It's winter again!

 So cold, so snowy.  Well, it is February and this is what we should expect.  We'd been lulled into a spring mindset with a week of above average temperatures and now we're back to reality.

I've sown my peppers; NuMex Lemon Spice jalapeño, habanero, and Hungarian Hot Wax.  In another tray I've sown impatiens and eryngium (sea holly).  From my second sowing of my own collected seeds, the only ones that germinated were a couple more Gerber daisies, and a few more prairie coneflowers.  BUT...I'm up to five Virgin's Bower seedlings, which is amazing.

 I'm also dealing with an infestation of white flies, which is incredibly frustrating.  I'm hitting them daily with soapy water, but it's not working to full effect.  I think next year I won't bring any herbs back into the house for the winter.  It's either fungus gnats or white flies or improper conditions, so time to give up on those.

I did take advantage of the snow cover to clean up some pine boughs from the mule track and burn them.  I hate burning brush more than anything, but I'll admit it feels good to know that chore is done and I won't need to do a major cleanup when spring gets here.

I finished my needle felted rabbit, too.  My specialty needles and whisker material finally arrived from the UK, just in time. 

For my first project, I'm very happy with how everything turned out.  I'm now working on an Easter garland. 

The birds are really coming into the feeders en masse lately.  The cardinals are getting really bold, showing during daylight hours as well as dusk and dawn. 

And one of the male goldfinch has decided he's had enough of his drab winter garb and put his spring finery on for the ladies to admire.

I know them feels, little guy.  I wish spring would hurry up and get here, too.

bring the heat

On Sunday, the 5th of February, I did an experimental re-plant - new batch of seeds, same plants.  This time I used a heat mat under them.  Lo and behold, five days later I have two Gerber Daisies and one prairie coneflower seedlings peeking through the soil.  I'm hoping the other seeds germinate soon.  

In the Virgin's Bower pot, one seedling has emerged among the tiny mushrooms.

And the lettuce, OG coneflowers, and Gerber Daisy continue to do well.

 

One more month and I should be able to start my annuals from seed, I'm so excited! 

Addendum to my last post - I discovered that during the cold snap I had inadvertently shut off one of the mini-split duct heads in the main part of the house, which explains why it was so cold inside and why the unit was struggling to keep up.  Live and learn!

brrrrrrrrr!

 

Cold enough for ya?

Mount Washington broke a New England record overnight with a windchill reading of -105*F.  

My mini-split is struggling to keep up.  I set the temperature to 66*F and it's 57*F right now, 6:12 am.  Supposedly by this time tomorrow, we'll finally have a "real feel" of above zero.  I'm waiting for daylight to go check the mules, who must be in agony.  I did my best to prepare; Flea has a blanket and boots on, I have two heat lamps running in the interior stalls, I nailed a quilt across the run out opening, and I banked hay like crazy along the walls.  My frost-free hydrant was frozen solid at 6 pm last night, so who knows when that will thaw.  Thankfully I have the big slop sink downstairs where I can fill 6 gallon jugs and haul them out to the barn.  This is definitely the coldest, most dangerous weather I've ever experienced.  

As for my seeds, still nothing from the original plantings other than the prairie coneflower and Gerber daisy, despite adding a heat mat to the mix.  All four continue to do well.  The Virgin's Bower seeds haven't sprouted, but I have a lovely crop of tiny mushrooms growing in the soil.  Time to give up on these seeds, I suppose.  I picked up some Ziva paperwhites that were on clearance and have been forcing them on the windowsill.  They're very pretty but HOLY STANK.  They smell like cat poo.  I had also grabbed a mixed bag of tulips, daffodils, and allium that I planted into pots and stuck in a corner of the basement.  While rifling through the bargain bulbs I came across one lonely, dried out iris tuber; "Ghost Train".  I'm a sucker for an iris and it's near-black, so of course I took a chance.  Amazingly, after being potted and put under a grow light it's beginning to send up green shoots.  I think I lost my near-black iris "Raven's Girl", so this is a nice replacement.

I also started some cutting lettuce in clamshell containers, as I usually do in late winter.  They're coming along nicely.  Most of my herbs are failing spectacularly.  I don't know why I try every year to winter them over, it's a wasted effort.  I guess when it comes to gardening, hope springs eternal.