The Cold Frame Summit Talks :: Part 1

Being married to a skilled and very talented carpenter makes the most beautiful designs, materials and craftsmanship available to you at all times. Attention to exquisite details and a sense of things lasting forever and forever are a big part of how his mind works.

So when I brought up the fact that I had in mind a very basic design for a cold frame, that I would pull together from materials sitting around our property, I knew I had a little battle ahead of me. You see, gardening (for me) is about testing or switching out variables from season to season and playing around with the different things that nature offers to get something growing. I was thinking about leaning some old windows at an angle at the base of our house and putting bricks or cinder blocks (not the prettiest, but great for thermal mass) on the sides, throwing some soil in and growing greens months earlier than they would be ready in our raised beds.

This set off alarms with Corey - The windows wouldn't last for more than a few seasons! They need to be at a certain angle! My experiment was pure chaos in his mind. Instead, he had a door that would work out just right - he could craft something, put the door on a hinge, cut pieces of plywood for the sides, etc., etc. He is all about the planning and being precise from the start, I am all about getting out there, giving it a go and learning from that point onward.

We're working on meeting in the middle. More soon . . .

Over The Mountain To Garden Shop!

This is the view from my favorite nursery of all time. Milmont Greenhouses in Stuarts Draft. As if the rows and rows of plants aren't enough? Look-at those mountains.

I feel that I must write of Milmont each and every spring, as each and every gardener should have the good fortune of experiencing the mind-numbing assortment of horticultural goodies that they offer. Maybe it is new to you.

Willa and I even went this past Wednesday, during the cold and the rain. But never-you-mind, it didn't matter. We got some parsley (a cool weather loving herb) and strawberry plants. I'm putting those in big glazed containers as I do not have it in me to fight the good fight of a strawberry patch. Been there, done that, and it sucked.

I also purchased some False Blue Indigo, yarrow, coreopsis and butterfly bushes for the front garden. (All LOW maintenance and drought tolerant - good plants for the newbie gardener.)

I'm at-the-ready for the spring-fever weather that they are promising this weekend - spade in hand. Bring it!

Slowing Down and Savoring April

We have a true bumper crop of rhubarb this year - with leaves that are close to two-feet wide. I made my first rhubarb crisp of the season. Promptly topped with whipped cream.

The last of our Rembrandt Tulips.

The blue sign reads:
"Today is the day of Salvation."

We drove by this log cabin as Willa and I went for a visit to Shady Lane Greenhouses yesterday. We found salvation in a flat of 'maters, herbs, a heliotrope, marigolds, lobelia, coleus and a pot of black-eyed susan vine. Hallelujah!