[gardeners] In the garden on a Thursday
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 17 Dec 1998 20:31:30 -0600
Had to work most of the day today so only got out into the garden for a
short while this afternoon. I must say today was beautiful, clear blue
skies, cool temps, bright sunshine and, for us, low humidity, only 50
percent. Sleepy Dawg ran and jumped while I was prowling the garden,
just enjoying the view, looking for bugs (found none) and anything that
was ready to eat. Think I'm gonna pick a cabbage tomorrow and steam it
for lunch. Pretty rare thing for an old East Texas boy, eating green
stuff just wasn't done much when I was growing up. We mostly fried,
broiled, baked, or boiled everything until it was either charcoal,
burnt, crisped to death, or so limp and shredded you couldn't identify
it. Wouldn't eat cabbage cause my mom boiled it to pieces and all it did
was stink, no taste left.
Married my Yankee girl, 38 years ago the 26th day of this month, and she
introduced me to lightly steamed veggies. Good eats, with the crunch and
mouth feel still left to them. Can't get enough veggies since then.
Shucks, I'll even admit to liking aspargus, still draw the line at
cooked cauliflower but like it raw, same with turnips. Unlike George
Bush I like broccoli, plain or maybe with a little vinegarette, no
cheese thank you. Had fresh cream of broccoli soup for lunch today along
with, ahem, toast points.
The greenhouse has a skin on it, lights are still temporary and I
haven't even started digging the trench to bury the electrics and the
water yet. Plan to scoop the sod off with a shovel, dig the trench with
the Mantis then scoop out the dirt. Lay the water line, 1/2 inch pvc,
then another pvc line with the electrical wire in it. The pvc conduit
for the wire will have a red stripe down the top to identify it. Gonna
get two new faucets out of this, one inside the greenhouse and one at
the west end of the garden. In addition there will be an inside
electrical outlet and an outside one on the greenhouse. All done with
weatherproof fittings naturally.
We've had frost the last few nights and the greenhouse is performing as
planned. No heat required as yet but it was 60 degrees inside it at
daylight today when it was 39 outside. Had to open the door about 2 pm
to keep it from getting to hot. Guess I'll have to install the vent fan
soon.
Gotta go now, Sleepy Dawg wants me to go sit in the easy chair so she
can lay beside me and take a practice nap before bedtime. She is freshly
bathed, had a doggie treat for being good, and starting to run down. The
Energizer Bunny she ain't.
Life is very good.
George