I Think We're Ready

Our babies will be here tomorrow or the next day.  I hope they come tomorrow.  I have their room all set up.  We used a raised bed that we hadn't ever quite filled with soil, and it happens to be just the right size.  I stapled cardboard all around the inside because it's made of treated wood, and we don't want the chicks to peck on that.  I guess it's really just a giant reinforced cardboard box.  I also put a layer of cardboard on the bottom, and it all sits atop a very thick tarp that's folded in half.  I think the wood floor will survive.  

We bought a fifty-pound bag of starter feed at Performance Livestock & Feed, which is right down the road from our house.  It's a locally owned, family-run operation. They sell high quality feed at really great prices.  The fifty pounds we bought from them was the same price as a five-pound bag from the Tractor Supply.  Lucky us.

Did you know that we have a third St. Bernard?

Today I said good bye to the stunted albino artichoke.  It was moving day for some of the artichoke seedlings.  I took all of the ones that had germinated out of the greenhouse and put them in basement under grow lights.  Space is very limited down there, and the little guy just didn't make the cut.

 I'm not really growing "Fantasy Mix" petunias.  I reuse old labels.

It's a good idea to keep them at about fifty degrees after germination for ten days.  This is supposed to encourage earlier budding, which is important if you want them to bear fruit the first year.  It's even more important to do this if you are growing them as annuals instead of perennials.  I'm hoping that we can figure out a way to overwinter our artichokes, but if it doesn't work out maybe we'll get some artichokes this season anyway. The basement stays between fifty and sixty degrees,  so that's where they'll live for a week and a half.

Ben's parents came over last weekend, and we celebrated their birthdays (they are one week apart).  They brought us these beautiful jonquils.  The smell is incredible.  Only one of ours has bloomed so far.  Flower envy.