The Mesclun is Up! - March 3, 2022 @goldenoakfarm

Thursday morning when I looked out, it was all white, again!

My cleaning helper was here again on Thursday and I asked her if she wanted to plant the arnica seeds that had come in. When we went to get the tray off the shelf where we’d put it on Wednesday when we planted it, she noticed the mesclun/lettuce seeds were already sprouted! I don’t believe I’ve ever had seeds sprout in less than 24 hours!

As I looked at it, I realized we’d forgotten to sprinkle a light covering of soil over the seeds. That must be why they sprouted so fast. They didn’t have a heat mat.

Once that was done we picked up where we’d left off, building lights for the roundtop window. I had a motley collection of plugs to put on the light and the one I selected was the most convoluted plug I’ve ever put together. It had 2 locks on the base, an intricate inner part for hooking up the wires, and I couldn’t help thinking someone must have had WAY too much time on their hands when they designed it. It would be an electrician’s nightmare.

But we finally got it all together and it worked. We finished getting shelves up and the lights and everything working. It’s amazing how well a surge protector works when you plug it in….Gotta love brainfog…

So we cleaned up all the mess and moved what we needed into the office and had lunch. Then we set about getting the lights ready to hang and setting up a too big heat mat. Leveling the bottom shelve on its collection of boxes took a while.

The hooks that came with the lights were VERY sturdy and we had a time getting them onto the lights so they would not fall down inside the lights. But in the end we got 2 hung, the mats sorted out and we quit. It’s enough to get through the next starting. We can finish next week.

Every day when I do the shades, I notice how much more lovely this begonia is getting. It has lots of flowers and buds now. Amazing what happens when you feed the plants…

The clivia in the living room is also starting to flower. I will be feeding them again on Friday when my general helper comes. There’s so much standing involved in doing it, I do much better when someone is making each feeding solution while I am pouring out the previous solution. With 75+ house plants, it takes a LOT of mixing and watering cans of water.

Once that’s done, I think we’ll go down and tackle the cellar. Perhaps put away all the seed starting stuff I won’t need until I put things away at the end of May. My helper friend will be here, bringing 2 more bags of birdseed with him. He’ll be doing general chores, like filling bird feeders.

I’m assuming the usual Friday chaos will be in effect, as it is every Friday.