Keep on Scratchin'

I've been working at building my hoophouses, slowly but surely. I got a ton of help from my brother last Saturday with hauling lumber out of the old barn, dragging it all over the place, and doing some crazed cutting. I got all the wood painted while it was still bone dry, before subjecting it to a life out in the elements. I'm gonna reuse the plastic from the old collapsed greenhouse, at least until that falls apart. I wish I got this done a few weeks ago, but better late than never I guess.

On to the more exciting news, I bought MORE SEEDS today! As I said a while back, I'm going to grow some new stuff I've never grown before, and I'm really excited about it. Here's a list, to the best of my knowledge:

Luffa gourd (too cool!)
Calabash gourd (like a little bottle)
Tomatillo (yummmmmmm)
Nasturtium (I went overboard and bought about 7 different varieties)
Poppy (love poppyseeds in breads!)
Bushel basket gourd (they can get bigger than 20"! unique containers!)
Jerusalem Artichokes (I've passed over buying them a few times in the last month. I'll just have to wait until I have my own! I've never tasted them!)
Amaranth- (I just "discovered" amaranth the other day. I'm interested in its "grains")

As warm as it's been, I wish I had some stuff already started. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to plant some peas, fava beans, and runner beans. It's still been pretty cool at night, despite being near or over 70 practically all week now. I really need to get some manure into the garden, and get it turned in, but I can't wait any longer for some of this stuff, so it's gotta happen, and I can put manure later!

I'm especially looking forward to having so many more flowers in the garden this year. It will surely brighten things up and look even more inviting. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for those pesky woodchucks, too. They ought to be popping out any time now. If only they weren't so selfish, but they didn't leave any beans for me at all last year, and just chomped the vines right down to the ground. Perhaps my vigilance will pay off, and I can enjoy more sunflowers, beans, and radishes this year.

I've got to say that I'm happy about daylight savings time. I can spend a little more time outside in the evening in the garden. Soon indoor tasks, like this blog, will be saved for after dark.

By the next post, I hope to have my hoophouses up, so keep an eye out for that!