The new and much enlarged hoophouse is ready. It took a while. Projects seem to take twice as long as I think they will. For those who like to re-read, this was an incomplete from last season. If I had a list, this would have many extra thick lines through it – as if to say you are so done you have been redacted. At least for now. We might get a terrible wind storm and we might need to start all over again. The itsy-bitsy spider is our role model.

The hoops on this are made from a re-purposed materials. Must give credit to Rick for the concept – he came to one of Anne’s plant sales last year and thought we might like something like this. And we did.

The seedlings of 2011 have begun to emerge. It’s an exciting time even though it adds to the general responsibilities. Seedlings are coddled. They cannot be let to dry out, but shouldn’t be dripping wet either. Peaches must be kept at a safe distance; The light shelves all have plywood doors attached. Now that the workshop is mostly assembled, I should think about building more attractive light shelves.

Now I am supposed to write about the potential of Spring and hope for things to come. Too cliché? I think so. More to the point, I want to eat a tomato. A really good tomato. I also want the garden space to be clean, planted and growing. And since I am making wishes, I would like the wind to stop for a few moments of stillness.

These little stems will not have to brave the wind for a few more months. Yep, I will coddle these for months. It seems crazy in a way. They will need some re-potting at some point. I’ll shuffle them in and out of the house, and hopefully into the hoophouse at some point. Eventually, I’ll need to find a spot to plant them. And then I’ll need to be watchful for signs of disease. I’ll use plastic mulch this year to keep the soil off the plants. Always adjusting the experience of the tomato.

The bees are ordered. They should be ready for pickup on April 15th.

I had not heard the term hoarfrost before moving to Iowa. I suppose it existed elsewhere in the world and no one told me. Did the world think I wasn’t to be trusted with such a word? Maybe. And perhaps they had good reason.

It turns out the Internet has information that explains the phenomenon of hoarfrost. I like this one that appears to be from a site titled snowcrystals.com (though the address is really from Caltech). As the title suggests, the site also has fascinating descriptions of all the different crystal forms of snow.

As for the hoar in hoarfrost — according to my friend the internet, it is a reference to its white/gray aged appearance. A bit of a let down in terms of interesting etymology. And yet it makes for really nice winter photos.

Now, as I am typing this post, the frost is gone;  A big fat robin is hopping about the dry grass, and geese can be heard as they fly overhead.

Last year we had some amazing poppies – including California poppies. We live in Iowa so this was particularly amazing.

Have begun harvesting curly willow branches and wanted to post a shot of these beauties before I have to cut them up into 8″ pieces to make more. Unfortunately I don’t yet have enough stock to be able to use them as ornamental branches, but that is in the works for next year!  As soon as the ground can be tilled, Alan and I are going to do a large scale planting of our most ornamental varieties.  Pictured from left to right are: Coral bark curly willow, Scarlet curly willow, and Yellow curly willow.

The grapevines need to be pruned fairly soon. Hope we don’t see another late frost this year.

And so it begins…

The first shipment of new willow cuttings arrived this past week and Anne has sprung into action. Trays were at the ready. Dirt and sand had been thoroughly mixed.

The deep cell trays are new this year to accommodate more than 300 willow cuttings. And it may reach over 500 if our stock plants are ready to provide. Some of the cuttings in the bag above will be used to generate more stock trees and shrubs.

The deep cells will encourage plenty of roots. At least that’s the plan. Like much of what we do around here, we haven’t really done this before. We’ve done willow cuttings, just not on this scale and not with these cells.

Even if the roots aren’t as productive as we hope, the forest of sticks in our bedroom is interesting. I’m tempted to put little forest creatures or plastic soldiers in the forest. I think that would be fun.

I really have no idea why eggplants are called eggplants. Anyone want to Google that for me and let me know?