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I transplanted radishes, arugula, and kale to the cold frame one week ago. They are still very small compared to the spring green seedlings inside. Both sets of plants were started at the same time. Growth is slow in the cold frame because of the lower temperatures. It dipped back down to freezing for a few nights, but we are slowly approaching spring. 
I now have radish, arugula, collards, kale, chamomile (tiny tiny seedlings!), and mustard greens sprouted inside. The light setup works like a charm.
These are all spring greens that I will transfer to a cold frame in a few weeks. The chamomile and the one sad looking lavender sprout I have will have to be treated very gently. The coleus and viola have shown no life yet. I checked the temperature of the soil in the containers, and they are at a steady 65 degrees Fahrenheit- a suitable temperature for most things to germinate. We’ll see.
I like the way clay pots look. They unfortunately dry out very easily. I watered the seedlings this morning and the top of the soil is already looking crusty. I’ve converted several plastic containers to seed pots. Milk jugs, yogurt containers, berry containers, and all sorts of things. You can make anything a container for plants by drilling holes (vital step!) in the bottom for drainage. I also scavenge the abandonded tupperware at work and take it home to convert to plant containers.
I built the basic structure for raised beds by adjusting the existing raised beds. It’s a much better design because I’m using the space more efficiently. The two tires you see at the west end are the site of the future hop yard. Two hop rhizomes are on mail order. The hops can be planted early spring.
The Middle bed will hold spring greens in a cold frame for a few weeks and then, come Memorial Day, I’ll make the switch over to summer flowers- cosmos, poppy, marigold- perennial herbs- rosemary, thyme, lavender- and some lettuces here and there.
The middle bed gets a mix of sun and shade. I’m going to make a “berm” of sorts and plant prairie plants there-red milkweed, purple prairie clover, and flax. It’s a work in progress right now, but I feel accomplished just having the basic layout done. Over the next few weeks I will be adding compost from the yard heap, worm castings from my worm poop farm, and mulch that I can scavenge from the alley.
I used an old coffee table from the alley to suspend a standard shop light
for growing plants.
I seeded Arugula, Spinach, Coriander, mustard greens, kale, and red lettuce.
Ideas?
The heap is about 4 feet tall with about a 6 foot diameter. It’s basically falling in on itself and the original structure is not holding up so well. It will be quite the task to rebuild.
I started lavender, dill, and chamomile inside today. Chamomile needs light to germinate and the seeds are smaller than dust particles. It might be tricky with the long germination time.
We got a few inches of snow last night. My winter sowing seed containers now have a fresh layer of snow.
I haven’t posted here in a while. I wonder if anyone still has me on their RSS feed. If you do, a big hello to you.
Yesterday I raked up leaves in the garden and removed old dead things (I never pulled up those marigolds). A wonderful present was waiting for me: sage, spearmint, thyme, and oregano. They all survived the winter. I read that herbs can overwinter if you prune and cover them before it gets too cold. I didn’t manage to do that, so I wasn’t expecting the herbs to last. I pulled back some dead leaves yesterday to find bright green leaves shooting up in the herb section. I also found that the hollyhock is already coming out of the ground- bright green with fringed leaves. Now that I know what hollyhock is, I won’t go around pulling them all up thinking that they are weeds. I will post more pictures of the garden and my garden plans this time around. I have a big mega list of seeds that I am going to winter sow (see www.wintersown.org). I’ve already wintersown flax.
For spring vegetables, I will seed in the ground (or start inside under lights) mustard greens, spinach, radishes, lettuce, kale, and collards. I want to make a row cover or cold frame for the spring vegetables. Living in zone 5 makes it difficult to get a jump start on the growing season. Summertime will have more herbs, prairie flowers, cucumbers, beans, and eggplant. I’ve started exchanging seeds with people on gardenweb.com. Seed saving is important and I feel excited to be a part of this movement.
I finished my dorky-looking collage for the Chicago Bike Winter art show. See details about the show here: www.chicagocriticalmass.org
Rhubarb, Spinach, Cabbage!
A woman in my painting class suggested that I look at the work of Karen Gelardi, an artist in Portland, Maine. Her process is very intriguing. She draws organic patterns and forms on paper and then reincarnates them as pieces of larger works. She silkscreens her patterns onto fabric and then sews three dimensional forms (similar to the ones she has drawn) out of the patterned fabric.
We took the Metra to Harvard, IL and then biked to Williams Bay, WI. We picked apples at an apple orchard, drank apple cider and ate apple doughnuts. It was magical. And strange. Click on the link below to see where we traveled. We went everywhere on bicycle. More bike tours are in our future. Autumn in rural Wisconsin is stellar.
