Reaping the Bounty I

In the long interval since my last post, everything has grown well, since we had a lot of rain and heat.  So, today I froze half the beans.  We like 4 kinds of beans:  yellow wax, green Romano, yellow Romano and Purple beans.  I froze the yellow ones and the green Romanos today, about 20 lbs., but didn't get pictures. Will do that tomorrow when I finish the others.
Besides the beans, I did 20 more cobs of corn.  I don't freeze whole cobs because they take up too much freezer space, and the blanching/chilling process is very critical or else the corn gets the taste of the core of the cob, so I kernel the corn.  I don't blanch the corn to do this.  I put on a huge pot of corn--way more than we can eat:
How to cook the best corn cobs:  
Place cobs in a pot large enough to cover with cold water.  Bring to the boil.  When it reaches the boiling point it is ready to eat.

After we have eaten our fill, I let the remaining cobs cool in the cooking water (or you could drain and cover with cold water).  When cool enough to handle, use a sharp paring knife to kernel the corn.  I tease out one row of kernels with the tip of the knife. Then the other rows are cut down with a downward motion of the knife, one row at a time.  Nice clean whole kernels.  They are fully cooked, so they can be just reheated.

I stopped bagging the corn (and beans and peas) in individual bags.  I now use the large heavyweight Ziploc freezer bags, put 8 cups in, sqeeze out the air as I zip, then flatten the package out.  It stacks neatly in the freezer, and it is easy to break off as much as I need for the meal or for the soup.

And when the corn freezing is all finished, the window and cupboards will need washing--corn sometimes squirts.

Here is a little  peek at my cold storage room.  Some of these tomatoes are from last year and the year before.  If properly canned, they keep for a long time.

Tomorrow I will finish the beans and do another pot of corn.  Oops, nearly forgot, there are tomatoes and cucumbers to pick, also.

Almost 2 Years

I have decided to resurrect this blog.  How I intend to use it, is in conjunction with my other blog , for all my greenhouse and garden-ly discussions.
February 15, the greenhouse season starts for us.  We usually plow through drifts of snow at this time, although this year we have had an unusually mild winter.
 These snapshots were taken on March 13.
1.  Baby Non-Stop Begonias

 2.  Baby Zonal Geraniums

 3.  Baby African Marigolds

 4.  Baby Pansies

 5.  Baby Osteospermums

 6.  Baby Calibrachoa (aka Million Bells)

 7.  Fancy Grasses--Pennisetum Rubrum (aka Purple Fountian Grass)

 8.  Little Dracaena (aka Spikes)

 9.  More grasses, Pennisetum Fireworks (pruned by the cats)

 10.  Baby Manettia (aka Candy Corn Vine)

Since then, a lot of growing has taken place and a lot of other plants added. 

Glimpses of my World

These are just random shots of some of my flower pots ,and garden spots and individual flowers of note.

Cheerful yellow bidens, red-yellow lantana, and a tiny red Ricinus (castor bean).

This spot under the deck overhang (East facing) has been a difficult place to grow a nice flowerbed:  not enough sun for geraniums or pansies, it's a bit raised, so in our Zone, no perennials will winter there ( I tried hostas, and even goatsbeard didn't make it).  The only thing that does well is non-stop begonias, but 22 feet of begonias is expensive, even owning a greenhouse.  So this year I dug it out, put in some chips, and planted dragon-wing begonias, which can stand to be grown somewhat on the dry side.  I have to place some of my mom's garden statuary among them.

Deep salmon Martha Washington Geraniums (aka Regal Geraniums, commonly known as Pansy Geraniums)  With an ever-color-changing solar light.

I love purple and black plants:  The heliotrope, with ornamental black Pepper "The Pearl" and blue bacopa.

My north bed has lots of different-colored hostas, white and pink fernleaf bleeding hearts, lily-of-the-valley, and several different colors of Lamium, as well as one volunteer ostrich fern.

The rock garden has been roughly cleaned this spring, but needs a thorough going-over.  In the bare spot near the foundation on the right, I am planting a Low-Grow Fragrant Sumac

This is my "I wish I had a pond, but I don't want the high maintenance" flower bed.  I plant a variety of blue petunias:  Ultra Blue, Ultra Sky blue, Daddy Blue, Ultra Blue Star, Hulahoop Blue and Celebrity Blue Ice, with white alyssum around the edge.  When it fills out it goes to the bottom of the little boat--fake pond. 

Tidal Wave Petunias (Purple and Silver).  These petunias will fill up to past the top of the foundation, and several inches over the sidewalks.

I can't rmember the name of this lily.  (my book is in the greenhouse).

I zoomed in on this lily, because each flower is only as large as the last joint of my thumb.

Henry Kelsey climbing rose.

John Davis climbing rose.

Iris Germanica-unknown name.

Pink Marshmallow fuchsia--I am told it is the largest fuchsia flower.

And finally, a sweet, aromatic different kind of "Flower".

I hope you enjoyed this little peek. 

Open For Business

Things are hopping here.  We are open for business, the customers are pleased with our products.  Here are some glimpses of our offerings:  Above is a "Mosaic" geranium.  I think it is a sport off an orange geranium.  Every blossom is different in patterning.  Some have whole little flowerets that are all orange, some are blotchy.  One plant even has one flower in the mosaic pattern while another is solid orange.

A Sunset Shades Begonia.  There is a variety of coloration in this series.  All are basically yellow.  Some have orange picoteés, some rose, some are peachy-blushed.

Our tomato benches with lettuce in the foreground.

Purple Baron Millet

So I've  come this far, and Blogger isn't letting me upload any more pictures.  Will try again tomorrow.

Things are Hopping at the Greenhouse

The Martha Washington Geraniums are coming into bloom. There are still 2 colors not open, but here are the early starters.

The Purple Baron Millet will look great in mixed pots

The Papyrus reminds me of Cleopatra and the Nile.

We're about half finished the 600+/- hanging baskets.  It's hard to believe that in just 6 short weeks they will be full of blossoms cascading down the sides of the pots all the way to the bottom.

The young tumbler tomatoes--they already have tiny blossoms. 

This perky orange is just one of seven colors of osteospermum that we raise.




Tiny Snow Crystals Alyssums in their plug trays.

We'll be eating berries soon from the Seascape Day Neutral Strawberry plants.

Newly-transplanted tomatoes. We plant over 30 different varieties.  These are in 5 1/2 inch pots.  They will be about 12" tall by the latter part of May, and some of the earlier varieties will have blossoms already.

Last, but not least, newly-seeded onions and cabbages (including Kale, Cauliflower and Kohlrabi.  The white material in the first few flats is vermiculite.  We make our mix a bit gritty since onions do not like to be waterlogged.







Till next time.  Must go catch a few ZZZ's.  More work tomorrow.  Catch up with my crafting and our "wonderful" Alberta weather on my other blog here.  By the way, if anyone can tell my why the text gets all messed up, I'd appreciate the suggestions.  Should I be doing all the typing first and then inserting the images later? 

Another Busy Day in the Greenhouse

On Friday, I went to a wholesale greenhouse to pick up another shipment of young plants.  Below are some grasses:  There is Carex Red Rooster (a grass that stays a rusty brown), Stipa Ponytails, and Juncus Curly Wurly.  Also the plants for the Picasso Petunia.

And more grasses.  Pennisetum "Fireworks" in the Centre, as well as many others, including Papyrus.

Colorful:  Almost black Ipomea (Sweet Potato Vine--Blackie), and Lime Green Ipomea (Sweet Potato Vine--Marguerite), also a beautiful fuchsia colored grass-like plant called Rhoea.

The million bells (Calibrachoa)  are filling out nicely--transplanted on Tuesday.

The begonias are happy in their large pots.  They look mouldy, but they aren't--just a silvery light reflection that the camera picked up.

Just a few more of the plants to be transplanted tomorrow:  Chrysanthmums, Million Bells, Osteospermum, Bacopa, Verbena, Lotus Vine, Vinca Vine, Bidens......

Tonight we set the clock ahead, so early to bed, to get at the rest of the transplants.  Monday, March 15, is the heaviest seeding date of the whole season.  It'll be a pleasure to see the little plants in a few weeks.

Our old grand-dog, Tundra, a German shepherd, whom our son, Kubota Man Jr. retired to the farm, has a knack of always being under my feet in the greenhouse.  We're learning to work around each other.  This has made me aware of how observant our own dogs are--when they hear my footsteps, they look where I will be walking, and walk beside, not in front of, me.  Tundra will learn, too.

Gardening hints: 
1.  Always freeze your cucurbit (cucumber, pumpkin, zucchini, melons, etc) type seeds over night before planting.  You will have excellent germination and the sprouts will be much more vigorous.  We have tested this ourselves.
2.  Tomatoes like to be transplanted deeper than they were growing before--they will root all along the buried stems.  BUT Peppers need to be transplanted at the same soil line as before.  They do not like to be planted deeper.