Like the swallows of Capistrano coming back in spring, the rocks at Lottarock are also coming back. Finally the rocks are reemerging from underneath all the snow. Having the rocks reemerge and mud. I can’t think of a better thing, outside of the color green and flowers of course.
I only have a few more weeks of slow time before things really start to rock and roll here at the farm. I made a map of the actual annual flower space and have figured out that I have 1700 square feet of growing space just for the annuals. That is not including all the spring bulbs and the perennials that have been planted so fingers crossed, I should have plenty of flowers this spring. I always say fingers crossed because when one deals with Mother Nature one just never knows.
I have bumped up the experimental cool crop seeds that I planted at the beginning of February and man dear they are looking good. Once I got them transplanted it was like they have grown overnight. I am still learning about soil blocks, but they are certainly easier to transplant into cell pacs and into larger soil blocks than any other method that I have used before. I am hoping to get them planted into the high tunnel by the end of this week. That is the plan anyway. I still have to get irrigation out there to get the beds watered before planting. The water line to the barn is still frozen, so I will have to run a hose out of the dirty room, through the garden to the high tunnel to get the beds and later seedlings watered, then at the end of watering, drain all the hoses and take them inside so they don’t freeze so I can use them again. A good way to get my steps in. At the moment, the seedlings on deck to be planted are snapdragons, stock, bachelor buttons, Icelandic poppies and some dianthus. Not large numbers of anything, just wanting to see how this goes. I am certainly looking forward to this though.
The next batch of cold tolerant crops gets seeded tomorrow, then around the 20th of March the big seeding starts to commence. That is when things start to get really exciting.
I still am not sure about how the anemones and ranunculas are doing in the little greenhouse. I am seeing growth, and this is where patience is vital. Tomorrow because it will be above freezing all day, fingers crossed I will drag out the hose and water the beds. Only time will tell, and believe you me, you guys will be the first to know if I see good things happening. This is what I am waiting for so impatiently.
Until next week, I leave you a lonely flower bud. Allie