Getting Down and Dirty.

Today I am linking to A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.
I wonder if this post counts...I am not exactly Outdoors...but what I am doing will be...
I loaded the seed cells...

Got the packages of seed ready to dig into...These are the colors I am planting this year.

Trailrider sent me some Loufa seeds, an elephant ear or two and a couple of other things...I am sad to say that only the loufa seeds look promising at this point..the cold weather froze the rest and all but the elephant ears have been thrown away due to death...Thank You Trailrider...I am so excited to see these growing here...I bet I will be the ONLY one in this area....

Here's the Elephant ears...Lets just keep our fingers crossed...K?

I ripped into the Geranium seeds first. For those that missed the post I did last year on this...here is a close up of some coated seeds...they are not this pretty without the coating...they are brown...sort of resembling mouse droppings...These ones are a pretty shade of gold.

I use a seed spoon to plant these and most other seeds with. I have two of them. Each end of the spoon has a small cup ...

Here is a close up of the end...I use these to move the seeds around. The larger ends hold larger seeds...and the smaller ones...well you get the idea.

Here's some shots of the other size ends. They are not very big...

After I got all ready...I took the seed cells...the seeds and the spoon...and placed one seed in the center of each cell...see them? They are the teeny yellow things...lol

Once the seeds were placed...I covered them lightly with about 1/8th of an inch of soil.

I just sprinkle it on lightly,

and gently smooth it out...not pushing hard on the soil at all...just leveling it out...and not leaving too much on top of the seeds.

I then make my label out of the cut up mini blind.

Never eat the yellow snow...OR DRINK THE YELLOW WATER!!! lol

This water has been treated with an anti-fungal chemical. It will prevent the young geranium seedlings from damping off. (a soil born fungal disease that will rot the young plants at the stem)

It smells awful...and is very corrosive.

Place the seed packs in the pre-mixed water solution...(note the garbage bag....so neatly cut!) I will trim it off and clean it up another time...ha ha..

I planted all my seeds...

and had a little time...so I prepared trays for the next few weeks planting...did a few trays of 9 pack cells,

and a few trays of 4-pack cells...I will need hundreds more, but didn't have time to do it all in one day. Next time...

After all....I did get what I wanted to do finished out here...I planted just a little over 330 Geraniums today.

I don't have much to plant now for a couple of weeks...then it will be a few more types of flower seeds to share...the weeks to come...will bring all sorts of greenhouse adventures and dirt therapy for us here in blog land!

Spring is coming!!!! I just know it is!!!

Have you entered the giveaway I am hosting yet??? If you need to know how...click here!

I can't wait to see who wins...The draw is going to be made on Friday evening at around 8 pm. Saturday will have a post to announce the winner!!!
I will see you all next time!!! Have a great Wednesday!!! To visit some of the other participants of Outdoor Wednesday...click on the logo above to get there!

Not Everything About Fall is Pretty!

Susan over at A Southern Daydreamer invites us all to share our outdoor adventures every Wednesday...for details and a list of the others joining in...click her logo above.
Fall in Alberta is NOT always so pretty. Yea sure...there is the beautiful colored leaves...the slightly cooler tems and all the wonderful warm colors, inside and out...that's just a fraction of what happens here in Tootsie's garden...
NOTICE: IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THE COLD HARD TRUTH ABOUT FALL IN ALBERTA...TURN AWAY NOW!!! Things in this post are about to get UGLY!
Frost has hit my yard... well ...Frost and damaging winds.
Things just look awful!
Ewe!!! Do you see it?
Oh Shelia!...stop screaming!!! you silly thing! It is just frost damage! Looks like a fire burned it doesn't it? She's such a "sweetie"
That once huge swedish ivy is now a shriveled mess....but the Mums made it! Betty's bike bed...looking like it has a LOT of miles on it...
Better get busy...we have a LOT of things on our list today....
After a lot of effort, and 6 garbage cans of pulled flowers....this bed was almost done...just needs some weeding.
You can't see all the damage in this photo...but the plants are finished....once they warmed all the way up...they were quite wilted and sort of soggy from the frost.
They made it to 7 feet tall....did I mention that at the time this photo was taken, the wasp infestation that has taken over my yard were "sleeping in" here? It was about 8 AM when I started...and it was too cold outside for them to fly so they were really docile...Quick...before they wake up....Yank em!
whew! ...that was close...still can't cut the Peony...they started to wake up! There are hundreds of them in the yard this year...I think they live at the "bad neighbor's" house...(more on that in a couple days)
I pulled the entire yard today...and it took 3 loads ( heaped high and tarped down)with the 1/2 ton truck to get rid of it at the local dump! That would be the equivalent of about 50 garbage cans....not to mention the 18 that I set out over the last couple weeks...(I suppose it saves me from the piercing eyes of the garbage man) hee hee. The local dump has a special area for yard waste where they turn it into beautiful compost over the winter. I will be going in the spring to buy it back as beautiful black gold!
It certainly looks different! All that's left is the weeding...
Seems so cold and lonely now...sniff sniff...
Still need to pull the birdbath out for the winter....it needs some repairs...
I got the sidewalk cleaned up a little bit- BEFORE I broke the pressure washer...darn!
Cut down the two huge hostas....
Clematis will get cut to the ground in the spring...it seems to grow better if I leave it over the winter...
Cut the columbine...the two hydrangea are still blooming!!!
Seems lonely out here too!
It just looks so dirty!
Yep...the local cats are all cheering out loud....their litter box is empty!!! (I will catch them this year..I swear it) lol
Well....that is one thing off my list...right? Tomorrow we will wipe the rest of the list out...right?????
And now...my bones are aching...so I am heading for the tub...see ya tomorrow!

All Dressed For Cold Weather! (winterizing the greenhouse-and some info on how it was made)

Over the last few months, a few of you have asked to see a closer look at the "mechanics" of my greenhouse. I am showing you the main things I thought were important. If I missed anything...please let me know and I would be glad to send you a shot or two more!
This is a view of the rafters. The whole building is built the same way you would frame a single car garage...except the floor is treated deck wood. That way the water will run through and into the soil below.
I hung white cotton sheets on half of the roof rafters to shelter the young (and old) plants from the hot burning sunshine...and yet still let enough light in to encourage proper growth.I have a gas heater that sits on the floor in the middle of the room on the east side against the wall. A chimney vents the heater through the roof.
The chimney.
This fan hangs about three feet above the heater and moves the very warm air around to heat the whole room. I did not want an overhead forced heat furnace as the warm air coming directly out of it would dry and burn the plants. This way I control where and how fast the air moves around.
See the space between the roof rafter and the wall frame? These are the vents that allow the hot air to escape in the summer months when it is scorching hot outside. I also use a fan to blow some of the very hot air out the front door.
My power bars...which are powered by an extension cord run from a breaker in the garage. The cord itself is strung from overhead so we do not mow or trip on it. There is cable t.v. in here as well. That cord was buried with the gas line...but the power would have been a pain in the bum to put in professionally, so we chose to go this route...and it works well for me.
Again...those vents...(this is foreshadowing...lol)
An outside view of the way it was put together....
and another. The dark flooring you see on top of the wooden deck boards is my winter flooring. All it is is 2x2' foam tiles that you use in garages etc. They help the floor from bringing so much cold air inside in the frigid winter months.
I cut and hung these blinds myself! It was so super hot when the sunlight hit the front of the building in the summertime...so I hung these...it also helps in the winter to hold the heat in at night when it is the coldest.
What the heck is this? It's pink Insulation...(the pink part of my post)
What am I doing with it in my greenhouse???
It goes in those vents that I mentioned earlier. It holds the heat in when I have to keep the furnace running all the time.
You would not believe the difference it makes at this time of year!
I buy a big bag of it every fall. I pull it out and use an electric carving knife to cut it to the right size for each vent. Then I fold it in half and stuff it into place!
Voila! plugged vents! (see my crowns hanging there?) lol
another view.
And this is what it looks like from outside...it is not pretty...but it is pink...and effective!
A view from the top...and to show the roof construction..
And my little piece of heaven on earth is ready for the long cold Alberta winter!
Those flowers? yea...they are long dead now...These photos were taken on Tuesday of this week. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night we had killing frosts....and all that is left is the mushy black frost burned corpse of what was once so pretty!
Ah...fall in Alberta...comes on way too fast!
(Tonight we expect snow/rain mix...so my weekend is going to include ripping out all the beds if it is warm enough!)