To The Surbiton Manor Born

  Greenhouses Invade Tom's Office Yes friends, the new gardening trend of the year is Sunlight Confusion (tm).  Just as athletes benefit from doing different exercises and thus inducing "muscle confusion," gardeners are taking this lesson to heart for their seedlings. In the bad old days, a gardener would only be allowed to place their seedlings in one place. There they would remain for the duration. If the pot was placed at the back of the greenhouse, furthest from the window, the seedling would grow up leggy and weak, like Eugene (that guy who always gets atomic wedgies), and endure humiliations galore from its seedling peers. No longer! With Sunlight Confusion (tm), gardeners can move the pots around. If a plant is at the back of the greenhouse today, it can be at the front tomorrow. Is the plant placed under the sad ol' grow lights? Don't fret! Tomorrow, it can be placed in the bright light of the T5 fluorescents. Remember to send $.95 to Steepmeadow every tim...

  The Mighty Trellis There be signs o' the green outside. 50 degrees today. (Though we are looking at 5" of snow on Wednesday.) Ye first robins showed up. 'Tis March. A grueling and bitter month. Crocuses seem to be popping, though: And if I am not mistaken, tulips! Hope they hold out through the snow. The tomatoes are now in the greenhouse as well. Two varieties this year: Seed Savers "Wisconsin Chief" and Survival Seeds, "Tiny Tim" cherry tomatoes. We've had good luck with the former in the past. The photo at the top is our mighty new trellis, which, when the ground unfreezes, will be placed over two separate beds, bridging them and getting the peas/beans on one side and the pumpkins on the other. Pumpkins have had a tendency to go crazy, like the Crinoid in Dr. Who (for those who remember a blog post from a couple of years ago when they overran our deck. With the democracy being gutted as I type, it will be more important than ever to generate as...