Signs of Spring

I suppose there are those who hate to see winter end, but I do not count myself among their number.  The signs grow more evident every day that we have seen the end of winter's frigid temperatures.  Yesterday it was 75 degrees (F) and typical for the season, windy. Here are a few of the things we saw...

Some baby bunnies in one of my barrel flower pots

Rembrandt Tulips on my back porch

Parrot Tulip-- only one is blooming as several of the bulbs heaved out of the dirt. :(

My "Fairy Garden" filled with miniature flowers.

Trays of seedlings under grow lights in my garden room...

More seedlings, or as Elizabeth calls them, "seedies." Ornery calls them "weedies."  :D

The front flower bed sporting all sorts of spring flowers; pansies, creeping phlox, daffodils, crocus, blue-grape hyacinths, violas and in a few days the scabiosa will be open! :)

And, late in the afternoon we had our first round of spring foul weather.  Tornado sirens were on and off for a couple of hours while a huge storm that went through threatened to drop tornadoes on us.  Nearby areas had softball sized hail, and parts of Tulsa had trees down. We don't have or watch TV so didn't see the extent of the storm or the aftermath, but Elizabeth said there were some big trees down near her part of town. Always sad to see that. She had golf-ball sized hail and high winds, but we just had a little bit of pea sized hail, some high straight winds and about 1/2 inch of rain. Ornery's sister said there were tornadoes in her area, and we did see some cloud rotation here, but it never dropped down. After the storm passed, the temperature sure did drop, though.  Brr!

You can sort of see the last of the blossoms on the Bradford Pear trees in our neighbors' yards. They didn't last long this year, maybe a week. All I'm lacking for the sure sign that spring is here are the flowers on the redbud trees--and the buds are nearly ready to open. THAT is spring in Oklahoma to me!

Garden Update: Peas Gone Wild!

The aquaponics garden is finally doing great!  We seem to have the ants fairly well under control, and the fish are fertilizing the plants. We are on a regular schedule for adding chelated iron to the system, and we have the lights adjusted (mostly) to accommodate the various heights of the plants.  

This photo is standing in the NW corner of the room in front of the window.  We call this Bed 1.  It has broccoli, carrots, cabbage, onions, chard and zucchini planted in it.  This was the bed with the worst ant infestation.  We still see a few in there, but they are not building a super highway like they were. The weight on the board in the middle of the bed is to hold the media guard in place.  The growstones are VERY lightweight, and when the water fills the beds the stones float, causing the guard to lift from the bottom.  Several stones had migrated into the sump tank before we figured out a workable solution.  The weights were supposed to be a temporary fix while we came up with something a little prettier, but it appears they are permanent fixtures!

We planted more seeds (direct sow) of the same things in this bed on Sunday, and yesterday we already had some sprouts!

This is bed 3 containing lettuce, two tomato plants, three basil, marjoram, stevia, celery and more carrots. The minibell tomato plant has several blooms on it already. The other (gypsy) is pretty flimsy.  I am thinking we may need to put a fan on it to strengthen the stem.  Ornery put a stake in there for the basil and this tomato plant.  These photos were taken on Sunday, and already things are bigger and healthier looking.

These are my blue lake green beans on Sunday.  They are loaded with blooms and already several little beans are popping out!  How fun!!  In the foreground you can see the snow peas we planted first back in March.  We have trimmed them several times to get rid of the bleached out leaves which appear when the iron level drops too low.  They still don't have any blooms, but...

they have grown above the lights and are bumping the ceiling!  Crazy things!

These are garden peas, and there are some very cute little pea pods showing.  If you click on the photo you should be able to see some. :)

These next photos are of some of the outdoor beds.  We have lots of containers on the patio, including this cedar box filled with herbs.  Cilantro, Sage, Oregano, Thyme, Marjoram, Corsican and regular Basil.

In another of those cedar boxes which Ornery built legs for to keep the rabbits out of we planted all the strawberry plants I had in one pot last summer.  They didn't produce last year because of the aforementioned rabbits, but they are loaded with blooms and berries right now, so hopefully we have hit upon a solution!

This next one is a photo of part of the patio. We have hanging baskets and numerous pots, plus the two new raised flower beds along the edge.  It's mixed as to how well things are doing, some are great, some not so hot, but overall, I think once it warms up, we should have a pretty display of a wide variety of colors and textures.  I have mostly planted perennial plants, but there are some annuals mixed in because I just can't seem to pass them up!

This is our columbine from last year.  It did great all year last year, and is almost giddy this year producing even better than last.  It is very happy in this spot on the patio.

Against my better judgment, we piled straw all over the beds to help protect against weeds and keep the moisture in.  Unfortunately, the straw (wheat) has sprouted prodigiously (which happened last time and was the reason I didn't really want to use it for mulch) and has sort of hidden the various plants so I don't really know how they are doing.  It has also provided a haven for the blasted rabbits to hide in, and they have burrowed in two of my vegetable beds. :(  Not a happy gardener.  I have a renewed appreciation for Mr. McGregor of Peter Rabbit fame.  You can be assured we will be waging war on the little furry fiends. They aren't as destructive as some other critters, but it is hard enough to garden while battling the weather without added complications!

An Aquaponics Update

 The peas have grown quite a bit in a week, but we have noted they are turning quite yellow at the top.  Don't know what that is about, but thinking we will have to do some research.  They started out in pots with some dirt, and we rinsed the roots off to plant them.

 This is a lima bean that came up from seed in the bed.  So far he looks quite happy.  This was planted Sunday.

 The seed starting rack has a decided GREEN cast to it! :)  Lots of plants going great guns in there...

Including these that have had to be removed from the rack because they wanted to climb on everything!!

 The plants on the right are scarlet runner beans, and some sort of melon is on the left.

This is the first bed we sowed seeds directly into.  It has chard, cabbage, carrots, three kinds of onions, broccoli and zucchini. The dark green leaf on the left is the first of the three zucchini seeds we planted.

Weekend in Review: A Lotta Dirt!

"Look, Ma! The seeds are UP!!"  In fact they are so tall, we had to raise the light a couple of links!  Elizabeth is over the moon excited about how well these little guys are doing.  Even the ones she planted last week are almost all up.  If we end up harvesting 1/2 of what we've planted, we are going to need to find an outlet for the excess!

There are two more trays on the shelf below that are just getting started well.  The seed starting mix she got is amazing, but I am sure things are helped along by her twice daily conversations with them, urging them to "come along, little seedies!" :)

So, here is the report on the indoor garden:  Not much happened there, except the fish tank is now filled.  We had to buy a shower filter to add to the garden hose to filter out the chlorine, and I imagine there are many other substances in the city water that won't be helpful to the occupants of the system--plants or fishies.  

Ornery's mom joined us on Friday for a puzzle working session and to buy me dinner to celebrate my birthday.  She was quite awed by the whole system Ornery has going in the garden room, and told his sister she needed to come see.  So, Saturday morning she and Monty came by for a little look-see.  After they left, the dirt hauling commenced.

Elizabeth and Michael brought over their own shovel and wheel barrow, and the three of them shoveled, and dumped, raked and repeated for a long time on Saturday, then came back for a second dose of torture on Sunday.  In all they moved 7 YARDS of dirt off the driveway and into five newly built beds,

flower beds!!  Can't wait to fill them!

Vegetable Garden beds!  Awesome dirt!

places on the lawn that needed a bit of leveling out,

and the last remaining bit into the front flower bed, which is awaiting some terracing and a general overhaul.

It looks like some giant moles have been at work out there!  I bet Ornery is a little more careful next time he guess-timates how much soil we will need!! :)

Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday, and already I have gotten more cards than I have ever received for any one birthday!  Ryan and Ale sent gifts, Elizabeth and Michael gave me money (which I promptly spent on art supplies!), Ornery gave me paints, (although I picked them out and ordered them myself) and my pen-friends and swapping buddies have sent cards, goodies, and Instagram wishes all week!  I am feeling so blessed!

In other news, Michael and Elizabeth came over Sunday.  While she planted more seeds, Michael assembled a new 9 cubicle shelf unit for my studio closet.  My stuff runneth over!  Then they both helped Ornery build three raised beds outside in the backyard.  The building consisted of laying down lime, then corrugated cardboard, then putting cedar 4'X8'X12" boxes on top of that.  I need to order some mushroom compost and round up some manure to do some lasagna garden beds, but we are off to a galloping start!

Ornery got the first 18 bags of Grow Stones rinsed, soaked and rinsed again, and put them into the grow beds in the aquaponics garden room last night.  Seeds are sprouting and growing happily on the starter rack, and the weather has been absolutely beautiful!  I think it was a short lived phenomena but it was a wonderful and welcome harbinger of spring!

The Garden Room 2.0

Before I begin, I think I should post a disclaimer here.  The phrase "Garden Room" evokes (in me, at least) an image of a lush, plant filled room with a pretty fountain quietly trickling into a stone pond, with maybe a couple of koi swimming around and a relaxing seating area where one can take in the peaceful beauty.  The wall is full of windows and lots of natural light shines in to keep the plants healthy and happy.

Well, our garden room will be plant filled, and the water as it travels in and out of the various beds and tanks will certainly have a trickling sound, but there are not any koi (yet anyway) and most of the light comes from fluorescent tubes.  There sure enough won't be room for any sitting area!!  So, now that we have all that out of the way, allow me to commence sharing photos of our little converted patio-cum-aquaponics garden room!

Before:

Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the view looking out the window from the dining room.  Here is what the enclosed area looks like now.

 This first one is the view looking out from the dining room door.  You can see the lights overhead, (there will be another two added, and these rearranged a bit before it's all said and done) and the frames Ornery built to support the converted IBC totes.  There were three totes to begin with, and he is using one whole one (with the top cut out) for the fish tank (far left) one for the sump tank and one grow bed, (cut 1/3 x 2/3) and the third for two grow beds (cut in half).  He has installed a rather intricate plumbing system that works with siphons and pumps.  The siphons work, although they need adjusting so they will stop siphoning when they need to...

This is a picture looking into the room from the newly installed French doors.  The fish tank is in the front here, and you can see all three grow beds.  In the far back corner (about the middle of the photo) is a shelf Ornery built several years ago out of cedar fence pickets.  It will hold several odds and ends of garden tools and supplies.

The fish tank is not set up yet at all, but Ornery has filled and carried 5 gallon buckets to fill the sump tank -- about 170 gallons so far -- from our shower (because it is filtered water) to the garden room.  The chiropractor noted his increased manual labor and prescribed some zinc to help keep the connective tissue intact! :)

 Here's the ornery guy, posing for a picture, which I wasn't really intending to take, but he was in the way. :)

 Standing by the aforementioned picket shelf, I took this photo of our seed rack. We only have two trays of seeds started right now, and not all of those are actually planted.  The lights are on a timer and turn on at 5:00 AM and off at 10:00 PM.  The seedlings are happy...

 These little guys were up on the third day!

It's hard to see, but there are several basil and marjoram plants coming up, too.  Most of the pepper seeds are still waiting to hatch. :)

 In case you missed this when I posted earlier, this is a view of the outside now.  We still haven't painted it, but the weather is really nice right now, so maybe soon.

I didn't ever take a photo of the patio full of IBC totes, but I can tell you, this is a much nicer view!  There are some bags of grow stones waiting to be rinsed and put in the beds at the far end of the patio. The black bag on the lawn is full of leaves I raked up to use in the raised garden beds.

We ordered a total of 30 bags of grow stones from Amazon.  They came two bags to a box, and while the bags are lightweight (14 lbs. each) they were big and bulky.  The grow media has to be completely rinsed, soaked and rinsed again before it can be added to the beds.  Ornery is in the soaking stage of the first 18 bags of stones.  It will need to be rinsed later today, then put into the beds, which will take about 10 bags each.  This was one of the most expensive aspects of the project--other than the construction, of course.

We will be recycling the bags and boxes from the project beneath our outdoor raised garden beds, which will be built later today. Elizabeth is coming to help with the project in exchange for Ornery cutting her wood and hauling it home for her. :)

The project is coming together MUCH slower than Ornery had anticipated, but we are very pleased with how well things are working so far.  I am so proud of him for doing all the research and work to make this dream a reality!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am not posting a lot about hearts and love today, but I do wish all my friends and family a happy day to celebrate LOVE!  What I do have to share: Pictures! :)

First up are some Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) I made this week.  All have been traded already.  I used some of my Gelli-prints for the backgrounds, and pawed through my collection of "extras" that people send with swaps to find some of the embellishments.  I also cut up a florists calendar for some of the arrangement photos.

This was a "jam" which means three people added to the background.  My contribution was the background, and the rest of it was so bad, I tore it all off and reworked it.  It is much more subdued than my usual bright colors, but I liked it anyway.

The next one is for a swap that required the use of the inside of a security envelope for the background.  I had been saving them for a while, so I had a lot of patterns to choose from.  Rather than just using them for the background, I used them for the whole thing!

And here is the card, ATC sleeve and envelope I sent the finished product in. I was quite happy with the overall effect, and I hope the recipient will be!

This is on the loom this week.  Purple, teal and off-white color combination.  Elizabeth has two completed and listed on her etsy shop, and this one should be up sometime next week.

And last, but not least, here is a short stack of outgoing mail from this week.  I just love decorating the envelopes with washi tape!  :)

I haven't forgotten the promised photos of the garden room.  Ornery has been working a little bit each evening, and just about has it ready to add the grow media.  Seeds are sprouting right and left in the little trays, and the temperature is finally tolerable outside. Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I will have some good pictures to share.  Meanwhile, there are huge boxes stacked everywhere awaiting the completion of the grow bed system.  They are full of grow stones media, and they are taking up a lot of space in the garage and living room!! :(

Garden Room 1.0

Here are the before shots of the covered patio we are turning into a garden room...

This was taken right after we moved in, and long before we painted the exterior.

And here is what it is looking like right now...

 More junk in here at the moment, and we plan to paint everything white to reflect the light

but this is what the outside wall looks like sans paint...

And here is our new seed starting station...

The lights raise and lower (hung on chains and looped over an S hook on the shelves above) so as the seedlings mature, we can move the lights higher! Each shelf (the three that we put lights on) has a total of four fluorescent daylight bulbs.  The outlet they are plugged into is NEW! :)

I think we are planning to move that further away from the door that goes into the dining room, (left edge of the picture) and put a small shelf in the corner to store things like testing equipment, etc.  At the moment nothing is finalized for the plans, but they are firming up each little advance we make.  We found an aquaponics forum to join, and have gotten some good information from the short spurts of time we have spent there.

So, that is the promised update!