Karen's Garden Delights Journal
2nd week of February 2011

Tomato Starts Since my last garden journal we have endured winter cold and ice, taken our "vacation" for the year to visit family in Indiana and read piles of books both for education and pleasure. Thankfully during the ice storm we had only two nights without power which made the house a bit chilly but didn't warrant running the generator. Now we are in a much welcomed "spring thaw" and are watching the ice start to disappear. During the cold spell, it was a stretch to get in the mood to plant my early tomatoes but I planted them February 4 and here is their progress. I have Stupice, Sungold and New Girl varieties started and they will eventually go into Water Walls for our earliest eating tomatoes. Also on my list for indoor plants to start in February are snapdragons, onions, leeks, broccoli, cabbage and lettuce. These warmer days will be motivating for me to get to the garden shed for flats and soil. This time of year I scrub things out in the bathtub with bleach water to sterilize my containers. I find places for the flats to germinate indoors and then will transfer of the cold hardy plants to the greenhouse. On sunny days, the greenhouse has soared into the 90s already. The low tunnels really sagged under the snow and ice load and we will need to straighten hoops and such once things are melted enough.

Fat Goats Another sign of spring fever at our house is the anticipation for the first baby goats of the season. We are expecting some of the goats to kid in February and the children like to go out to the barn several times a day to check for any action. With five pregnant Oberhasli mamas, we could end up with quite a herd by summer. Right now it is humorous to watch some of them since their bellies are so wide. Here is Heidi.

Valentines Another winter project I have been spending time with is card making. Here are some of the Valentines that went to Local Roots this month, some are decorated with lace from grandma's collection and paper from old German books while others use alpaca wool scraps from Morning Star Fiber. I am making lists of what flowers I need to grow and press in quantity this year with larkspur, yarrow and lavender being some of my favorites. I now have an Amish neighbor gal and another friend making extra homemade paper for me and a young Amish lady with mental handicaps helping to glue flowers onto cards. We have a couple orders from local businesses plus I am making some plantable cards for a library fund-raiser so we are ramping up production a bit. I also have orders for plantable wedding favors from a couple brides and am trying to finish those up before the garden beckons.