Hope

I don't often post much about my personal life on here but today I covet your prayers for my family.  We are all going through the most horrendous thing we've ever had to deal with and "The gates of hell shall not prevail"  against us.  It's about more than hope, it's about faith.  As things get worked out, I'll share more of the details, but for now I would be so thankful if you would pray for my honey and I and all four of our children, that we make it though this and glorify God through it all.

Last night as I was wallowing in self pity I looked over toward the livingroom window and saw this--

My tea plant it blooming in my livingroom and is full of buds.

And remember my gardening experiment? With all of the snow and cold temps, look what came up a few days ago--

Do you see those little lettuce seedling in there?  Amazing to me as we've had temps below 20 degrees at night.  I'm going to water these and keep you posted as to their progress.

Hope springs eternal.

Experiment (con't.)

Well, I guess I get a little carried away when I read some of these books.  My little coldframe is just that-very cold.  Three days after I planted it we had snow and we continue to have snow a little every day.  Sometimes I forget that global warming hasn't hit here yet. 
This morning the hoses are all frozen, manure has frozen to the grain trough and the cattle water had to be broke open.  Our three weeks of fall are over, but they were the most beautiful three weeks of the year.

Gardening Experiments

Don't you love trying new things?  This year I tried growing Quinoa.  That experiment didn't work.
I recently read "The Forgotten Skills of Self-Sufficiency used by the Mormon Pioneers".  It's a good read and he has some ideas and information in there that I didn't have before.

The author has some good ideas for extending the harvest for us short season gardeners.

Today I set  up a "rustic" cold frame with a hot water jug to help keep it heated at night.

I need to fasten this to the house with a hinge, yet.  I planted various kinds of lettuce and spinach in here and I'm hopeful that we will be growing lettuce into December.  This is on the south side of my house right next to my other experiment-trying to save seed from biennials.  I have carrots and beets planted and I just mulched them.  I'm hoping they'll come up for the second year and provide me with seed. 

I guess the picture of this experiment isn't too exciting.  I'll report back on these experiments as they progress.  Or not.