Winter Sowing Update

Post-dark check reveals seedlings!
See Feb. 9th post here.

Solar Change

What's this? It's what happens when the lights can actually catch enough solar power during the day to shine a night. Well, with months still to go to reach a proper summer day, I'll take what I can get.

The Days, They are a Changin'

Yes, there was a little light when I got home tonight!

Bloom Day & Monthly Garden Photo

Thank goodness for Snowdrops, that's all I can say about February blooms! See Carol's May Dreams Gardens and her Feb. 15 post for other participants in bloom day, some with more luck.

Here is my February garden photo. Still not much different than January. As you can see, the shade was creeping in also. There are two special "things" captured in the photo, though. What do you think they are? Just for fun, go here to see the garden in Sept. 07.
Finally, I think somebody has been spending time in my cloche. In two corners, the mulch seem to be smushed and displaced. I am having trouble keeping the ends of the cloche covering shut. The wind pops them open easily. Even if they stayed shut, it would be easy for some critter to crawl in. May just be a cat napping in the warm space during the day or a dry space at night.

Lichen to Fungi (Winter in the Pacific NW)

I spotted this nice, young, possible Chocolate Lenzites growing on a whiskey barrel by the patio. Then forgot to photograph it until tonight. So here it is in camera flash light. It doesn't look quite the same as the text book example of a Chocolate Lenzites I found in Nov., also near my patio, here. I just don't find anything else it looks like in my 2nd hand Reader's Digest North American Wildlife book. The November fungus is still around too, but it has lost its pretty light band around the edges. If it isn't C.L., do you know what it is? I'll look at it more carefully in the daylight next weekend.

Oh, but the other fungi to search for! I still like the wee gray/green lichen (click on the label below to see more), but with names like Earthstar, Birds Nest and Dead Man's Fingers, I have some fungi hunting to do. I now know the wierd stuff I've found while hiking is probably Witches' Butter (orange-yellow fungus with brainlike shape) because Fairy Butter stays back east.

Let the sowing begin

I managed to source some milk jugs this week so I'm off to do a little "winter sowing" today. Last year, I learned about it and tried it in March. See this link. (and see the links in that post for Angie's instructions on this.) It worked well for lettuce, chard, broccoli and nasturtiums. See this link for results. For those that might not like the cooler outside temps, I'll be getting the garage window ready for them later.


Later.....

Here are some planted and out on the old deck. They'll be protected by the house a little, but also have sun / light as much as possible. The lids have a small hole in them. I'll leave them on until it warms up a little. There are drainage holes in the bottom.

Since the milk jugs had the indention in two sides, I cut up over the indention on those sides and sloped back down toward the bottom of the handle (also the 'hinge'). This also let me slip the top part over the bottom part a little before placing a piece of tape to keep it in place. This seems a little more stable than my try at making a lower cut through the indention.

So far it is just lettuce, chard, broccoli and nasturtiums. I'll be making the rounds to other sowers to see what they have planted.

It's in the mail!

The "Advanced Uncorrected Proof" version of DH's Dad's autobiography is in the mail to DH's siblings (and one to you, too, Dad)! "Auto"biography really, as he recorded most of it while on car trips. Printed double-sided on 3-hole punched paper, it's notebook ready. See this post from last Jan. And this post with a garden bit from the stories.

You're next, Mom, so get ready for those questions from the pesky publisher! (...but maybe after the seed order is written.)

And for anyone who would like to start writing your own to share with your family, I'm happy to share sources of questions and short story subjects to help you get started.