Lol! That’s my husband’s pet project (bucket-list thing). He micro-manages it. He has a remote thermometer in there, the readout of which is right near our back door (slider), where he can stand in the warmth of our breakfast nook and gaze, and check the temperature about 33 times a day. Retirement - aint it grand!
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This is the hen manure I use.
Easy to pour. I apply it every couple weeks.
Also, for tulips, I start spraying a pepper-based deer/rabbit spray repellent after each heavy rain, after the shoots come up.
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@MunchkinRedux you have a huge garden and impressive crop where do you live?
@shrinkrap somebody is making a big sacrifice with the basketball court there! Nice mandarins from your neighbor I’m looking forward to the really good citrus coming our way. We just have lemons and meyer lemons. Rats in the city make fruits a challenge. They even eat my habaneros!
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Thank you! We live in the Pacific Northwest (maritime climate). Keeping a big kitchen garden keeps us busy and out of trouble.
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Yeah! Me! 
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sweet set up !
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Thanks! Our property is on a slope, and the court is a way to make some of it flat.
More pictures earlier in this thread. This is one is my favorites.
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Pick and roll?
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Ummm…okay!
I follow the Warriors…when they’re winning. Otherwise I’m not that in to it.
Ugh! 4°F (-16°C) yesterday morning means the figs will die to the ground; no figs next year.
Happy Holidays to all!
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Eating a fresh water chestnut for the first time was a real revelation. So sweet and crispy without any can flavor.
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Yes, indeed! They’re completely different fresh. A Chinese couple told me they didn’t peel them. They just cut the tops and bottoms off and cook them in their skins after scrubbing. I’ll have to try that, as peeling is tedious. Then again… folks have dubbed me “the Master of Tedium” for the laborious food processing which seems meditative. With the lure of tedium, it may be hard to adopt easier.
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They are one of my favorites! The canned version is not even remotely close to fresh ones. I remember whenever my mom was preparing them for a dish, I would always sneak one to eat raw. Something about that starchy sweetness that I loved. Knowing where they grow now, I’m surprised I never got sick from eating them raw. 
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My poor fig trees. They have been wintering in an uninsulated closet/attic room off my spare room. It is now -28C/-40C with the wind chill and I forgot to drag them out into the bedroom. Not sure what the temperature is in there, but it’s definitely a blast of arctic air when I open the door.
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Yikes- sending warming thoughts to you and your fig trees.
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I forgot to bring my lavenders in. They sit in the back porch, so it is enclosed, but we are at -8F right now and -30F wind chill. Brought them down to my basement at 10pm to be out under a grow light. Hope they are ok. 
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Fingers crossed for you. We had the back yard plants covered for 2-1/2 weeks due to low temps (southern AZ). They came off for a few days, and will be covered again until the low temps get up near 40 degrees. I hope your lavenders make it, man that’s cold! One year it got down to 17 in my back yard, and i lost darn near half my frost-tender plants due to the wind being at gale force and blowing the sheets off the plants overnight.
Good luck-
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Chitting potatoes!
Shallots
Garlic
Fall planted potatoes
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
JK! No sage.
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Yay! Spring is coming!
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Hooray! Rose Finn Apple, a.k.a. Ruby Crescent is one of my favorites.
We had the warmest February in my lifetime, temperatures in the 60s when it should be freezing. Disaster is predicted when/if cold weather returns. Fruit trees, blueberries are in bud two months too early. Average frost date here has been May 10.
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