Planting and a Greenhouse Update

We're finally getting down and dirty *grin*.
My oldest and I shoveled all of the rows in the vegetable garden and hauled in manure to dress the beds with. I've been working this spot for nearly 10 years now and the soil is really starting to look super healthy. It was terribly poor sandy soil when we started and everything refused to grow in it but as we turned the soil this year it was loaded with big fat earth worms, was darker and it just looks better so I can't wait to see how everything grows!



I'm trying something new this year and using floating row covers over the newly planted seeds. Last year the birds took a lot of the seed right out of the ground as soon as we planted and I even had my first crop of broccoli stripped of every green leaf and had to start over. So this should keep everything safe!

You should have seen the robins sitting on the fence posts watching us as we put the beans in. You just knew that as soon as you turned your back they were going to swoop in but we quickly covered the bush and pole beans with the cover and foiled their plans *grin*. It's actually keeping the little seedlings warmer to! It's been only two days and they are already starting to sprout and they never germinate that fast.

Oh and check out my greenhouse!!
This is the back wall and it has two giant windows and just a foot and a half of solid wall at the bottom maximizing the early morning sun that comes over the mountain first thing in the morning...

and here is one of the side walls with another big window that will go in. I just love the smell of the cedar and the chunky size of the hand milled lumber that my dad milled :)

Only one more wall to go up in the front which will have two more giant windows and I have an old solid glass door for the front so it is going to be awesome! Oh my I can't wait. It is smoking hot out here all summer so it's going to be perfect :)

It's taking a little longer than I had planned for it to be completed as Hubby comes and goes between work but I've waited years for this to happen and even if I don't get to utilize the full summer growing season I'm going to do some winter crops in it this fall and next spring it'll be ready to go right away. Yay, I can't wait *grin*.

How's your week going? I hope you all are enjoying some sunshine, time outdoors and maybe even some time getting your hands really dirty in the dirt :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Chicken Coop Remodel

There are so many things that need tending to every spring and poor Hubby's 'honey do' list is growing by leaps and bounds *grin*. This year getting new chicks is high on my priority list as I miss having our own eggs SO much so the coop was the first place we hit as soon as we had a break in the rain :)

I normally raise our baby chicks, geese and ducks in the garage as it's the easiest place to get the heat lamp plugged in but this year Hubby is in the middle of building another new bed for the kids so there just isn't room for my brooding pen.

So I needed to come up with a new spot that was easily accessible but our old coop is really really hard to get into unless you're about a foot tall and covered in feathers. The only solution was to cut out part of the wall :)

We assessed the situation, made mental notes of what we wanted to do and then when it was time to frame in the door we found out just how crooked everything was *grin*. None of the walls or the floor were level LOL. The original shed was built sometime in the early sixties and over time it has begun to sink making everything slightly wonky :)

Once the wall was opened up I could get a good look inside to see what sort of clean up job was needed before the chicks can go in. The floor was surprisingly clean actually but there was some leftover chicken manure that need shoveling and my little guy was more than happy to help out.

He didn't really get much of it out of the house but had a lot of fun trying. At one point though he had a huge chunk of it in his hands as we were all telling him to drop it. Nothing like packing around poo! At least it was good and dry, and sadly that wasn't the only time I had to tell him to drop it that day LOL.

I love watching the kids muck around in the dirt :)
If you don't have enough arm power to push the shovel down when digging then you RIDE it down *grin*.

Next to the new door is an old single pane window and it was just thick with cobwebs and dust so I got the windex and some cloths so that L could shine it up.

I was a little worried about letting her wipe away on the old panes as they are so fragile but the window made it through it in one piece and she was so pleased with herself :) I actually don't remember the last time that we could even see through the glass!

Who knew that opening up the wall could be so much fun :)

With the wall back up around the door frame all that was left was to cut down the door to make it fit and get some hinges so that we could hang it.

Now I just need get the floor cleaned out nicely, give the whole thing a good bleaching and then I think I'm going to white wash the walls with lime :) The lime helps inhibit the growth of any harmful bacteria and it will brighten the whole place up real nice.

We're back to pouring down rain again though so I'm going to have to wait for a nicer day again so that everything can dry out nicely after I get it good and wet *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina

Recreating The Flying Cloud

K just finished reading a really great novel called 'All Sail Set' by Armstrong Sperry which is a fictional story peppered with the true facts of the famous clipper 'The Flying Cloud' built in 1851 by Donald McKay. It is a beautiful ship with all of its billowing sails and K being completely obsessed with any kind of boat has set to work recreating it :)

Throughout the book are quite a few diagrams showing the layout and shapes of each of the sails....

as well as all of the intricate ropes that covered each of the masts.

Using scrap wood, wool from my yarn stash and scraps of muslin fabric he started building.

Each of the sails he carefully cut to fit and then hand sewed them onto the ropes :) I just love watching him work on it and I can hardly wait to see it finished. He's taking a bit of a break though as I think all of the hand sewing was a bit more work than he had anticipated *grin*. At least he knows his way around a needle and a thread! LOL

If you know of any great novels about ships that would be appropriate for an 11 year old I would love to know :)

~ Rosina