New Mini Greenhouse

The mini-greenhouse we've been building is finally done and installed in the garden.

We had some leftover ribbed polycarbonate after we built Cindy's garden shed five years ago:  O.K., we had a LOT of polycarbonate left over, so when we saw a mini greenhouse in Indiana last year, we decided to use some of it to build a similar one for Cindy.

We used the same construction for the framework of this greenhouse that we used for the small cabinet we made for my flameworking propane tank last month.

We put a piano hinge at the back of the top piece so that the top can be lifted to control the heat inside the cabinet.  We also put an Elfa bracket along the top back rail and hung two standards and ventilated shelves from it.

Rather than having a solid bottom in the cabinet, Cindy stapled some hardware cloth to the bottom rails, which will keep the varmints out of the interior of the cabinet and will also allow any excess water to just drain down through it and into the soil below.  In fact, she had already hooked up her drip lines so that it's all ready to irrigate the plants she puts in it.

She also put down some concrete bricks under the legs to keep them from sinking into the ground; we were afraid that the gophers would undermine it.

Now we're just afraid they might like it so much that they'll decide to move into it.

 

Quail!

This morning Cindy spotted a California Quail under our back yard bird feeder.  I used to see these handsome birds up in Northern California, but we hadn't seen any here in San Diego until this morning.

Considering that the California Quail generally prefer scrub as their habitat and that they can frequently be found where there's birdseed a ground level, it's a bit surprising that they haven't found our feeder before this.  The House Finches in particular seem to spit out more seed than they actually eat, so the ground beneath the feeder is usually covered with seed, for the benefit of the thrashers, the towhees, the squirrels, and now the quail.

Unfortunately, this quail is pretty shy and I haven't been able to get a picture of it yet, but plenty of information about it can be found at: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Quail/lifehistory#at_habitat .

Tower Garden

One of Cindy's favorite things to do is to visit other people's gardens, especially if they're vegetable gardeners, to see what they're growing and how they're doing it.

So we were especially happy yesterday to visit our friend and chiropractor, Colleen Murphy, who has a wonderful vegetable garden and also a flock of Americauna chickens.

Colleen and her sister have become local distributors for the Tower Garden, an aeroponic growing system that allows gardeners to grow an amazing amount of vegetation in a very small footprint.

The tower rests on a moveable base on top of a tub that contains water and plant nutrients; a submersible pump circulates the water through the tower to the plant roots.  The flat base swivels so that the tower can be turned easily to ensure that none of the plants are permanently shaded.

Colleen was growing several types of lettuce, arugula, basil, spinach, celery, cilantro, chives and even some quinoa.  All these plants were only about six weeks old, yet they looked fully mature.  You could also grow flowers or just about any plant except root vegetables in these towers, not just vegetables.  Just a thought.

With its small footprint and vertical growing space, this looks like an excellent solution to the problem of how to grow plants in a very small space.  It would also be helpful for people who can't kneel or bend or who just don't like grubbing around in the dirt.

These towers are not cheap, but given how fond Cindy is of salads and leafy greens, I suspect we will probably soon have one of these in our garden.

Contact info: https://cmurphy.towergarden.com.

Peas In Cups*

Cindy had been waiting anxiously for several days for the peas she had planted in one of the raised beds to germinate and start showing above the soil.

Unfortunately, the Sowbugs were also waiting and nibbled off the the tips of the plants as they emerged from the soil.

So, ever resourceful, she took some transparent plastic cups, cut the bottoms out of them and put them over the emerging plants to form an effective barrier against the marauding bugs.  She also split the sides and taped the cups back together to make it easier to remove them when the plants get big enough to fend for themselves.

And it seems to be working; the tiny plants are finally starting to show above the soil.


*Sugar Snap Peas and Oregon Giants.  What did YOU think it meant?

Celebrating the Art of John Chalupsky and Diana Rasmussen

My friends Diana Rasmussen and John Chalupsky recently had the opportunity to create a "pop-up" art gallery in Ashland, Oregon.

The gallery space was temporarily vacant, so the landlord gave them permission to move in John's large abstract paintings and Diana's Sumi-e paintings and her quilts.

It was really nice to be able to see their artwork up on the gallery walls.

Congratulations, Diana and John!

Let's Try This Again...

Here are the pictures of the snow in Oregon that were supposed to be with the post from yesterday.  I think they were too big to load in some e-mail programs, including mine.

Snow on the Ground

And on the Car

Daffodils Coming Up!

White Stuff

When I was up in Oregon a couple of weeks ago, I woke up one morning to find a light dusting of snow all over the yard and the car.

It was almost all gone within a few hours; it's nice to visit it, but I wouldn't want to have to deal with snow on a regular basis.

But then I noticed that the daffodils were starting to poke their leaves up through the mulch, a sure sign that Spring is really on the way.

Daffodils!

And Big Birds, Too

Really Big Bird

The baby Hummingbirds we saw last week aren't the only birds in the area, of course.

We had a hawk land in our bird bath a couple of days ago; it drank some water and sat there for a while fluffing its feathers.  The other birds that normally patronize our feeders and water had all cleared out of the area, so the hawk had the whole yard to itself.

Unfortunately, this was the best picture I could get of it, but it's clear it was a pretty large bird.  It looks to me like it might be a juvenile Red-Shouldered Hawk.

We've had Red-Shouldered Hawks working the canyon regularly in the past, so it would not be unusual to have a nest in the area.  We often hear their high pitched "kee-rah, kee-rah" cry as they hunt varmints in the canyon.

Naturally, the crows that hang out in the canyon aren't pleased at all to have this bird in what they consider their bailiwick.  I saw the hawk sail into the upper end of the canyon, then quickly fly back out, hotly pursued by several crows diving at it.

We're happy to have it, though, and it's welcome to all the gophers and ground squirrels it can eat.

 

Hummmm Babies

Hummingbird Babies

Our friends Mari and Harmon stopped by the other evening to tell us that they had found a Hummingbird nest in their back yard with two baby Hummingbirds in it.

The babies were growing rapidly and had just opened their eyes.  Naturally, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them.

The nest is in some plants draped over the edge of a hanging pot about five feet off the ground.   Mari had carefully removed all the other potted plants and chairs from under the nest to give the mama bird some space to tend her brood, and mama sat close by while we got a look at the babies, and a few photos, naturally.

We'll be interested in following their progress.