Getting through the gray time

Onions and leeks.

As I've said in a previous blog post, there are some good things about winter. But even the optimist in me gets down when the first day of spring brings 30-degree weather, and I hear that northern Wisconsin is getting up to a foot of snow.

That's when I go into my basement.

Peel back the cardboard reflectors.

And gaze upon the greenery.

I like to start seeds. It gives me something to do deep in the winter when the satisfaction of having planted tulips in the fall wanes. 

But mostly, it's to get something green green in my winter life. To add something living. And what offers the hope of spring more than putting a seed in dirt and within a week, something green pushes out of the soil?

My grow table with lights, seed mats, home made reflectors and leftover foam insulation.

In a corner of the basement, I built a table on which I have some 1" foam left over from another project. I put some heavy duty aluminum foil on a large piece of cardboard to keep every photon of light in where the seedlings can use them. Overhead, I have four 2-bulb shop lights with normal fluorescent tubes. I did splurge and three of the eight bulbs are special "grow" lights.

Seeds like tomatoes and peppers like it warm. I use seedling mats under the trays. I think the foam helps maintain the warmth, and enclosing it in the foil/cardboard reflectors can't hurt maintain a microclimate in my otherwise cool basement.

The photo at right is my pepper and tomato collection. Now that they have sprouted, I took the clear plastic dome off so they can get some air. Yes, in the lower right that's some moss growing. This generally isn't a problem.

More signs spring is on its way

Despite the Wisconsin weather forecast for a cold and rainy weekend, there are a few obvious signs of spring.

The first is that Friday evening, I walked eight blocks to a dinner party! A winter walk any distance further than my car to the garage alone is noteworthy.

Here's a few more things I saw during my evening walk.

On my way I saw a pair of ducks waddling in the street.

I also found this duck (decoy)  though I'm not sure what its purpose was in someone's front lawn.

 I found something poking up through last year's debris, perhaps irises?

At this point something else occurred that I found happens much more often during nice weather. I stopped to talk to people! Why don't have a photo of them, we had a lovely chat and they pointed out that their tulips next to their home  already had 2 inches of greenery above the ground.


A birdbath waiting patiently for someone migrating from the South to return.

A rain garden waiting patiently for the snow to melt and rain to arrive.

 One of many lost winter items that soon will no longer be missed.

Two chickens declare - it's spring

When I started chicken sitting four weeks ago, only one chicken was laying, and sporadically at best.  Today, I found a site worthy of a bit of excitement! Not only was I delighted to find two eggs, I've decided with no scientific backing whatsoever that the chickens have decided it's spring and that's why another one has decided to start to lay.