Greenhouses, Gardens, and Birds

Cute mini greenhouse for sale at Black Dog Salvage

Yesterday, it was in the mid-50's here in SW Virginia which got me and everyone else thinking about how spring is only a few months away.  Okay, so that is weeks and weeks away and it's now snowing but I'm daydreaming about it anyway.  Since my husband had Monday off from work for the holiday, he went ahead and rented a tiller and got our backyard garden plowed up and semi-ready for planting when spring does finally arrive.  It felt so good to come home from work (no day off for me) and see the plot of dirt sitting there looking big and impressive and full of promise.

The garden is large - over 20' x 10'.  Our plan is to plant corn, tomatoes, green beans, squash, and one cucumber plant.  I'm also going to have an herb box and all of those seeds were purchased at Fresh Market on Sunday.  Can you tell that I'm super psyched?  I got fennel, rosemary, chives, dill, basil, swiss chard, scallions, and turnips.  I'm forgetting two more that I can't recall...  I also plan on buying a strawberry plant to stick in there along with some scented geranium and lavender to deter pests.  I'm hoping all of this hard work isn't lost to deer.

Southern dirt is so totally different than the New York soil I'm used to.  Growing up, I'd dig into soft, chocolate brown soil that had a lot of sand in it and drained well.  It was easy to dig and work with and full of nutrients.  It was easy to have a garden.  This red clay which turns into a brick when dry and is impossible to work with when wet will be a major challenge for me.  I'll try to figure it out.

Isn't the picture of that mini glass greenhouse above really cute?  I went to Black Dog Salvage in mid-December to look for a bathroom wall hook with multiple, swinging arms and was successful but saw this along the way.  It was several hundred dollars so there was no way I was going to buy it but it was so cute and made me think that one day I could possibly create one of these myself if I had nothing else to do with my time.  I always wanted a glass greenhouse.  Probably because they seem romantic and full of Old World charm.