January Picture Tour

The weather turned brutal this last week. Socked in on Sunday with 12-15" of snow, then Tuesday we fell victim to the "polar vortex" and had temperatures of -18F. My greenhouse fell way below freezing - to 22-25F and some plants suffered or bit the bullet. The Oakland County Greenhouses stayed warm and toasty this year and some folks are harvesting tomatoes and cucumbers. So, to balance it out, we lived through it, and today was a balmy 40+.

Did some harvesting at the Oakland County Greenhouse and transplanted and cleaned in mine. Have some chemical damage on a few plants at OC but that's my fault for failing to read the directions on the insecticidal soap label. Today I've got a picture tour for you of the two greenhouses, here goes:

AJ and I have been going to market on Saturdays at The Old Winery Farmers Market in Farmington and did quite well this week. I gave AJ two tables for produce and he did a great job setting it up and selling it. Lots of color and variety this week and hoping to have more next Saturday.

My little cyclamen plugs that were kind of a surprise in November are rooted in and starting to pop. They'll be doing their thing just in time for Valentine's Day. They're minis and in 3" pots. Am selling them for $3 each.




    

Beautiful bright reds.















Also have a few silver-leaved
cyclamen in pinks from last year that are blooming like gangbusters.

My Meyer Lemon is thinking about blooming, it's been lost in thought quite a long time now...













Have a bunch of herbs in my greenhouse and have been using a bit in the kitchen. They are in 3" and 4" pots, peppermint, thyme, rosemary and sage. The sage froze solid and the top leaves have gone limp. Don't know if it will perk up again or if I just have to wait for them to regrow.

Peppermint

Thyme

Sage

Rosemary

The citronella scented geranium is pouting as it froze too and I had to cut it back severely today. Hoping with a bit of TLC and fertilizer it will push new, branchy growth so I can take cuttings in time for spring sales.

Meanwhile in the Oakland County Greenhouse, where I have the two community garden plots, the lime basil is finally big enough to take a harvest. Quite slow, this variety had a definite citrusy smell and has stayed little. I will be sowing large-leaved basil in some of the bare spots in this plot.

Yes, I KNOW that you should thin seedlings and I did not do that with these carrots. Today I just pulled up handfuls, some with baby carrots to feed to horse, Skipper.

Here's a longshot of bed #1. Have sown beans again on the stakes and have a lovely crop of beet greens in the center. All green, no beet. Hmmm. Don't know what the deal is.

Love Rainbow Chard, looks so great in a salad or just as an ornamental garden green.

More of the golden-stemmed chard.

Longshot of the baby greens growing up in bed #2.

Spinach Bloomsdale. I like this variety for it's vigor, but I don't know if it's the nutrients or what, but it seems to really curl downwards. It has been hit by aphids, but luckily they are becoming scarce at this point.

See the white spots. Chemical damage from too much insecticidal soap.

Here's the culprit. Quart bottle from the dollar store and I overdid the rate of the concentrate. Have thinned it since the damage showed up.

Baby Romaine 'Freckles' in the foreground and a Buttercrunch Bibb in the background.
Freckles has a really pretty maroon-speckled leaf.

Lettuce, some sad dill and spinach. The beds are 6x10', hard to reach in the center, but you sure can get a lot of production out of them.

Nasturtium 'Empress of India' - can't wait to see what color the blooms are. Supposed to be a red-orange. Really pretty leaves and quite different in form from the other greens. Spicy leaves are a great addition to salads or pesto.

Joining bloggers Tootsie Time for her roundup of gardens throughout the world and Carol of May Drams Garden for her Bloom Day . That's the tour for this warm day in January. Keep warm out there!