March 6, 2015 - Friday
-4 degrees/clear/calm
Pentoga Road




This guy was bummed yesterday. The temperature was rising, but it was past noon before the relatively mild reading of zero, yes a big fat goose egg, was reached. 

As Mom always said, I can sit around and "stew," or I can do something about it. And as Dad was fond of quoting, "Damned the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" I put on my heavies and took off for the garden in a declaration of spring. Heck with the temperatures. I pronounced to the bulldog that it was gardening season.

The first order of business was to shovel a path out to the garden. Brutus had already cleared part of the way, but it took some time to shovel through the knee-deep snow to the green house.



I began clearing the roof and was shocked at the amount of ice that had frozen under the snow. I am impressed at the durability of the greenhouse, one that was quite inexpensive and purchased from Harbor Freight almost three years ago.



 Made of lightweight aluminum framing with polycarbonate panels, I can easily pick it up by myself, yet it withstands hundreds of pounds of snow and ice with occasional strong winds. Impressive. 



I stood inside the greenhouse. It was a bit below zero on the outside, almost eighty in. I was tempted to walk back to the storage unit to retrieve a lawn chair, but there was more gardening work to do.

That hornet's nest went away fairly quickly.

Next order of business was to measure the area where the pond, waterfalls, and higher raised beds will eventually be built. Working in mittens and wading through deep snow with a hundred-foot tape measure didn't seem very spring-like and I had to remind myself that regardless of the conditions, I'd previously proclaimed it gardening season. Time to make hay while the sun shown. 



There are going to be some major horticultural changes coming in the next few months, I'm not exactly sure what each will look like and when it will all happen. I talked with my buddy, John, the former superintendent of schools in Sitka and a master gardener yesterday. He suggested I grow my short season crops in one area and not begin major construction until August, leaving me two full months to complete the garden. The boy has a good point. I'm also considering growing some vegetables in straw bales this year... kind of a portable garden as it were. 
http://strawbalegardens.com/

I woke up this morning to find the temperatures are predicted to rise into the mid-thirties in the next few days and even reach into the low forties next week. 

We haven't seen those type of numbers since last fall. It's almost more than a man can handle.

In search of spring.
Day #1 of the 2015 gardening season.

We had a great day with Grady yesterday. The little guy can crawl faster on his hands and knees than either his grandma or I can run. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but the boy can move. 

Though he never stays that way, Grandma makes sure Grady starts the day clean.

I retrieved the gates from the storage unit and fastened one in front of the wood stove. Grady seems to think he ought to help Grandpa fill it with wood. Grandpa doesn't think that's a good idea, so Grady's the designated spectator. 



We went to town yesterday where the munchkin was a rock star. Every little old blue-haired lady, plus more than one man, stopped to talk with him. I wanted to tell everyone that Sargie and I got a late start on our family and he was our love child, but she wouldn't let me.

Entertaining little old blue-haired ladies wore Grady out. He grabbed a quick nap on the way home.

We played last night until the man-baby's laughs and giggles turned to whines and cries. It was bedtime. 

Best friends. Every boy needs a dog and every dog needs a boy. It's a match made in Heaven.

That was ten hours ago and the little dynamo is still slumbering, meaning one thing. I'd better get this finished before he wakes up or it might be a week from tomorrow before it's uploaded. 



Meanwhile, I think I'll grab another cup of coffee and think about what I'll do for the garden today. It'll soon be time to plant tomato and pepper seeds inside, there's a strawberry pyramid to construct in the barn, a veggie trug to build, (portable raised bed on wheels) and no doubt, Al Gore would probably be grateful if I could help him with the global warming thing. That ain't gonna happen. 



If only you had my life, but as you well know, a man's work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road...  

Nothing's quite as enjoyable as munching on a few Cheerios... if only he could find his mouth.