So, I got a greenhouse for Christmas!  It's roughly 10x12, and will give us a longer growing season, and the ability to have a few more plants. The frame is made very cheaply.  I read some reviews on it, and they weren't great.  But, we put it up anyway, and against my better judgement, let my father put the plastic on it.

A few days later, my father brought me some benches he made for the plant trays to go on.  I feel like we could have made better use of the space, but it is year one.  We can improve next year.

And here it is a week later.  Oopsie! It looked really bad, but after having a better look, we think we can fix it.  We'll start by laying down some 2x4's and using clamps to attach the bottom of the frame to it.  We will then use large spikes to go through the lumber into the ground.  We are going to get couplings and clamps to fix and strengthen the joints.  We'll see how that goes. 

Because we don't have heat in the greenhouse (or a greenhouse at the moment) I will still be starting my tomatoes and peppers in the house.  Once they get a bit bigger, I will separate them into their own pots and transfer them to the greenhouse.  Stay tuned to see how we make out!

Borage is an herb, though some people may not know it. It usually has purple flowers on it that have five pointed petals. The leaves appear silky, they are covered in bristles. Both the leaves and flowers are edible, but some people are put off by texture of the leaves.

I originally planted borage for my rabbits. It is said to stimulate and increase milk production in does, so I planted some “just in case” a rabbit is not producing any milk. I’ve only planted it two years and have never needed to test this out.

You can find several recipes for the use of borage in such things as fresh salads, shred it for in a cream cheese spread or add it to lemonade. With a light, refreshing cucumber flavour, my favourite thing is to freeze the flowers in some ice cubes and just add them to water!

And if that wasn’t reason enough to plant it, the bees love it!

Update: I’ve figured out if you put just a little bit of water in the bottom of the ice cube tray and then add the borage and freeze it, you can alter go back and add more water on top and freeze again. This makes sure the flowers are actually in the middle of the ice cube and not floating on top. (I’ve also been doing this with mint)

How pretty is that?!

Here we are nearing the end of May. I've got newly hatched chicks, hens sitting on eggs, hens are laying about 12 eggs a day, baby rabbits being born...and a garden to plant. I've been letting the chickens out trying to coerce them into tilling up my raised garden beds for me. But they also tilled up my planters and the driveway and whatever else they can dig up. I wanted to get my planters by the doorstep done so I seeded them and covered them with bird netting. Hopefully I can remove it without any interference once the plants get bigger.

The chickens did do a decent job of tilling the garden beds for me. But I quickly realized that before I could plant, I'd need to put up a fence. Not only would they be in it, so was the cat and the dog. I bought some 1x3 8' strapping and had the guys cut them in half for me. When I got them home my husband cut points on one end of each board (except for two), so I could drive them in the ground. I decided to fence them both in together so I'd only have one gate to build and use less fencing. After I had them all in the ground I just took a roll of chicken wire and wrapped it the whole way around, stapling it as I went. I bought four corner braces and screwed together a couple boards to make the frame for my gate, attached to the last post with small hinges. And I used a hook and eye for a latch. Done. And it didn't take me veryingn at all and was relatively inexpensive. (Less than $40)

This year I rotated my crops. Planting the pumpkins where I usually do the tomatoes, and vice versa. I cut back a little bit, hoping I'd have more luck with crops if I had less to focus on. Last year I grew about 3 cucumbers. Which was probably plenty for me, but not worth the space they took up. Also, I decided on just two varieties of pumpkins this year instead of trying 4. I chose to forgo the jack-o-lantern pumpkins and the Dill's Atlantic Giant. I've only planted white and blue this year. My friend is planting regular pumpkins and we've decided on a trade when the time comes for harvesting. I also chose not to do peppers or corn this year. Never had much luck with either, so why waste my time? I did however plant both black and cherry tomatoes this year, along with spinach, borage, carrots, and I bought some green onion and garlic bulbs to try my hand at.

I also scaled back on flower seeds. No need to waste my time and money on things I can't get to grow. I actually bought an echinacea plant yesterday, because I've tried for years to get them to grow.

I must mention that I did not start any of these plants in the house. I direct seeded everything this year. With all the extra animals and working on different projects I just don't have the time or space to plant inside and then try to acclimatize them outside before planting. I think a small greenhouse is in my future plans.

Oh, and you should see the blossoms on my apple tree this year! Hoping to actually get some apples!