Winter Projects

"Substitute "damn" every time you are inclined to write the word very, your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should have been"

Mark Twain

Fritillaria obliqua is blooming now in the greenhouse. What a queen mother of the Chocolate lilies, can you even name the color of those flowers?

Got a few weeks to get some winter projects done, So far I replaced the soil heating cable in the greenhouse. This should make for some good propagation projects this spring. My old heating cables went out 2 years ago and I just winged it for a couple of years. I also started redoing my grandpa's old orchard sprayer. That's been a satisfying project, hopefully by next week things will clean up a bit weather wise and I'll be able to get a dormant oil application on the orchard. No more 20 tank fill ups and getting soaked with a backpack sprayer. Grandpa had a battery operated 20 gallon tank sprayer, Yesterday I got it all cleaned out and the pump running again. 

The snow was actually falling this morning, giant puffy flakes but the temperatures have been in the mid 30's over night.

Lot's of bulbs are up and growing now, I did a dilute P and K application to the Greenhouse bulbs, but I'm waiting for more warmth before I give any nitrogen. I've been liking my mix lately since I went to a bit of a loamier mix to hold some moisture through our lately very, er Damn warm summers. I think it balances the nutrient distribution a bit from the composted cow manure and I don't see any signs of a lack of nitrogen early in the growth period when temps are so low that nitrogen probably won't get assimilated well.

Chilly as we hit midweek, with a mix of snowshowers and clouds with ample rain.

Cheers,
Mark