Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I don't bake much, so I'm no help.

Happy to see the sun today. If it stays above 50 I'm itching to plant some lettuce in a raised planter in a sheltered sunny spot. Hopefully by next week by the sounds of it.

 

[jvls1942]

Yesterday was a pleasant surprise.
Was supposed to get up to mid 40's
made it up to mid 50's and sunny.
we went to Walmart and bought a silicon baking sheet, a pastry cloth and an instant read thermometer.
I am not going to try making the English muffins until after I finish the maple cutting board. I have to round the edges with the router, sand it and oil it. should have it done in about one day..
I decided to clean the shop. If I have to toss everything into totes for sorting at a later date, so be it.
I already have two boxes to sort.
maybe it will never get done.. so be it..

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I keep sorting and getting rid of stuff, but it never seems to get anywhere. My theory is I had stuff so jammed in that when i remove half it still looks full.

Gorgeous day out. Husband says it's muddy. I don't see it. He wants to do stuff with the tractor, so perhaps from his point of view it is. He's not ruining it for me. Might go poke that soil in my raised planter to see if it's warming up.

 

[jvls1942]

after lunch I headed out the door to do something in the shop.
I literally met my brother coming in the door as I was going out. company always comes first.
after they left, I made it out to the shop and finished the cutting board.
I am not 100 percent satisfied with it, but it will be functional.
after routing all of the corners round, I brought it into the house.
the shop has no windows and it doesn't warm up like it does outside. I went onto the sunporch and rubbed the board down with cutting board oil. tomorrow I will and cleats to the bottom and it will be finished. it will fit over the kitchen sink without slipping around.. then I will attempt my first ever batch of English muffins.
Annie made a batch of baked beans from scratch. they turned out good, but a bit on the dry side.
added some water and maple syrup and they are OK. She is going to use some canned precooked beans next time. lol
gotta try, right ?
I am going to take a befor and after picture of the mess in the shop. I hope the after picture looks different than the before picture..
while we were telling bro Dave about catching squirrel no 19 and it being the last one, he said he saw a squirrel in the nut tree. I thought he was kidding.. nope. there was no.20. Annie got the .22 out and Dave went out and gave it a shot of vitamine 22..
Is there now end to them ?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We don't have squirrels here Jim. Seems they all like city living. We see them occasionally, but the dogs tend to run them off fairly quickly.

 

[jvls1942]

these are rural squirrels. we live 9 miles from town.
while my brother was out there, there was a rabbit and two grey squirrels. we don't bother the greys because they stay away from the buildings..
we have a grove of 80 black walnut trees. that is what draws the squirrels in.

 

[Callender Girl]

Squirrels do love their walnuts! Squirrels frequent my two side-by-side walnut trees. But the little pests often prefer to eat elsewhere. There are HUNDREDS of empty shells under the big mulberry tree.

Best wishes with the English muffins, Jim!

How's the raised planter soil warming up, Lisa?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

How's the raised planter soil warming up, Lisa?

Got so distracted with other stuff I never poked at it once. Expecting rain today. Maybe I should get some seeds down. Worse case scenario is I wasted some seeds.

 

[jvls1942]

Got so distracted with other stuff I never poked at it once. Expecting rain today. Maybe I should get some seeds down. Worse case scenario is I wasted some seeds.

it is still cool, but leaf lettuce might make it
I doubt if the soil is up to 60F yet.
can you cover the raised bed with glass or clear plastic ?
my tubs are portable, but I need the tractor to lift them.. I hope he comes home soon..
yesterday I rounded all of the sharp edges on the cutting board, sanded it and gave it the first coat of cutting board oil.
today I am going to oil it again and then add the cleats to the bottom. I have to wait 24 hours after oiling it, to use it.
I think I will make the next one out of oak. I want to surprise my DD with one
she has a super tiny kitchen.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

The rain started before I did, so tomorrow I will seed my lettuce. Plans are to cover the planter box with some plastic roof panels Jim. It worked well last year, plus it keeps the cars out to. We'll see how tomorrow goes.