We’ve been having a few days of freezing fog lately. Makes for some neat photos. Make sure you click the 4 corner button near the bottom right to view full screen — looks better that way.

If the above slideshow doesn’t work for you (mom), these same pictures can be found on our flickr site.

We’ve placed our first seed order for 2010 from Pinetree Garden Seeds. Take a look at the potential garden.

SMALL SUGAR PUMPKIN (95 days heirloom)
KIWANO HORNED MELON (90 days)
RED BURGUNDY OKRA (55 days)
BEER FRIEND SOY BEAN
ROSE ORACH (heirloom)
TABASCO PEPPER (85 days)
MINNESOTA MIDGET MELON (60 days)
KENTUCKY WONDER BEAN (66 day heirloom)
CYLINDRA BEET (58 days heirloom)
GERMAN GIANT RADISH (37 days heirloom)
CHERRY BRANDY RUDBECKIA
TENDER SWEET (heirloom)
LEMON CUCUMBER (65 days heirloom)
HOMEMADE PICKLES CUCUMBER (54 days)
TURKISH ORANGE EGGPLANT (heirloom)
LAVENDER TOUCH (F1 hybrid 66 days)
PENGUIN GOURD
PEPINO (95 days)
BANANA MELON (80 days heirloom)
FRECKLES LETTUCE (70 days)
SUHYO TK CUCUMBER (65 days)
ORANGE SUN PEPPER (81 days)
PAPRIKA PEPPER (80 days)
CAYENNE-LONG PEPPER (70 days heirloom)
EIGHTBALL ZUCCHINI (F1 hybrid 35 days)
PAPAYA PEAR SQUASH (F1 hybrid 40 days)
CARNIVAL SQUASH (F1 hybrid 85 days)
DELICATA SQUASH (heirloom)
OREGON SPRING TOMATO (68 days)
KELLOGGS BREAKFAST TOMATO (79 days)
WHITE SWAN ECHINACEA
CHIOGGIA BEET (55 days heirloom)
VIRGINIA GOLD TOBACCO
MOULIN ROUGE SUNFLOWER
FANTASIA MIXTURE SUNFLOWER(F1)
STATE FAIR MIX ZINNIA

2009 was a pretty decent year. We finished most of the kitchen. Trim was also added to the living room. The garden produced nicely. We built a deck out the back door – just in time for the family reunion. We adopted Peaches. Countless trees were planted and later moved and replanted. Just some of the highlights.

Another was the reconstruction of the hoop house. And this one is still standing. That was goal #1. Next step is to see if we can use this shelter to our growing advantage. To do this, we need more data. And this is where the weather girl comes in.

Anne gave me the weather girl for Christmas. The remote thermometer transmits data to the base up to 350ft. And with the data, the base displays one of eight hilarious and sexy versions of the weather girl. I find the differences at the low temps rather challenging to distinguish (click on the image for a larger image) – the little white circle in the coldest image is a printing mistake as far as I can tell.

In any case, the hoop house warms up considerably on a sunny day. It is currently 8 degrees outside, and the temp in the hoop house is up to 46 degrees! We will need to wait to capitalize on this difference as the night-time temps still fall to about zero. That’s one of the first projects of 2010. That and the cat house for Doppel – more on this in another post.

It took some effort, but we are officially unstuck from the blizzard of 2009!

It is a sign of the season that I am now taking photos of cows. But in their/my defense, there is something beautiful about them. They dot the hills and really seem to have a great time of it. Or at least an okay time. I mean, cows aren’t wonderfully enthusiastic creatures. At least the not the cows I have met. These are not our cows, and so it makes seeing them all the more relaxing and fun. And we are not in the market for a cow, so don’t go trying to give us one. Anne does talk about chickens though. Perhaps that would be something to try next year.

We are working on expanding and tidying the garden. One approach is building additional raised beds to better define what is garden and what is path. Our raised beds are primarily built from old bleacher seats attached to four corner posts. The bleachers were being used for fencing on the property. I probably wrote about this before.

Our current bed prep consists of a layer of cardboard and a whole lot of compost from the somewhat local composting facility. This bed is about 3.5′ x 14′. I also built two smaller strawberry beds to help contain the strawberries. Strawberries are one of the crops we have a hard time managing. They need to be controlled – we are hoping the beds will help us do that.

Perhaps it is the cooler temps and soggy ground – (stereo)typical weather  of New England states – but whatever the cause, the fall color has been vibrant this year. If only our trees were a little bigger.

The cabin blends nicely with the natural color. Almost like we planned it. Maybe Anne did – I’m a little color challenged.

Planting greens and other cool weather crops into the hoop house has been on the list of things to do for a couple of weeks now. Now we have six bags of spinach, radish and butterhead lettuce seeded. We’re guessing the bag planting will be fine for these shallow root crops. I did over-plant each bag so heavy thinning will be in order, but the seeds are older and germination might be less than optimal in these cooler conditions. Although it wasn’t cool in the hoop house at all when I was planting. The sun was shining and with only a light wind – probably over 80 degrees. It’s all a big experiment — later we will share some wildly anecdotal conclusions based on our initial results and experiences.

What a difference a new window can make! Looks clean and seems tight enough, and it opens and closes. What a bonus. The window we took out from here wouldn’t really close all the way, and it had no screen. The sill is walnut and eventually all the trim in this room will be walnut too. We enjoy the natural edges of the wood, and this curved sill will make a nice perch for Peaches.