day earlier this week, Jeff finished a little cold frame for us. (Ignore the stuff around the yard, I didn’t pick it up before I took these pictures.) Years ago Jeff and I built a wonderful cold frame in the backyard. It had a base of bricks and two large, recycled windows coming together to form what looked like a tipi. It got a lot of use. We started seeds in it, we made goat cheese in it, and I think we even dried fruit in it. The spot we built it was the best place we had at the time, but after a few trees near the side of the house were cleared last March and Jeff built the new (from recycled parts) chicken coop, we realized we had a much sunnier and better location for a cold frame. There was a sunny wall of the coop, with galvanized metal along the bottom that we thought would make the perfect spot for one. We removed the windows from the previous cold frame and used the base of bricks around the perimeter to create a new raised plant bed. Jeff set the two windows together, like we had them before in the back, coming out from the chicken coop. We got busy and didn’t finish the project. But once spring rolled around again and it was time to plant seeds, the project came to our attention again. We discovered that one of the windows had been cracked, so Jeff hauled it away. Instead he used just one window and tilted it against the building. We both agreed that we liked it better than having the two windows because they stuck out so far and made the entire area harder to maneuver around. (You can see a bit what it looked like before, in this post.) We like it a lot this way and it’s already getting lots of use. We start our seedlings indoors, near the warmth of the woodstove. We set them by the window, but they really could use more natural light and start getting “leggy.” (Is that the term?) Bringing them out to the cold frame, they get much better light. We can only fit so many trays in there at a time, though, so after they’ve gotten established a bit, we move them to the greenhouse. The greenhouse doesn’t really get ideal sunlight (same scenario, best spot at the time), but it works.
Jeff would probably want me to tell you that it will look much better when the windows are washed.
On warm days we open it up because it gets really warm in there.
A view from the side. It’s covered with screen, for good air flow.
Jeff and Bracken have been planting lots of seeds lately.
Seedlings before Jeff did some thinning.
A little black feather I found in the yard, with white spots. Jeff guessed it was from a woodpecker.
Grape bud. We’re training the vines around the arbor that we built last spring.
Celery coming back full force around the garden.
We meant to pull up our celery in the fall, but we didn’t. Now we’re very glad about that.
Parsley coming back on it’s own.
Jeff asked me to get a picture of the middle of his rhubarb plant.
Isn’t it pretty?
Peas soaking before planting.
While we had a nice, sunny day Jeff and Bracken decided to get the peas in the ground.
They worked together, just like last year.
That night, the rain watered them.
While I’m thinking of it (Bracken and planting, that is): Bracken brought out a runner bean a few weeks ago and set it on a little mound of dirt in the yard. The next day he went to check on it and saw that his bean was gone! He said ‘uh oh’ and quickly went back into the house, opened the seed drawer all by himself, got out the bag of runner beans we had saved from last year, and took out another bean. He brought it out to the yard and put it in the same spot he had before. A few days later while walking by, we noticed that it was starting to sprout! I asked if he would like to put it in the ground and he did, so we grabbed what we found nearby (a stick) and dug a little spot to put it. He loves to visit his little bean.
Lilac buds.
I wanted to show you this smiley face rock. Is that fun, or what?
On a rainy day this week, we worked on a little project while we had what I’ve been calling our “outdoor time” for the day. We’ve been learning more about pollinators- bees and butterflies- which we find really fascinating. We read about providing a place in your yard for them to drink. We got the bottom part of a terra cotta pot and gathered pebbles and beach stones that we had. Jeff also had some shiny bits from an old aquarium. We spread them around and stacked them, then filled it with water. A nice spot to drink, we think.
Those are a few of the outdoor things we’ve been up to this week. We had some sunny days, but as the week progressed it turned to rain. Last night was stormy, with downpours, lightning, and loud thunder. More storms are supposed to be on the way. We’ve been wanting to clean out the chicken coop, but we’re waiting for better weather for that. These rainy days are good for getting caught up indoors anyway!
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