Thursday, March 17, 2016

The Official Framboise Manor "First Day of Spring 2016" Celebration Day!

(it's so official that i even used capital letters in the title - did you notice?)

the morning was bright and beautiful!



we decided to go all out and party - woohoo! the day started with a hottub dip admiring the greenhouse that we'll be starting a variety of lettuces, spinaches, kale, swiss chard and brassicas in this week.



we had our version of a V-8 for breakfast. jambaloney choked his down - i've been gagging it down all day!



why did we choose today to be The Official Framboise Manor "First Day of Spring 2016" Celebration Day? good question. there are a variety of reasons.

first off the pond is almost melted!


our pernnial herb garden containing mint, chives, sage, thyme, rosemary, bee balm, lemon balm and anise held up well over the winter.


especially the sage, rosemary and thyme lasted throughout the winter. the rest will come back on their own.

the chamomile bed is showing signs of coming back.


the white and blue borage bed we let go to seed last year and then knocked all of the seeds onto the ground. they will be coming back soon.


we planted our tulips! woohoo!


we got our tulips last fall and just didn't have the time to get them in the ground. and we have no idea where we wanted them to live. so we put them in a box and left them in the cool, dark basement. and what do you know - they all sprouted. it was so much fun to get out in the greenhouse and plant something! as we still don't know where we want to make a tulip bed - we planted them in pots.

now kids - you all know that when it comes to partying - we don't hold back. we go full throttle! so we got out all of our seeds that we have acquired over the years, sorted them and realized that guess what? the only seeds we need to buy this year are hops. jambaloney is going to try to start making beer with our own hops.


then we got out our bags of saved seed from last year. there are a ton more but the table is only so big.


there is something so special about feeling like you planted the seed, you grew the food, you saved the seed - and then you will plant that seed this year. imagine - the only seeds we need to buy this year are hops!

we sorted about 1/3 of our seeds, bagged and labelled them. we'll finish all of the rest during the rest of this week.



and nothing goes to waste! when our plant seeds are dry enough we don't gather the seeds we just cut the stalks and stick the stalks and the seeds in a variety of bags that we have been using for 5yrs now. re-purpose, recycle, re-use. so when we actually separate the seeds from the stalks or pods, all of that goes into a big bag to be brought out to the compost.


it's a full circle/cycle. we plant the seeds, eat the produce, save the seeds, save the stalks for compost and then the circle/cycle starts again. we love that feeling.

and isn't it awesome when it's 6pm and the sun is still high in the sky???


well, even though we're pretty sure that by announcing The Official Framboise Manor "First Day of Spring" Celebration Day that we are almost guaranteeing that we will get a pile of snow dumped on us before the end of march - it doesn't matter! today we planted things, we sorted our seeds and planned this year's garden! that to me makes it official.

and the fact that it's St. Patrick's Day when everyone wears green and drinks green beer and such - well nothing screams spring louder than green stuff!

Happy Official Framboise Manor "First Day of Spring 2016" Celebration Day - and Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you!

we're going to keep the party going on all night. jambaloney has 10 million wires and tools and all kinds of stuff spread all over the floor - stuff that he is working on for his contract. and i am writing this post, responding to email and then hitting up your blogs. then it's off to watch a movie and a few more "brooklyn 9-9" - it's a pretty funny show and we laugh our guts out at it.

then to bed by 10. we'll be worn out - but hey - you get worn out when you party like us! bahahahah!

22 comments:

  1. We're right there w/you about to bed by 10:00. Love saving seed. However, I started some tomatoes last week & forgot to bring them back south w/me. Hope I have enough moisture that they survive 10 days w/o spristing(sp?) for sprouting.

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    1. hey Gurl - bed by 10 is a pretty good rule. although, to be honest, i usually tuck him into bed at 10 (he works so hard everyday) and i am up until 1-2-3am. no matter. my sleeping is getting better with these teeth out of my mouth. if you watered your seedlings before you left they should be ok until you get back. but make sure to water them first thing when you get back! crossing my fingers for you! xoxo

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  2. Tulips are awesome. And I will be interested to hear Jam's experience with Hops. There are a number of things you can do with hops.

    Much Love, TB

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    1. hey TB - we love tulips too! but have spent the last 5yrs focusing on the garden and the greenhouse and various sheds...and blah-blah-blah! just no time for pretty things like flowers. as well, we have so many beautiful wild flowers that we don't miss flowers. but this year - we'll have tulips - woohoo! jam is pretty excited about growing the hops. it's the only thing on our list that we haven't learned to grow yet. would love to hear about your experiences with hops! sending much love back, buddy! xoxoxo

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  3. Replies
    1. Gorges - i just know how frantically you are waiting for spring so that you can sit out on the front porch with your little dog in the evenings wearing nothing but your skivvies - bahahahah! sending much love! xoxoxo

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  4. I'm glad you are feeling better, my party animal friend! :-) And I did not know that you could overwinter herbs in the ground. Granted I don't think you get as cold as we do, but you do get snow. I'll have to do some testing of my own.

    You two make me tired with all that partying! hehehe.... and what a great idea to just store your seeds in the pods/shells. A great time saver!

    Cheers to you both!

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    1. yo - hobo - we'd put you to the partying test if you ever came to visit! i'd bet you'd drop by about 8pm - bahahahaha! we kept our herbs covered with blankets over the winter, on sunny days we took the blankets off - and it worked! and ya - when it's harvest time there is so much canning and dehydrating and freezing and such - we just leave the seeds on the plants and then go out and cut off the stalks. we store them in a cool dark place...and once the smell of spring is in the air - it gives us an enjoyable thing to do without any pressure. it's a good fit for us! sending much love! xoxox

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  5. Greetings from a new follower from wales x

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    1. John - been reading your blog for a few months now...think i found you from Kev Alviti's blog. really enjoyed your blog but never commented. went in last night after receiving your comment and followed you and will add you to our blogroll. thanks so much for stopping by! xo

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  6. What a couple of wild and crazy kids... In bed by 10 eh?

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    1. PP - you and your 50 tractor girls would have a hard time keeping up with us - THAT'S how hard we party - bahahahah! would love to have you up some time to party with us. you'd be out cold after supper...and suppertime in the maritimes is between 4 and 5pm! love ya, ya nutbag brother! xoxox

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  7. Sweet Kymber,

    As we get older bed time comes so much sooner :-)

    Love my seed collection....like you, every season I bag up my seeds for the following year or years to come.

    Congratulations on getting your tulips in the ground. I can see it now, all these beautiful tulips planted all over your yard.

    Finally, I've planted most of my new strawberry plants. Onions, and potatoes are in the ground. It's time to get my front door beds planted. Were expecting another frost this evening.

    Enjoy your celebrations for St. Patty's, and sleep well :=)))

    Hugs, and love to you both.
    Sandy

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    1. hey Sweet Sandy - why are you talking about "older"? in our minds we are still 20 - but i have to hand it to ya - bedtime does come a lot sooner - bahahahah!

      we love bagging up the seeds at the end of the season and leaving them to be processed until the beginning of spring for the next season. it gives us a great thrill to sort the seeds, bag the seeds and plan our garden when there is still snow on the ground but the smell of spring is in the air!

      congrats on the strawberry plants - strawberries - yummeh! our strawberry plants are throwing out new shoots as we speak - they did really well over this winter and i can't wait to start picking them! our potatoes and onions will go in the ground in mid-april - can't wait! i hope that you all had a great St. Patty's day too! sending much love to my Angle as always! xoxoxo

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  8. Spring is definitely in the air around here too! Cheers!

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    1. Ed buddy - just as i predicted - we got a dumping of snow this morning! but then i did a raindance - the temps raised at least 4 degrees - the rain started and all the snow is gone again - woohoo! spring really IS here! sending much love buddy! xoxox

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  9. hi.
    tell jam to go to 'the deliberate agrarian' and look fot the article on building a hops tower. his goes up and down for harvesting.

    saw years ago a garden catalog with many types of hops in it, some very bittering for german beer.
    went to a historic site in pennsylvania. the pioneers grew hops to stuff pillows and they also battered and fried them. i would like to taste them. but i bet it wasn't the bitter type for eating.

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    1. deb - thanks for that tip but i have been reading kimball for at least 2yrs now and have bookmarked and printed hundreds of his writings - that guy is a genious! but thank you again for tipping us off to that.

      we know nothing about hops so we will be consulting with a bunch of different people on the interwebs to figure out which will be the best for us to start with.

      sending much love to you gurl! xoxoxo

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    2. i cannot remember the catalog that had the hops section. it was years ago.
      probably the web is the best place to look.
      yes, kimball is a good man. very caring.
      i have his book and bought a wheelhoe but never put it together.
      i would like to buy some of his clothespins in the future. the ones in the store are so wembly and fall apart.
      john w. prostate cancer in 2014. put a damper on everything. he is now on pills and maybe chemotherapy in 2 months.
      i have to be healed by then so i can take care of him.
      been told chemo is not as horrible as it used to be. i hope so!

      having right hip replaced on the 11th.
      i will be bionic!
      i don't need to be bionic, but being able to clean my sty [house] and bend over and sleep without pain would be great.
      big loves,
      deb

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    3. If you go to rareseeds.com they have tons of hops. That is the home of bakers creek seeds, an heirloom, organic seed company. I have had great success with their seeds

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  10. hey there, i know they used to grow it in huge rows like walls of hops in suffolk and norfolk.

    http://www.britishhops.org.uk/hop-growing/

    seedlings are coming along now. lost some Ithink due to cold drafts?

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  11. Be careful where you plant your hops~! I had 'one' vine and now it is the Creature of the Hops Lagoon and threatens to take over my deck every spring and summer! Hurray for Spring!

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