The Greenhouse

Today it is snowing, but just last week it was 70 degrees.

The greenhouse surrounded by river rock (and a couple dragon eggs)

With the narcissus bulbs showing early signs of bloom and the recently transplanted pear tree showing full buds, I decided to give the greenhouse a test with some old seeds I had laying around. I had recently read romantic stories of greenhouses covered with snow, but with lettuce growing cozily inside, and wanted to try a go at early season greenhouse growing.

I also wanted to experiment with the new potting blocks I ordered for the occasion. Potting blocks are these metal contraptions used to make a soil mold in which to start seeds. The great thing about these thing-a-ma-jigs is they potentially last forever, aren't made of plastic, and allow for more soil per area than traditional plastic cells. And, they are adaptable to various sizes, which means a small soil block can fit inside a larger one and so on (think of a Russian nesting doll but with plants). As soil, I used a batch of humus (decomposed horse manure) that had been marinating at the old house for years.

Nestled among the old seeds, I came across a couple goji berry seeds! So I planted these as well (not pictured).

The mini and the 2 inch potting blocks are shown here. When the seeds sprout, I will experiment with the 4 inch block.

You can see I experimented with both the plastic cells and the potting blocks.