Happy Spring!

Altho we are expecting cold, rain and perhaps snow today to celebrate the first day of spring, it does not appear that the temperatures will fall to freezing, so most of the things that are blooming too early will be fine.  And, perhaps more importantly, the too-early-spring will continue.

I continue to be a Doubting Thomas, so am working on "infrastructure" and avoiding the desire to start sticking plants into the ground.  Have raked, raked, raked and cleaned the beds so that i can order a big delivery of summer mulch in the next couple of weeks. Am replacing rotted borders and have finished "restoration pruning" on several shrubs that were in bad condition. 

Am re-setting all the paving stones in the garden walk.  Over the years the soil builds up and they "bury themselves".  A few bags of paving sand and a lot of lifting and shifting later and the whole walk will "rise" from the dirt!

With its hole filled with sand, the paver (under gloves) can go back in place and be above ground again.

But, i am having fun in the greenhouse at "school", where I volunteer in the Horticulture department on Thursday mornings.  In the fall it was mainly cleaning up the outdoor beds and mulching - a lot like what i was doing at home.  

But planting time for the greenhouses is a whole different story.

The college grows plants for one of the local historical sites and holds a spring plant sale in late April, so we have been planting seeds and transplanting from starter cell packs to plastic four-packs and hanging pots for weeks now.  It's all planned out by the head of the greenhouse and i just follow orders, but it has shown me a whole different side of the growing industry.

Everything is timed to be ready to go into the ground on May 1st.

The historical site will pick up many, many flats of summer annuals ready to go into their oh-so-lovely gardens.  We will sell flowers and veggies to local gardeners to kick off the local growing season.  And, we will plant both annuals and veggies in our demonstration gardens on campus.  And, then the maintenance will start! 

Here, is literally what i have been doing for the past few weeks.  

In mid-February (weeks 6 and 7) I planted seeds in starter cell packs. Two weeks ago (week 10) i transplanted them  to four-packs.... the ones below.  All of these plants will be going to the historic site ... and i planted them.  Remarkably, they are all thriving.  

 I realize that has more to do with greenhouse conditions than with my good work, but for the first couple of weeks i did live in fear that i had done them all wrong and none would germinate. 

All of the white tags below are mine, too, and will either go in the plant sale or into the demo gardens.

I've never had any real interest in growing from seed, but if someone would give me a greenhouse, i think i could do it!

Hope your spring will get off to a good start this week!  Happy Spring!

Hope You are Seeing ....

.... some of this in your "neck of the woods".

A surprising second flush of blooms on the camellia.  Lots of winter damage, but still the imperative to bloom must be really strong. 

Too soon, too soon. 

If the frost next week is not too heavy, we really may have turned the corner.  One can only hope. 

Wednesday Workday - Veggie Garden!

This bizarre winter/spring that we are having is providing all sorts of opportunities to get things done early.   Beginning on Monday and going for the next ten days we are 10-20 degrees above normal ... normal being high 50's and this warm stretch ranging from mid-60's to the low 80's.  What?

There's plenty to be done, but i'm concentrating on getting the veggie garden up and ready for the plants when they arrive.

I've bought soil mixture and made soil mixture - and mixed the two together.  

I've created a cold frame in the hope of getting some seeds started outside early.  (Our last freeze date is April 6 or 15 - depending on your authority - so i am trying to push it by three weeks.)  Am hoping to use this warm spell to heat the soil enough to germinate the seeds now, and then protect them in the cold frame until they are large enough to harden off after the last frost.

Am testing early seeding in the cold frame - with seeds held back in case i need to re-seed in mid-April.

I've set up two more planters - one for peas and one for a second blueberry.  

The "tuteur" was a Christmas gift from friends.

It's filled with little birds!

And, i've started planting cool season herbs and greens - lettuce, spinach, arugula, broccoli, kale, cilantro and Italian parsley plants and spinach and kale seeds.


I joined GrowJourney and the first seeds (cherry tomatoes, eggplant and spinach) have already arrived and are planted in cells in the cold frame, with scallions, beets and ground cherries due later this week.  If you are not familiar with GrowJourney, see Marie's post here on "Sixty-six Square Feet (Plus)" for good information.

There's another order of tomato plants, peas and an additional container-sized blueberry due to arrive over the next couple of weeks.  In other words, spring planting is well underway - even if it's not really spring. 

The first breath of spring!

Next week ... more early flowers!

There's a New Chef in Town!

Do you ever feel like you just cannot cook one more dinner?  or, like planning and shopping for this week's meals is just too, too much?

I've been feeling that way a lot recently.  I started to roughly calculate how many dinners i have cooked, and found it too depressing.  So, when a single-father friend of ours recently sent me a coupon for HelloFresh(TM) , I jumped at it.

You know the concept.  You choose the meals and they ship them out weekly.  Here's what arrived chez nous on Saturday.

We got three meals for two - all packed and ready to go, with the meats packed in ice packs and all in very good condition.  My biggest problem was getting it all into the refrigerator!

Cold stuff on the bottom with freezer packs; then the dry ingredients and veggies all in a box.

One box and one meat package per meal.

Saturday night we had "Chili Roasted Shrimp with Spinach and White Beans".

Everything's in the box except oil, salt and pepper.  See the small package on the left?  It's two cloves of garlic - all peeled and ready to mince.

The literally step-by-step directions are clear and include plenty of photos and a good time line.  Once it's all prepped, it looked like this. 

The shrimp are roasting in the oven, while i cook the veggies and beans.

And, finally plated up.  It looks good and tasted great!

Sunday we had Honey-Gllazed Roast Pork and tonight it will be Mozzarella-Crusted Chicken.  In our first box we had Peppercorn Steak, Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken Saltimocca, and Shrimp and Lemon Risotto. 

First, let me say that Hello Fresh (TM) has in no way paid me*.  

Now we have now eaten five meals and all have been easy to prepare and delicious.  I have enjoyed trying new recipes and especially have loved not having to plan and shop.

For us (in Richmond) the cost of these three meals is just about what we spend for one dinner (with wine) in a decent - not great - restaurant.

There are a number of these services out there.  If you have been wanting to try one, i would not only recommend Hello Fresh (TM), but can give you a "coupon" number to save $40 on your first order.  You can get meals for two or four.  They come with a standard order each week, but you can make some substitution.  There is also a vegetarian option.

We are currently getting meals every other week, while i empty out the well-stocked freezer we have, but the day will probably come when we do it weekly. 

It's almost like having a Personal Shopper for the kitchen!

If you're intrigued, check out there website www.hellofresh.com for better information; and if you want the coupon email me at webb2206@hotmail.com.   *Full disclosure:  If you use my coupon, I will get a credit on my account, so that will be "payment".