Time goes...

Wow... 6 months... It is 6 months ago I wrote last. Time sure goes by fast!! Well I'm alive and happy, more than ever if that's possible! And I'm busy, as ever!

Apart from school attendance, trip to Canada for Christmas, work placement in a daycare center (Which I just completed), renovation of our dining room and kitchen, enhancement of the greenhouse, etc etc... I have been working on my greatest and most precious creation to date, and it has taken a LOT of my energy. We indeed found out at the end of October that we are expecting our first child! Words can not describe the happiness we feel. Our little one is due for July. What a special summer this will be. :)

But tired or not... bump or not... the brand new greenhouse, which we spent all Spring 2013 installing, can not remain empty all summer! What a shame that would be! So I managed to sow a few things and we (mostly my wonderful husband) added a couple of enhancements.

First, I now have a "sink" in the corner. It's basically just a grid over a cement bassin and a drain. Eventually, there will also be running water with a faucet and a hose right above the drain area.

And then we added a table and a shelf! It is now so much easier to work in there and organise my tools and whatnot. :)

Happy Easter weekend to everyone! I know that Canada and US are having a really long winter, so I'm sending you guys some nice warm rays of sunshine! Hopefully the Easter Bunny comes with Spring in his basket this year!

Ambiance lighting

I love my greenhouse. This is no surprise to anyone who knows me, but what you guys may not know is that my husband has an interest for electronic projects and a ton of great ideas. I am so lucky that my greenhouse inspired him to work on one of his awesome ideas. This resulted in a greenhouse with a personality!

This ambiance lighting is a waterproof strip of LED lights mounted in the highest point of the ceiling. The strip is connected to a battery, which in turn is connected to 2 small solar panels. We can choose the intensity and colour of the light with the help of a small remote control.

Thanks to my wonderful husband for putting together and installing such an awesome lighting in my green atelier. :) Muaah!

Greens

After a busy (but successful!) final exams season, followed by one delightful week in Mallorca, I am BACK! I am on summer vacation and plan on enjoying a huge amount of time in my greenhouse, my garden and at the creativity table.

We have been so busy on the greenhouse project that all the so-called flowerbeds, as well as both the terraces are totally overgrown with weeds. So the cleanup of these is definitely high up on my to-do list. Thankfully, things are going very well now in the greenhouse. My very nice neighboor took really good care of it in our absence (and fed my cats!). I was delighted to see how much everything had grown in just one week! (the plants, not the cats)

Greenhouse is really getting green!

Some 8 varieties of tomatoes, 2 varieties of cucumbers, Apache chilies, jalapenoes, bell peppers, sweet peppers, a few different sorts of herbs (including a lot of basil, green and red) and a few more things are all doing really great! I've eaten my first mini-cucumbers, some red juicy strawberries and beautiful lettuce already.

Inuksuk found its home!

Pick-and-eat lettuce and strawberry leveled pot. 

I don't have many flowers, but can definitely see that I will be looking more into that next year.

Meanwhile, the vegetable garden is also picking up in pace. I've tried sweet corn again this year and it seems to be doing much better than last year. I started it in paper pots and carefully tranplanted them a few weeks ago, trying not to disturb the roots. 

The red kuri squash and pumpkin plants took a while to "feel home" on the veggie patch, but also seem to be growing now. 

The romaine lettuce is beautiful, as are the onions!  Today, I finally transplanted a zuchini plant, some interesting kinds of beans I received from my good friend and some peas, which I all had started a few weeks ago and just never had time to transplant. 

Veggie garden. Corn, beans, squashes, onions, lettuce, peas. 

If you guys remember well, last year, my husband and I built a compost bin. I have been using some of the resulting compost to enrich the soil on the patch, which came from the hole we dug for the greehouse, so wasn't the very best soil for a garden. This seems to especially have made a difference with the corn. It went from a pale green to a nice healthy green, and more than doubled in size since I added compost around the plants. :D

Following advice from the experienced, I started covering the soil with cut grass to help retain some humidity. The only problem is that our lawn mower is specially made to cut grass in tiny tiny pieces so that we don't have to pick it up, and it feeds the lawn at the same time. (it is called Bio-cut). So it makes it difficult to find enough grass to cover the whole garden patch. I have to go along the bicycle trail behind our lot! 

That's it for now.... happy summer everyone!

Finished greenhouse

It is about time I post a new picture of the greenhouse! I've been so busy preparing for exams lately that I'm afraid blog time was put a little bit aside.

The floor is now finished! I can use my greenhouse and organize it and put my own colours in it now.... as soon as exam season is over! :D
We still need to connect electricity and water to the sources, but those are details we can take care of a bit later.

Greenhouse Project: Greenhouse!

We have a greenhouse!!!

The greenhouse is now complete with glass, 3 windows and double sliding doors. It is officially useable, even though we are still missing a proper floor. 

It was a long but very satisfying day!

Greenhouse Project: Getting there!

Another very busy weekend behind us (and in our every muscle!). We had beautiful weather to work outside, and work outside we did, Saturday and Sunday, from morning to evening. We also achieved a lot! 

So here's what we've done since my last entry: 

The electricy cable and the water hose are in place. They are not yet attached to the source, but that can be done later on.

Electricy and water

After much work, the deep hole for the gabion was dug. It was interesting to see the different layers of soil as I was getting deeper and deeper. I am still very impressed by the layer of beautiful clay down there. I am equally impressed by how hard the soil was in the last 20 cm or so. "Breaking the soil" would better describe the way we got through the last layer!

Hole for the gabion

Good fit! 

With the gabion pit taken care of, we were able to place the pipes. Shame I forgot to take a picture before we buried them. But anyway... We placed one pipe from the water corner (future sink on the ground kind of thing), and we placed one pipe from each of the 2 corners where the gutters come down. Each of the 3 pipes lead right over the gabion. 

We can decide, later on, to gather the rain water in stead for use in the greenhouse. But seeing as we don't have the equipment for this just now, the water needs to go somewhere. So to the gabion it is for the time being. 

Gabion wrapped in textile. 3 pipes leading to it. 

With all the underground stuff done, we started bringing in the sand/gravel mix. This will provide a stable layer under the finer sand that will serve as bed for the paving stones. 

Placing the gravel. 

After the physically demanding gravel step, we were finally there! We finally reached the "put-the-puzzle-together" step!!! 

It looks like a gigantic aquarium!

Studying the plan

Taking its shape... 

Sunday evening: It actually looks like a greenhouse!

YESSS!! It looks like a greenhouse! WAHOOO!!! We're almost there! To-do list for the next few days include finishing the puzzle (i.e.: door and windows) and placing the glass panels. 

If all goes well, I should have a useable greenhouse by next weekend! It won't be totally finished, as we will do the floor only a little later on, but I will be able to use it and work in it and grow things in it! 

What a lovely dream.... Oh wait! I'm awake!

YAYYYY!!! :D

Greenhouse Project: Foundation

Yesterday, for probably the first time since we started this project, everything went exactly as planned! The base of the greenhouse has been set in place, leveled and adjusted in height. We checked and double checked and triple checked everything before and while pouring cement in the holes / tubes and finally locking the base in place. 

Mixing cement

So the foundation is done. I can't believe we're finally there! We are getting closer and closer to having a usable greenhouse. :) :) :)

Greenhouse foundation

We had ordered some sand a good while ago, but we won't have enough. So another load has been ordered and should arrive within just a couple of days. As soon as it arrives, we'll be able to fill the pit to bring the floor up to the right level.

Other assignments in the near future include digging (yes... more digging!) a deeper hole behind the greenhouse for the gabion. (Note: "Gabion" is a word I have JUST learned by translating from the danish word "faskine". If I am using the term incorrectly, please somebody correct me! Thank you). 

Anyways... The gabion will be part of the water evacuation system for the greenhouse. It is essentially just a big box made of grid-tubes together, covered with a textile and burried in the ground. This create a reservoir for excess water to drip in, and slowly seeps through the textile and into the ground. This helps avoid the forming of puddles on the surface. There will be a water gathering system incorporated to the floor of the greenhouse. That system will be connected with pipes to the gabion and voila! No water problem! (hopefully!)

We also need to dig channels from the house to the greenhouse for the electricity wire and the water hose. 

This is all really cool and quite important details, but what I'm REALLY looking forward too now is to FINALLY mount the greenhouse "skeleton". This will hopefully also happen within a short time. :)

Here's hoping for good weather again next weekend!

Greenhouse project: The box is open!

This is getting really exciting! Yesterday, while I was out, my wonderful husband finished digging out the 560cm x 410 cm x 20 cm hole in preparation to the building our our greenhouse. So with the area ready, we FINALLY allowed ourselves to open the boxes containing the pieces for the greenhouse frame. WOOHOOO we're getting somewhere!!

We found the pieces we needed and put the base together. After using it to carefully measure where to dig for the 6-pillar foundation, we proceeded to dig those 6 holes, which needed to be about 60 cm deep. It was really excited to see the base "in place" for the first time. It was equally exciting to dig the 6 holes. It finally feels like we're doing something constructive and getting closer to our goal!

"Drilling"

Drilling too. 

"Drilling" the holes was fairly easy at first. It goes well with the drilling tools. However, it is impressive to feel the different layers of soil as the holes get deeper and deeper. At some point, we hit a very compact but beautiful layer of clay! I couldn't resist taking some of that pretty clay and putting it aside in a plastic bag. Maybe I can do something with it a bit later on. Some of the soil layers are pretty difficult to drill through, especially towards the end of the day when we both were starting to feel pretty exhausted. 

Am I that exhausted??

Nooo of course not! I'm just trying to free an annoying big rock that refrains us from drilling any deeper!

Ah, but no matter the layer of compact soil and clay and the rock obstacles... by the time we came in for dinner at the end of the day, all 6 holes were drilled and we were pretty proud of ourselves!

Greenhouse base placed over the 6 holes for the foundation pillars

We expect to pour the cement in the holes tomorrow! If all goes well, the base should really be in place before we start the new week. This is perfect, as it will dry/harden before we have time to take further steps. But once the base is solidly anchored in the cement pillars, we can safely mount the rest of the frame! How exciting is that!!!

It looks like I might have my greenhouse before the end of the season after all. hehehe  :)

We have a square!

Spring arrived at long last! The snow is gone and Spring flowers are bringing life onto the landscape again with their vibrant colours. Temperatures went up rather suddenly some days ago and we have been enjoying some beautiful sunny days.

Crocus

Between work, school and homework, we have been able to come out and do some more on the greenhouse project. The area for the "building site" has been carefully measured and marked with very visible orange cord, which Tiana found quite interesting!

Tiana couldn't resist!

We then removed the grass layer. It was getting very exciting when we started seeing the actual "square" where the greenhouse will stand!

The grass is removed on almost all of the area on this picture. 

Now that the grass is removed and the area is clearly marked, we could start digging.

Digging... The area here is clearly visible.  Note that the  greenhouse will be smaller than the area on the picture. We added 50 cm all around for paving stones. 

More digging... 

We need to go 20 cm down on the whole area. It is hard work, but it's also a lot more fun than cutting down trees and digging out roots! We did about 1/3 of the digging step in one afternoon. The rest will need to wait to the weekend. The "hole" will eventually be filled with sand (possibly two kinds, in layers) and paving stones will be layed on top as floor in and around the greenhouse.

With the good weather finally here, I am looking even more forward (is that possible) to the greenhouse being up and usable!
We'll get there... :)

Updates

Greenhouse project

Last weekend, we finally got the area for the greenhouse cleared. Stumps, bushes, shrubs, rocks, as well as old fence panels and posts that had to be removed have been removed, and we now have a "blank canvas" to work on. This means that as soon as we have time and decent weather, we will be able to take more fun and constructive steps towards our goal!

Blank canvas... Ready for more interesting steps!

We did have a little bit of protest from Kashew, who did not seem to agree with us removing her scratching post. :(  I must say, though, that she has many other "scratching posts" in the garden, and probably even some out in the forest nearby. So I do believe she'll be alright. ;)

Sorry Kashew. :( I promise I'll grow catnip for you this summer. 

We are hoping the weekend will bring good weather. Next steps include removing the top layer of grass on the area, digging out channels for water hose and electricity wire, digging out holes for the foundation posts and moving sand onto the area as an underlayer to the future paving stones. 

It's going forward... slowly but surely!

Windowsill gardening

While the greenhouse project is a lot of work, my preparations to the gardening season must also be given some care. This will be my second summer with a real vegetable garden, and I still have a lot to learn. One of the things I am trying to get a good balance on is what to sow indoor and when. Reading on the seed envelopes is a good start, but judging how the weather will turn and how much time will go before all those small plants can come outside can be one big puzzle. 

I have in any case sowed many things, and we will see what happens. Learning by doing... trials and errors. I'll get there!

I was having the issue that my seedlings were looking for light, even though they are sitting right by south or east windows. This resulted in long, thin and week seedlings... and a good deal of disappointment. 

A good friend of mine who is also into gardening gave me a couple of good tricks. One of them consists of making a shield with aluminium foil for the light to reflect on. This gives a more evenly distributed light around the young plants and helps them grow stronger. 

Aluminium foil shields - Light traps!

I was amazed at the difference in amount of light on my plants after I installed the shields! Now I do not have to turn the plants many times a day to try and get them to grow straight! 

Another good advice my friend gave me was to also consider the temperature in the room. Seeds need warmth and moisture to sprout, but seedlings can tolerate cooler temperatures. After sprouting, they can be moved to a different location, like a spare room, where the balance between light and lower temperatures will actually make the plant grow at a slower rate, which will hopefully allow for stronger, healthier plants. When the weather allows it and the plants can come outside (or in the greenhouse!) in the heat and full light, they will pick up their growing. So I have been preparing a new "nursing station" in my bedroom, where we always keep it quite fresh.  I already had trays there with seeds and seedlings, but I now organized it differently. I have not yet moved the plants around, but the place is ready with a light shield and all! When I have a moment, I will move the sprouted stuff in the bedroom, and the not-yet-sprouted stuff in the dining room. 

Thank you my friend for good and valuable advice.  :)

The stump is out!

The good weather has finally arrived. A lot of the snow has melted away and it smelled like Spring outside yesterday and today. At last, my husband and I were able to move a little bit forward on the greenhouse project. 

After over 12 hours of sitting in dirt and mud, digging, clearing and cutting roots, the stump from the tree we cut down in the beginning of March is finally out! The following picture doesn't do justice to how complicated and hard work it actually was. The many roots were big, and often closely crossing one another, making it very difficult to clear from soil and cut free. But the joy we felt when we finally cut the last root was worth all the energy used and resulting body aches!

We finally tipped it down! All the roots are cut free. 

Now we have a crater!

So that is one step closer to being able to put the greenhouse up! I thought I would have it by the end of March... now I hope it will be up before the end of April! Next step is to remove yet another tree :(. The evergreen by the fence needs to come down, as it will be too close to the back of the greenhouse. 

Greenhouse status: Snow almost melted. Tree and stump gone.  

Status on the Greenhouse Project

It's snowing on little Denmark and inevitably on the location for our future greenhouse. The "All-stop" continues while my backyard looks like January in Canada. I don't remember ever saying that I was missing the snow after I moved here!

*sigh*

I can't deny it's pretty, though... but the last snow falls are never as pretty as the first in a season, especially when one has a big project laying in the garage, just waiting to be taken out and up!

On the plus side, my chili plants (2 kinds), my tomato plants (2 kinds) for the greenhouse (ha.. right) and my herbs are all doing their growing job on the windowsill. If the plants can be this optimistic, so can I!

I hereby place an order on sunshine for next week. Thank you.

;)

Bitter Sweet

Well, I never had such a difficult decision to take in the garden, but after getting opinions from a lot of family members and friends, (Thank you!!)  the location for the greenhouse was decided, and a tree I really liked had to come down. But it is all for a good cause. The extra enjoyment we will get from placing the greenhouse exactly on that spot will all be worth it. To help me move on from seeing my tree come down, I took some cuttings, dipped them into rooting medium and put them in soil in the hope that I will be able to grow a new tree. :)

Bye bye tree

"Only" the stump to remove now. There's no going back

So the tree is gone, but on a very happy note, my greenhouse arrived today!!! I never had anything so big delivered to my door before. It was very impressive to see such a big truck turn onto our little blind street and park in front of our house. Then the whole side and roof of the trailer rolled open! With spot lights inside, it looked like a concert stage! Then a big hydrolic lift / arm / crane controlled by the delivery man picked up the huge heavy packs and carefully put them down on our lawn. It was an experience in itself to see it all happen!

Wooohooo!!! It's here!

The whole trailer opens up!

Impressive!

My greenhouse-to-be!!! 

Yayyy! Let the fun begin!

Opinion Needed

 Hello to each of you who take the time to read my blog, and thank you! :)

Today, I have a favour to ask of you. I need your opinion regarding the location of our new greenhouse. Note that its dimensions are 309 cm in width, 457 in length and 201 in height at the lowest point, and 272 cm in height at the highest point. It is a fairly big one!

As shown 2 entries ago, the first location idea would be by the first terrace, close to the house, easy access, full sun and where we would always see it from our dining room. It involves, among other things, removing a couple of shrubs, which we were going to remove anyway (growing into the house and such issues). It also involves opening up the terrace (removing the fence) and eventually adding tiles to make the greenhouse and terrace work as a whole. However, my husband is a little afraid it would come to look quite cluttered. However, it would be close to the garden area and very easy to just step in the greenhouse to water some plants or sit with a cup of tea in the early season.

First location idea

The greenhouse would be right in front of the photograph there, with the door facing the terrace as soon on the plan above

Idea of how it would be placed. The fence would be gone. The proportions may be off

The second location would be by the second terrace, away from the house, still easy access and pretty much full sun. I like the idea as the greenhouse would be more out of the way and we wouldn't have to look at it in the winter when it doesn't actually look that good and that charming! However, it involves removing a plum tree that I really like, and I admit it hurts a bit to think about it. Then again, it pains me every time we have to cut down a tree. :(  But I admit the location would actually be ideal for a greenhouse, and as you can see on the drawing, this tree is actually placed very close to the edge of our garden. Perhaps it would need to be removed at some point anyway.

Second location idea

The greenhouse would go pretty much where that tree is. Our actual house is to my left on this picture

Again, proportions may be off, and of course the tree would be gone

What would you do? Is it silly to avoid a location just because of a tree? Should I get over it and just be happy about getting that greenhouse up? 

Thank you in advance for your input. Both my husband and I need this little help in taking the right decision, and we are curious to hear what you think about it. :)