Full house

My greenhouse is stuffed.  I need a bigger one!!  You can't tell by the pic, but the greenhouse is 10' x 20'.  That's 200 square feet of green!!

Or maybe I just need to organize it a little better. Eventually, there will be benches along the sides and back of the greenhouse, so the plants will be off the floor and easier to move around. Right now, it's a game of hopscotch just to get to the flats in the back.

Everything looks pretty good, though, despite the very cold nights.  

When the temps started to dip, I put the brooder light in the greenhouse to help keep the temp above freezing.  We had this lovely, eerie red glow at night.

Then the temps took a real dip, so we ran out and picked up a second brooder light.  They were out of the red lights, so we got the white.  I'm just waiting for the sheriff to stop by to see if we are growing anything illegal.  I hope they know tomato plants when they see them!

Just me, being a goob in the greenhouse. 

Thanks to Little Sis for the pics!!

In the spring, a young worm's fancy turns to thoughts of love...

It is apparently mating season for earthworms.  Nothing like traipsing through a field of fornicating worms to get the critters put away.  Personally, I think worms are FRIGGIN' AWESOME!!  They aerate the soil, fertilize it, and are just darn cute little boogers.

My entire family thinks I'm nuts. 

 The pics show only a fraction of the worms I saw. 

 Most of them popped back into their holes as soon as the light hit them.  

They move surprisingly fast for things with no legs.

Everyone else is just grossed out by all those worms.  Me, I'm thinking I have some awesome soil out here in my garden!!  The USDA National Resources Conservation Service says that earthworms are a sign of healthy soil.  Heck, even most garden books suggest a worm census; hundreds of earthworms can't be wrong!

The worms were thickest in places the poultry pooped.  I could say "places we'd kept chickens, guineas, ducks, etc", but really, the worms are in it for the poop.  Must be like caviar or Domino's pizza for them. 

But could earthworms ever be considered pests?  Yes, according to an article from the University of North Texas, earthworms are bad news for golf greens and lawns, with their unsightly mounds of earth and squishy bodies that make most mama's boys run for cover, lest someone drop a worm down their shorts.  Ok, I added the last part, but still, who cares about golf or smooth lawns?  I can't eat grass and I don't play golf.  I noticed the article was from 1928, but golf is still around, and so are ridiculously manicured lawns...will we ever learn?

Surprisingly, though, there are legitimate arguments that earthworms are invasive species and are bad for forests.  Personally, I always thought earthworms were everywhere, including forests.  I just assumed they were under the leaf mulch, doing what worms do on a warm summer evening, maybe going out to dinner and a movie (Finding Nemo being a favorite horror flick of the worm population).  Turns out that most North American forests, especially sugar maple forests, evolved without the help of our wormy little friends.  And now those celebrities of the gardening world are being blamed for something called "Forest Decline Syndrome", as they wiggle their way into the forests of North America.  Check out the article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The article says that earthworms move only five yards per year.  They must be just plain lazy, because I've seen them move when caught by surprise above ground, and like I said, those buggers are quick!

I'm thrilled to have them in the garden, and they'll always be my little, squiggly, wiggly, squishy heroes!

Not just my hero, I see.

All of this is true!!

I literally fell out of my chair laughing about this.  I snorted lemonade onto my keyboard and laughed till I cried.  If you've ever lived on a farm, you will find this hysterical.  If your only farm experience involves Farmville, this may show you why most of us think Farmville is as far from real farming as a person can get (never mind that you don't actually go outside or get dirty).

6 things no one tells you about living on a farm

Once again, hat tip to Theldara.  She finds the coolest stuff online.

My poor, neglected Blog

It's spring, so of course I've been busy.  But really, not as busy as I usually am this time of year, since I'm not working (outside the farm).  Still, I seem to lack time or energy to update here as much as I would like to.  I'll try to do better. I have a few posts in mind, just getting them out of my head and onto the blog is the tricky part.

So...lacking a decent post for tonight, how about a random update?  What, you are sick of random updates?  Ha! Too bad! :P

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• The plants are doing well.  As you can see, not a single surface has been spared; even the canary cage  has three flats on top.

I had to add a second tier.

• We went to TN to visit family over the Easter holiday.  It was our first visit in quite a while, and we enjoyed seeing everyone and just catching up.  PLUS I came home with some great treasures!! Did you know there's something I love as much as plants??  Yes!! Baskets!!! WOOT!!  And lucky me, my mother-in-law makes these amazing baskets!!

MIL also made that neat wine bottle lamp in the pic.  There are Christmas lights inside it.

I should've used something to indicate size; this first basket is HUGE!

The Snake Basket.  How cool is that??  The piece of wood is actually attached.

This one is just awesome!

Thanks to Eöl's amazing mom for the wonderful baskets!! I get so excited over these things, jumping around like a little kid when she shows them to me.  I try really hard not to drool on her floors. 

Oh, and of course a HUGE thanks to my mom for looking after my plants while I was gone.  Turns out she has a green thumb, after all.  I knew I had get it from somewhere!

• The trip was beautiful.  It is a little shocking to go from mountains to flatlands in just a few hours, though.  Thanks to Little Sis for these great pics.

More posts to come...I promise.