Tiny Green House, Tiny Farm

Baby it’s cold outside! If I want to get dirty then I have to do it in the green house.

It is my sanctuary on snow days. It is where I can work in shirtsleeves when shovels full of soil are still dripping wet on sunny days. This is where I go until I can get outside and play… errr, I mean, work.

 Last week (February 18-24, 2018) I started all kinds of cold weather seeds in the green house. You can read about them here, Sunday Snow.

This week (February 25 — March 2) I planned to just watch seedlings grow and start planting next week. But there has been so much joy in daily planting that I think this week will be all about starting early spring salads to plant out in mid March. Just for fun, here is my preliminary list.

Greens for Spring Salads

1. Mesclun “Uprising Spicy Mix”
2. Red Spinach “Beaujolais” (home saved seed)
3. “Australian Yellowleaf” Lettuce
4. “Flashy Trout’s Back” Lettuce
5. “Grandpa Admire’s” Lettuce
6. “Winter Bloomsdale” Spinach

One day in June: you will be out in the garden, wondering if you can find enough lettuce to make a salad for a ladies luncheon and end up bringing bags of the best salad the girls have ever tasted to give away after the luncheon. Until then there are snips and snippets and micro-greens and some of the best, freshest tastes of spring that you will ever have! You cannot get it at the grocery or even the farmers market. Like the best corn on the cob, the best salad is picked minutes before serving…. but I’m getting ahead of myself.

 Let me know what sort of salad you will grow this spring (You do not need a green house). You can start salad in your window and grow it in a window box. Give it a try.

Debs in Everett, Washington… where we are seven minutes shy of having a full eleven hours from sunrise to sunset. Maybe I can wear just one shirt and a sweater this week. 

Did you read Mark 13 today? Amazing!

Winter Salad

Walking by a tub of cold weather greens, I noticed something I have not seen since last autumn. Thick rosettes of Beaujolais (red) Spinach. Since I planned to make a salad anyway I ran and got the salad spinner basket and scissors. It was not long before I had a basket of baby mustards, spinach and Kalette. Fantastic early February find…. and it was not covered!

The color came from Trader Joe’s but the crunch is all Toy Box!

Eating from the garden doesn’t make it spring by any stretch. I let the dogs out at midnight and noticed that the deck was covered with frost. Bundled up, grabbed a flashlight and brought in the trays from the greenhouse. They would have been fine. It was 4o degrees inside the greenhouse last night, and still 40 when I brought the trays back out this morning. Oh well.

This is the last night of the Wolf Moon, but as if to remind me that no matter what happens with the ground hog (what is a ground hog anyway?), the new moon is called The Snow Moon. Because often it does snow while this moon sits in the night sky.

Going north for a potato hunt today.

Ridgezilla might not be as tough as predicted but it is still too early for some tender plants. It is cold at night and I am not quite ready to make the daily trek back and forth to the green house to gather up trays of babies.

Happy day to you from Everett Washington.

Last weekend of January

January was good for a weekend farmer, bring on February.

Actually it is nice to only have to sweat over my journal. This last weekend in January is cold. Not back east cold, but I’m not back east. It has been raining buckets. The ground is squishy and the chicken run, usually low maintenance with a thick layer of straw to turn into spring compost, stinks because of the mild weather and rain. I’m going to need to take care of that well before spring. Fava beans are here and waiting for the crocus to show, broccoli, cauliflower and peas are all ready to plant!

From the Winter Garden

Flowering Brussels Sprouts a.k.a Kalette

Did I mention that the local gang of thug deer have been eating my winter crops? They knocked down an artichoke and topped all of the leeks. Not a huge deal, but it still gets my goat!

Those spicy winter greens have been growing in the mild PNW. A good poppy-seed-balsamic dressing seems perfect for their winter heat.

We have kalette… now what? The seed was very expensive and it took forever to grow. Now I need to do something with it. Any ideas?

Garlic on purpose! I do not remember what happened in 2014. School I think. But if it had not been for forgotten, unharvested garlic, left in the ground, there would not have been any garlic for 2015. It got planted on purpose and I have neat rows of our favorite seasoning for 2016. Whoo-hoo!

In the Green House

It is starting to look like a sanctuary again. It also smells better. No matter what the weather, Ray’s potting bench is pleasant to work at. The weather has been so mild that the onions are already living in the greenhouse. Every day I make at least two trips out there to carry the chamomile, lobelia, and alyssum out and back in again at night. I grow most of my chamomile as winter sown plants, but I thought I’d try some on the heat mat… no difference, might as well save some energy and winter sow them.

The onions are ready for their first hair cut. They look cute with their little black seed caps but if they are cut (a little less then half… do not go below any visible brackets) then they put more energy into girth rather then height. Trust me, they will do more then survive if you trim them back. Thicker onions are easier to transplant then threads.

This pot of tarragon is about the perfect size to divide into more plants. I just need to collect and wash the pots they will go into. Like mint, tarragon spreads underground. It is not as aggressive as mint and it will not survive really cold temperatures. About April there will be a handful of stone pots filled with graceful boughs of licorice scented tarragon. What happens to it after that is up to me… or you if you happen to get one of them.

Every year I worry that the seed that I have saved is not going to do well. Seed companies always talk about superior viability. I don’t know what makes them superior. All I know is that the pods of seed heads that I leave in the greenhouse to finish drying before I thresh them always do well for us. This is the little greenhouse bed I planted earlier in January. The French Breakfast radishes and the red (beaujolais) spinach from seed that I saved shot right up. I’ll take it! By the way, that is not mildew or mold on the bed, it is slug bait.

The farm is still looking seriously bleak. We have our bright spots and tend to focus on them but April-May still seems like a long way away.  After the “River of Rain” that invaded Everett, we have already had to empty the rain gauge. On this last weekend of January we have measured about 7.5-inches of rain and 0 of snow. Very unusual. The Almighty bless you!

 

Last of the January chores done!

Right to left, two rows of spring onions, Long standing spinach, Red spinach and french breakfast radish.

There should be fresh greens by the first day of Spring.

Most of this years onion plants.

These are the onions I started when we made that first giggle-box video from this year. If I do not look at that first pot, they look alright.

I always find some kind of surprise. If you look very carefully, you will see tarragon springing up. Won’t be long before it will be time to divide it all up and start new plants. I do not use much of it, but I like that I can keep it up after all this time.

The other “green” is Rosemary.

I’ve quite being surprised when I find a potato. Now when I find one I just look for more. Sadly this is the only one I came across in the greenhouse box.

I think last year I dumped a pot of potatoes in the greenhouse box to make sure I didn’t miss any spuds. Guess I better get my glasses fixed.

Yep… 100% chance of rain in Everett today. It was a great day to have a greenhouse to work in.

That sound on the roof of the greenhouse? I love it! That’s why the first blog was called “Rainsong”

Hebrew Word Study: ‘esher (happy)

Blessed are you if…

If? Sometimes I have the odd thought. I wonder things like, isn’t “if” a flag word for a cause – effect relationship? So I wonder, aren’t blessings by the “grace of God”? Was Y’shua-Jesus telling us that there are conditions to blessing?  And why do some people insist that the word translated “blessed” should be translated “happy”?

Back to Hebrew. Did you know that there are two Hebrew words that we translate “blessed”? The one most of us are familiar with is barak something given to another in worship. It means to kneel, to praise. It is the exact opposite of curse. The other word for blessing, the one that is often translated “happy” is ‘esher.

‘Esher is an action verb. You are doing something if you ‘esher. It is something you do with a goal in mind. The reason it is sometimes translated “happy” is because you do something that leads to bliss. It is a human (believer) word about our choices and the bliss-joy that follows those choices. While it is not “unmerited favor” it is important.

Here is today’s sample ‘esher verse.

Proverbs 8:32   Listen (shama) children, bliss–joy comes to those who guard The Way.

What choice must we do to be happy? Guard The Way, the path of life. Do not let anything into your life that is not of the Almighty.

Does that mean you will feel joy not watching the movie that everyone else is going to see? Maybe not. But when you see Y’shua face to face , the joy you will experience because you do not need to hang your head in shame will be bliss!

 It is a good day to work in the green house today. 100% chance of January rain. I have a place ready to start onions, spinach (red and green), radishes (pink and french breakfast) and even some mustard that I finally got around to coaxing out of its pods.

Morning Devotions: Psalm 5

Surprise! I am so unsuccessful at growing cauliflower, but I keep trying. Found one today! It is small, but this small cauliflower is the biggest cali I’ve ever grown. Gonna do something with it tomorrow!

Take time to pray.
Direct your eyes
Make God your Refuge

Yesterday, in Junior High Ladies Devotions, we saw Rahab make an amazing confession of faith.

… for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. Joshua 2:11b nasu

Rahab was raised in a pagan culture. She only knew the false gods of Jericho, but when the Almighty parted the Red Sea to allow Israel to cross from Egypt to The Land that He promised to them, and when the giants Sihon and Og were defeated, whose armies were probably why Jericho had such an impressive wall, she knew that the God of Israel was the king of kings, and Lord of lords. The God in heaven above and on earth beneath. We finished our lesson with Rahab living in an apartment in the wall of Jericho. We know that wall is about to come crashing down, yet Rahab and her family will be safe there. How can that be?

October 18th and we are still picking red, vine-ripe tomatoes. They are from our unheated green house, but still, VINE RIPE TOMATOES! I also picked basil, spinach, parsley and french parsley for sandwiches I made for Sunday afternoon lunch. Sometimes I actually eat something that isn’t from a bento box.

Nearly a thousand years later, King David, ruling the land of promise, still acknowledges that the Almighty is LORD of both heaven and earth in Psalm 5. David writes about God who hears our prayer and takes action. God expects us to be different then the world around us. In fact He expects us to live lives that are radically different then those around us. But he is not tyrant, He is the God of lovingkindness. The Hebrew word for lovingkindness is the same as our word for grace. God asks us to live by grace. He asks us to live a righteous life by grace. His lovingkindness makes The Way of grace clear to us. In return, He is our refuge, our hiding place in troubling times. He is our shelter, our shield.

I’m growing these dwarf peas for their greens, but I might just get peas! Peas or not, they are delicious and pretty….. and they do not taste like so many of the cole crops we grow for winter food, another plus!

You may ask, is an invisible God strong enough here on earth, to protect me from harm? Sure he will bring me to heaven someday if I am good enough, but what can he do for me on earth?

Know first of all that it is not your goodness that will get you to heaven, it is the blood of Jesus that will qualify you for heaven. As for how strong God is on earth, Rahab lived in the wall. By faith in the God of heaven, she and her family were safe in that wall. They would not have been safe anywhere else. Common sense would say that the safe place would have been far away from that wall but faith is being obedient to God, putting your trust in his hands. Sometimes it takes courage to trust in the LORD with your whole heart and to not depend on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) God kept his word to Rahab. He was a refuge, a shelter and a shield to David. What is he to you? What kind of a risk are you willing to take to test Him?

Ps 118:5-9 nasu
5 From my  distress I called upon the LORD;  The LORD answered me and set me in a large place.
6 The LORD is for me; I will not fear;  What can man do to me?
7 The LORD is for me among those who help me; Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD Than to trust in princes.

Mrs. Hagerty, October 6, 2015

What’s a farmer supposed to do on Rainy Days?

I’ve be waiting for a rainy day to get my starts going.

2014 in the greenhouse

Late February, and I’m starting….

• Artichokes (usually winter sown, so I’m crossing my fingers)
• Parsley, both curly and Italian
• Celery
• Celeriac
• Onions, Italian Torpedo, Cipollini (need to buy more yellow storage: New York Early)
• Salad, (we have a lot to choose from!)
• Leeks and Shallots
• Kale
• Spinach
• Maybe a few peas in soil blocks instead of pots.

That’s what springs to my mind, what are you planing to start indoors this month?

Robins have returned to Everett, WA

Every grove of trees in Everett is alive with returning robins arguing over the best camping spot until they can get a permanent nest built. They will be building those nests in the rain today, Friday, February 20, 2015. The chill in the air probably means the rain will soon be replaced by blue sky, but today the forecast is at 70% chance of rain, 51/39 Sunrise at 7:06, Sunset at 5:39 giving us 10 hours and 33 minutes of wet daylight!

 

Winter Garden in a cold frame

I have been thinking about giving this a try.

Direct seeding Cold Frames…in Winter

The Toy Box, December 4, 2010

In late August and early September I am busy with school. Too busy to put in my winter garden. When winter arrives I want to add winter vegetables to the menu but there is precious little to add. Keven Kossowan, a gardener-blogger in Edmonton, Alberta, writes that he is direct seeding his cold-frame as late as November. Western Washington State is a banana belt compared to Kevin’s farm. This gives me hope for success. I am jazzed about trying in my little cold-frame.

On the winter cold-frame menu? Peas (of the seed I have I’ll choose the shortest growing), golden beets, spinach, carrots, greens, a square of microgreens and some kale. Maybe parsley and leeks too (how big is that cold frame?) I’ll probably video-document it all.