The greenhouse beds

Vicki with the new greenhouse bed

Vicki is excited. Splurged and got another greenhouse garden bed for Vicki and I and Sage Advice Nursery. Aside from just growing food we will now have a place for starting perennial seedlings this winter. We have to clear out by April 15 but I figure by then the weather will have broken and I will be able to harden off the seedlings in the cold frames outdoors.

We plan on growing tomatoes and greenhouse pickling cucumbers, green onions, shallots, romaine, radish and broccoli.
We'll keep half of the garden in short term crops so we can pull them by January when it is time to start the seedlings. I am excited too. I spent a few hours ordering seeds for the perennials from Jung Seed, Specialty Plants and Jellito Seedsmen - a german company well known among growers.We have exciting stuff. I was going to order double Hellebore seed for customer Robin, but it turns out it has to go through an extensive cold then warm period...it just seemed like too much of a hassle. I think I'll order the double Hellebores as plants.

Margaret with the garden bed, planted Sept. 28th!

The garden bed is almost ready to harvest for baby lettuces. Fertilized last week, Sunday, and I can see the pak choi has really beefed up. Need to thin them but I think I'll do so when I am ready for some more salad greens. The basil tops can be picked to make the plants branchier.

I'm going to pick up Pam today and we'll be travelling up to Hortmark for more pots and probably a few bags of soil if I decide I can afford it. Was kind of appalled when I went out and counted the plants for overwintering and potting up...850 of them! Eek! So we definitely have our work cut out for us in the next few weeks.Vicki has generously offered the use of her backyard as a nursery storage area for overwintering which is a godsend as I am already out of room.

Paul came to build the new cold frames against the fence, but weather intervened and we were unable to work. He'll be coming this Saturday to try again...so much money going out, I'd better make it up in the spring! Janet Macunovich stopped by to dig a hosta up for a garden presentation on digging and dividing plants. She is a well known speaker on perennial and other gardens in the midwest. We used to have a radio show together called "Green Side Up" on a local radio station back in the late 90's - geez was that nearly 20 years ago? It just can't be!

Gearing up for the indoor flea market. Made my first dried flower wreath for the first time in a long while. It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. Will never get back what I have put into it - or I'd be selling it for $40 which I know I can't get. We'll run these dried flower wreaths and swags up the old flagpole and see who salutes.

So even though the nursery is officially closed there is still much work to be done. Check in with the blog periodically and you can see our progress this winter season. Enjoy this beautiful fall...the colors are spectacular