We have started to settle into a new regime with new digs between a donkey and a camel. The stalls are rather spacious though the smell of dung lingers until acclimation sets in. Tables are set up and we have started to decorate. Our berths now are dedicated to “Man-O-Melon” and “Peabiscuit,” our vegan view of equine champions. The children are still not sure why we are going to work where the mother-load of all fertilizer is manufactured.
“Why are we going to the stables, Mr. Keller? Are we picking up some plants? Do we get to see the horses?”
It has yet to sink in for many that we will not be working in the greenhouse for the foreseeable future at Green Chimneys, though as I mentioned in a prior post, our days working in the greenhouse were shrinking to begin with. But it has some real ramifications.
We have tons of cold weather crops like kale, azuma, broccoli, lettuce, peas, etc. that are being planted now. What we don’t have are the warm weather flowers like marigolds and zinnias as well as vegetables such as tomatoes, peppers, melons, and basil. We think we can just start enough stuff so that we will have the basics for the garden but none of the extras that we have all become accustomed to.
But like locust, unexpected snow, hail and other natural disasters, the new one defined by OSHA is being dealt with. We have started to plant basil and parsley. We have heat mats and lamps set up in the tack room where seedlings grow among the equipment that gets pulled for the dozen plus horses that berth nearby.
As the day warmed up (and the local aroma became more pungent,) we transferred out activities outside. We spent the last week erecting more hoop houses and planted whatever cold weather crops we could. Things are being placed outside much earlier (and smaller) than in the past but we have little choice. It matters little, however, as the children enjoy being in the garden, getting their hands soiled and picking a stray carrot that was planted last fall.
