Thursday, January 12, 2012

64 hours into it.

Total : 64 hours

Here I am, late at night, and 64 hours into it all. Has it been fun yet? Some bits yes, others yes, but not to be everyday. I have been working several hours everyday since Christmas on transitioning this small city plot from lawn filled with grubs to one of a garden filled with 'grub' to eat. Speaking of which, in the long process of double-digging every bed 2 feet deep and turning under the sod layer as green manure... there has been a unbelievable amount of grubs tossed out onto the street. If one had to guess, I am classifying these raised beds as 90-95% grub free! (My eyes are quickly evolving into an eagle eye to spot a glimmer of white in a patch of brown/black earth) Of course knowing how things multiply exponentially, this has been a huge win for our side!

It finally decided to rain this afternoon. Taking a break from digging out another bed, instead deciding to take some of the spare wood planks not being used for raised beds (quick mental change of design ideas - AKA The Big Picture) to build a few seed flats. Took about 45 minutes running around to hash out an idea, cut it all up, screw it together, add a cold frame lid on it with sheet plastic. Voila. One 2 foot square/6 inch deep box. Just for giggles, added some dirt, a bit of compost, and european mesclun lettuce mix seeds to it. Looks nice. Feels strange to finally plant something. Afterall, we have had our seeds for a month now. We must have ordered within days of receiving the catalogs on December 2nd. So far the 'cold frame' seed flat will live on a self in the utility room in a portion that sits just below the stairs. I stuck a temp probe into the soil just before placing it down there. Started around 41F with the cold outside soil sitting in it after watering the seeds with warm water. Last time checked a few hours later (House 65 day, 68 evenings, 63 night) it had managed to creep up to 57F. *Big Smiles* Should equalize out nicely. After a few days I'll be happy to even use the grow lamp.




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