Christmas Vacation in the Yard

The time off during the holiday helped a lot of projects along. About 6 more flats got planted in the greenhouse and there are now 2 ½ flats that are sprouted. The camellias and the speckledy things have started sprouting new growth. The desire for a new greenhouse to replace the homemade thing is starting to grow. I found one I really like for about $1200, but it is in a kit and I am not very mechanical. Maybe I can pay someone to put it together. That would be better than paying the $3000 plus that the same greenhouse would cost.

All of the holes have been done and the posts put in for the bambi fence. Some of the posts have not been tamped in yet because it rained all night Christmas eve and the dirt is still too wet. The endless job of splitting firewood has started. The bulbs have been planted and the leaves were gotten up in the back yard and put into the compost bin. New year’s eve belongs to the grandchildren, so nothing will get done this weekend.

People with pets always have the care thing to worry about when they leave town. Those of us who have no pets don’t have to worry, but we need to remember to refresh bird feeders and bird baths before we go. It would not be nice to come home to a bunch of hungry dirty birds.



David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

News from the Greenhouse

There have just barely been enough rainy days to get the greenhouse ready for winter planting. It is probably too early anyway, but planting has begun. Some things started really early like starting plants from cuttings. Others started on the 12th. Before that almost all of the flats were filled with dirt-filled pots .

On the 12th two flats were planted. They mostly contained things that are really slow to germinate, like ghost peppers. There were also a few of some weird Yugoslavian tomatoes and a few marigolds. A bulb was found in the compost that was sprouting. I’m not sure what it is, but I have a fixation with volunteers so it was potted, and lives in the greenhouse.

Two more flats were planted on the 16th and another 2 on the 20th. One flat has been filled with sprouted plants. The newly planted cups (or pots) are placed in a flat that contains water and covered with a cloche. When they sprout they are moved to a flat that does not hold water and left uncovered. All of the plants (except for that bulb) are on heated mats.



David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Indian Summer

It is hard to believe that it is over 70 degrees in December. The first killing frost was in late November. Is this an Indian summer, or is the winter not really here yet? The greens and peas are still growing like crazy. Usually they have slowed down by now. Is this a sign of permanent climate change or are we just getting off to a late start on the cold weather?

The planting time could have moved up by several weeks this spring. Fear was the only thing preventing it. This year the greenhouse plants will need to be started early as it would be wise to plant at least a few items early if spring is warm again this year.

Some people are still mowing grass. The grass seed that we put out in October has not germinated. Maybe these warm days will bring it along. If no grass comes up, at least the yard is flat enough now to use the good lawn mower on the grass we plant in the spring.



David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/