It is the winter solstice, or very close to it.
The radishes are still good, though they have lost a small amount of their crispness.
We ate 2 small turnips at Thanksgiving, which is the end of November in America. Alas, the other turnip roots stopped growing when they were 1/2 inch across. Since the turnip greens are stronger than I enjoy I might be done eating turnips! We shall see: either the roots will continue to get fat or they will not. Either the plants will go to seed or they will not. And, if they DO go to seed then the greens might get milder, and then we could eat the greens!
Thw small onions are growing VERY well, and the scallions appear to be dormant. The parsley and young cabbage are just sitting there.
I wish I could remember when I planted the greenhouse: was it in September? I THINK that it was, and that would appear to be too late in the year for the turnips and cabbage. Though I might get some good greens when they go to seed.
Elliot Coleman, who writes books about using unheated greenhouses in a colder climate than I live in, plants chard, beets, arugula, carrots, lettuce, leeks, parsley, lettuce, scallions, sorrel, spinach, and a few others.
And, I have had good success with small onions, radishes, and parsley. If planted earlier no doubt I would have good turnips. Next year I will try all of those again and add beets and spinach to the mix.
Next SPRING I will try strawberries! Since I do not have to weed hardly at all I should get a good crop, and a very early one!!!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
I am back from my trip, much to my husbands relief!
Apparently my husband does not like my daughter's cooking! And, the house is a mess but she will soon put that right!
To console my husband, tonight we will have sausages, peas, potato cassarole, and a salad of cabbage and of radishes from the greenhouse! Yes, the greenhouse has done well for me, and everything is still alive!
I have no idea how cold it got while I was gone: it is not something that my family would notice.
I remember that men eat partly with their eyes, and so I have sprinkled some peas and some sliced sausage across the top of the potato cassarole, to make it look bright and pretty. Nella Last, an Englishwoman who cooked VERY well during the shortages of World War 2, pointed that out. She said that her husband one day came home and spoke in horror how the men who worked under him had only vegetables, cheese, and bread to eat for their lunch! His wife was carefull to NOT point out that his last lunch had been vegetable soup and hot toast with cheese melted on top! Apparently her husband felt well fed because he ate lunch at home at a table with flowers and a table cloth on it!
Nella Last was an excellent cook because she could make the rationed food like cheese look like more food than what it was. Cheese was rationed and could have been eaten in a few bites, but by grating it on top of bread and heating it she made it into a filling dish. Also, instead of eating the raisins they were able to buy, she would only use them to flavor bread and her English puddings. Puddings during the war were mostly bread, but she would use some raisins in the batter and call them a dessert. . By serving it at a table her family felt that they had eaten well.
I have 2 of the books that were written from her notes, "Nella Last's War" and "Nella Last's Peace", and they are both very good!
To console my husband, tonight we will have sausages, peas, potato cassarole, and a salad of cabbage and of radishes from the greenhouse! Yes, the greenhouse has done well for me, and everything is still alive!
I have no idea how cold it got while I was gone: it is not something that my family would notice.
I remember that men eat partly with their eyes, and so I have sprinkled some peas and some sliced sausage across the top of the potato cassarole, to make it look bright and pretty. Nella Last, an Englishwoman who cooked VERY well during the shortages of World War 2, pointed that out. She said that her husband one day came home and spoke in horror how the men who worked under him had only vegetables, cheese, and bread to eat for their lunch! His wife was carefull to NOT point out that his last lunch had been vegetable soup and hot toast with cheese melted on top! Apparently her husband felt well fed because he ate lunch at home at a table with flowers and a table cloth on it!
Nella Last was an excellent cook because she could make the rationed food like cheese look like more food than what it was. Cheese was rationed and could have been eaten in a few bites, but by grating it on top of bread and heating it she made it into a filling dish. Also, instead of eating the raisins they were able to buy, she would only use them to flavor bread and her English puddings. Puddings during the war were mostly bread, but she would use some raisins in the batter and call them a dessert. . By serving it at a table her family felt that they had eaten well.
I have 2 of the books that were written from her notes, "Nella Last's War" and "Nella Last's Peace", and they are both very good!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
The greenhouse really heats up on a sunny day!
It is 18 degrees out and, while it is sunny, there is a sprinkling of snow on the ground. When I went into the greenhouse the heat hit me like a soft, warm pillow.
The plants are now under 2-3 layers of plastic, if you count both the skin over the greenhouse and the clear plastic tarps that I threw over the plants. The hardiest plants have just one tarp thrown over it but the vegetables have 2.
Today I watered with buckets of warm water, as the plants have gotten way too dry. I kept waiting for a lovely day to water but it never came: it has been overcast and chilly: now it is sunny but cold.
This will be my last entry for a while: I am going to visit family on the coast. I decided that it would be too much to ask for my family to care for the greenhouse, and so I got it as ready as I could to survive for a while without me. Not one of my relatives has any skill with plants: they would either drown them or not cover them properly!
The plants are now under 2-3 layers of plastic, if you count both the skin over the greenhouse and the clear plastic tarps that I threw over the plants. The hardiest plants have just one tarp thrown over it but the vegetables have 2.
Today I watered with buckets of warm water, as the plants have gotten way too dry. I kept waiting for a lovely day to water but it never came: it has been overcast and chilly: now it is sunny but cold.
This will be my last entry for a while: I am going to visit family on the coast. I decided that it would be too much to ask for my family to care for the greenhouse, and so I got it as ready as I could to survive for a while without me. Not one of my relatives has any skill with plants: they would either drown them or not cover them properly!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Today I fed the bees.
It is a small hive, and they did not put up enough stored honey to last them for the winter. So, I made a heavy syrup to give to them. They will suck it up and put it in any empty comb in the hive.
The reason that they did not put up enough stores is because that area has a poor Fall nectar flow. I meant to move them, but I decided that I would need help with it and it simply did not get taken care of during the summer. We got a great many OTHER things taken care of, but the hive never got moved!
Another reason is that it was 109 degrees-about 42.8 degree celcius- and I found it difficult to get ANY yard work done!
This feeding for the bees will be the last. It is getting pretty cold, and so soon I will take out the feeding cups and put in some insulation instead.
This hive was a swarm of bees that moved into an empty hive this summer, and it is still not very large yet. They are in an EXCELLENT place to catch swarms: all that I have to do is to set up used bee hives and they simply move themselves in! But, as I said before, there is not much of a Fall nectar flow.
This spring I might sell them, or perhaps I will move them to my home. The city limits me to two hives where I live, but right now I do not have any. I got busy with 2 sick kids and a Mother in Law that was not doing well, and I did not watch the hive closely enough and so I lost the hive.
Bee hives need very little care, but when they DO need care they need care right away! If they do not get it they will PROBABLY leave, or possibly they will die. Bee hives cannot be neglected. And, so I lost my hive and I set out the hive so that more bees would move in, and they have.
I am still not certain I want to work with bees next summer. If another family member gets very ill I will probably sell them to prevent another hive from being lost.
The reason that they did not put up enough stores is because that area has a poor Fall nectar flow. I meant to move them, but I decided that I would need help with it and it simply did not get taken care of during the summer. We got a great many OTHER things taken care of, but the hive never got moved!
Another reason is that it was 109 degrees-about 42.8 degree celcius- and I found it difficult to get ANY yard work done!
This feeding for the bees will be the last. It is getting pretty cold, and so soon I will take out the feeding cups and put in some insulation instead.
This hive was a swarm of bees that moved into an empty hive this summer, and it is still not very large yet. They are in an EXCELLENT place to catch swarms: all that I have to do is to set up used bee hives and they simply move themselves in! But, as I said before, there is not much of a Fall nectar flow.
This spring I might sell them, or perhaps I will move them to my home. The city limits me to two hives where I live, but right now I do not have any. I got busy with 2 sick kids and a Mother in Law that was not doing well, and I did not watch the hive closely enough and so I lost the hive.
Bee hives need very little care, but when they DO need care they need care right away! If they do not get it they will PROBABLY leave, or possibly they will die. Bee hives cannot be neglected. And, so I lost my hive and I set out the hive so that more bees would move in, and they have.
I am still not certain I want to work with bees next summer. If another family member gets very ill I will probably sell them to prevent another hive from being lost.
Teenagers can be wonderfull!
I *AM* somewhat handicapped, and because of the recession my oldest child cannot find work. Fine. *I* hired her!
She works for me for about 2 hours a day, 6 days a week, at $5 an hour plus room and board. For me this is working out very well: She does the picking up and the dishes, which both require a lot of walking (tiring for me). She also does the laundry: she runs it through the machines and brings it to me to fold.
While her enthusiasm for picking up the same stuff day after day is waning, and she is starting to put in fewer hours, this is *STILL* working out well! I really did need the help. I was barely managing until she finished high school.
The money that she earns goes for her half of college (we are splitting the costs), pays for her gas and for hanging out with her friends. I have spoken to her about working enough hours to buy a car, but she is borrowing ours and does not yet see the need. She is not yet thinking ahead yet but that's OK: she is only 18.
Yesterday I had her helping me plant bulbs. In a drizzling rain. I paid her double the usual rate, as I do with other jobs that are particularly difficult. In spite of the light, drizzling rain it was much warmer yesterday than it will be today!
Sooner or later she will find a job that is not from me: with luck my youngest will have finished school by then and I can hire him if he cannot find work! He is 17.
Otherwise we will start using paper plates and store bought lasagna, and we can cook from scratch every other day instead of every day to decrease my work load.
She works for me for about 2 hours a day, 6 days a week, at $5 an hour plus room and board. For me this is working out very well: She does the picking up and the dishes, which both require a lot of walking (tiring for me). She also does the laundry: she runs it through the machines and brings it to me to fold.
While her enthusiasm for picking up the same stuff day after day is waning, and she is starting to put in fewer hours, this is *STILL* working out well! I really did need the help. I was barely managing until she finished high school.
The money that she earns goes for her half of college (we are splitting the costs), pays for her gas and for hanging out with her friends. I have spoken to her about working enough hours to buy a car, but she is borrowing ours and does not yet see the need. She is not yet thinking ahead yet but that's OK: she is only 18.
Yesterday I had her helping me plant bulbs. In a drizzling rain. I paid her double the usual rate, as I do with other jobs that are particularly difficult. In spite of the light, drizzling rain it was much warmer yesterday than it will be today!
Sooner or later she will find a job that is not from me: with luck my youngest will have finished school by then and I can hire him if he cannot find work! He is 17.
Otherwise we will start using paper plates and store bought lasagna, and we can cook from scratch every other day instead of every day to decrease my work load.
Friday, December 2, 2011
Protecting beds of plants inside the greenhouse
Today I covered the beds inside the greenhouse with clear paint tarps.
I will be traveling next week, and it is not likely that my family will remember to cover the beds if a hard freeze threatens. Having a second layer of plastic down will reduce the amount of light but this is unavoidable: if I do not protect the beds then any weather in the teens will execute the lot!
The radishes are ready to be eaten, and I have picked the first 2 turnips but the others are only about 1/4 of an inch across. With protection I might get a good crop: without it I will lose the vegetables just when they are ready to bear.
I only put radish in the salad and some cabbage from the fridge: I could have taken some pak choi but it has not yet re-grown from Thanksgiving. I have not grown much pak choi so I have no idea when it will stop growing!
I will be traveling next week, and it is not likely that my family will remember to cover the beds if a hard freeze threatens. Having a second layer of plastic down will reduce the amount of light but this is unavoidable: if I do not protect the beds then any weather in the teens will execute the lot!
The radishes are ready to be eaten, and I have picked the first 2 turnips but the others are only about 1/4 of an inch across. With protection I might get a good crop: without it I will lose the vegetables just when they are ready to bear.
I only put radish in the salad and some cabbage from the fridge: I could have taken some pak choi but it has not yet re-grown from Thanksgiving. I have not grown much pak choi so I have no idea when it will stop growing!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Fall Harvest
Winter has, of course, stopped most of the vegetables cold.
On the GOOD side, I am harvesting radishes and greens in my unheated greenhouse, and today I pulled the first 2 turnips to add to a salad.. The turnips tasted fine, but the turnip greens were a little strong-tasting to add, so I didn't. That left me with 2 small turnips, onelarge radish, and the radish greens.
This time of year the store bought lettuce tastes a LOT like crunchy water, and the additions to the salad perked it up and made it taste excellent again!
On the GOOD side, I am harvesting radishes and greens in my unheated greenhouse, and today I pulled the first 2 turnips to add to a salad.. The turnips tasted fine, but the turnip greens were a little strong-tasting to add, so I didn't. That left me with 2 small turnips, onelarge radish, and the radish greens.
This time of year the store bought lettuce tastes a LOT like crunchy water, and the additions to the salad perked it up and made it taste excellent again!
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