Animals

Indoor Gardening

With the arrival of the new year,

we have been plunged into frigid winter weather...

at least for the time being.

Dressing to go out to do farm chores reminds me of how my Mom used to bundle me up to play in the snow when I was a very little girl.

I have to admit...

I like this time of year.

I love the cold weather.

Bundled up, I can work outdoors all day and not mind the cold...

much easier than working outdoors in the blazing heat of the summer...

at least for me!

Still, all in all, there just are not as many outdoor chores to do this time of year.

So I have turned my attention indoors...

catching up on reading and sewing (a new quilt is in the works).

Paging through seed catalogs and planning this coming summer's garden boxes

will keep me occupied the rest of the time.

Rather than waiting until Spring's arrival to once again begin gardening,

we decided to do a little indoor gardening this winter.

Hubbs, Amanda and I fashioned a little greenhouse in our basement.

Utility shelves surrounded by plastic sheeting,

grow lights and heat mats will provide the necessary warmth and humidity

for seeds to sprout.

We have planted lettuces for fresh winter salads

and several herbs, as well as rescuing some of our spearmint from freezing

temperatures.

As an experiment, we have planted radishes in deeper pots.

I'll keep you informed of our progress.

For now, though, it sure felt good to have our fingers in soil once again.

It's been too cold for the pigs to go outside the past couple of days.

This is how they spend their time on these frigid days....

They dig themselves into a pile of hay beneath their heat lamp and sleep

with just their little piggy butts showing.

Once the temperatures are back in the mid 30's they will go out to play again.

And by the way...the pigs have now tripled in size....

I can no longer lift them.
Little Porkers!

Ginger, Jan 2012

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Animals