Keeping the plants warm and safe

Kiki investigates the plant blanket...

I went up north to the Co-op yesterday. They had small packs of the floating row cover and told me that a nursery in town sells it in bulk. They were very helpful and showed me how to build a hoop house out of cattle panels or PVC. In case I forget, here's what you do:

The hoop greenhouse

Materials: 2- 16' x 4' cattle panels; rebar; 2- 8' 2x4s; metal clips; plastic; staples.

Sink 4 pieces of rebar in the ground a couple feet and leave just a bit above ground. Bend cattle panels over with rebar inside and centered. Attach rebar to panels with twine. Attach 2x4s to the panels with clips, then staple the plastic to them. This makes an 8' x 5' structure, approximately.

Or with PVC, use 4- 1 and 1/4" 20' pieces. Put rebar in the ground at 5' intervals and then put the PVC pipe over it and bend to the other side. Reinforce with PVC pipe down the center, attach with screws. Attach plastic the same as before. This structure is 20' x 5', about.

With these things I could grow melons! Maybe. Gordo and Gordetta would like it for sure, eh Slammy?

The tomatoes need to be transplanted. Three will go into the wall-o-waters, and a couple will go into pots.

I went to the nursery up north also, and got some cilantro, parsley, and marjoram. Plus a 2008 garden almanac to keep track of the moon signs. Today, we're in the dark of the moon and the sign of Capricorn, which is "earthy and productive." So it's a good time to repot houseplants and plant perennials and biennials. Aha! that's parsley. I better not be a slacker today. Tomorrow is Aquarius, barren and dry, so then I can relax. By pulling weeds. From now on I'll list the moon phase and sign over there on the right, and tell what gardening chores are best done in it.

The poll is done, and there is no clear winner. Which just proves, with herbs, there are no losers. Ha ha ha. Except Tarragon. I hate it. Does anyone really like it? French chefs use it murder chicken, but I don't know of anyone else using it.

This morning the tree swallows were making a nest in the old box with grass from the compost pile. Looks like the bluebirds lost that one.

Can you see the bluebirds on the right? And the tree swallow is sticking his head out of the box. You snooze, you lose.

Oh well, maybe we'll put up another box or two.


In other news, our mail was stolen on Tuesday, and across the street there was a mailbox explosion. The neighborhood is really going to the dogs, woof woof. Looks like a P.O. box is in our future.
Speaking of neighborhood villains, I was a little late with the pepper spray. The tulips have all but disappeared, vanished into thin air. They must be like candy to the deer. That's what happens when you feed and water the critters. They come every night and then they tell their friends. Pretty soon, party's gone outa bounds!


But we do have some good neighbors, like the little Calliope hummingbird, the smallest bird in North America. The book (Stokes) says he can go into a "state of torpor" on cold nights, lowering his body temp by 50 degrees. He needs to around here, last night it was 36. The weather is back to cool and windy, mostly cloudy, a wee bit of sun.



It's 64 degrees at 11:00 am.