Spring Planting

I hadn't planned on these little seedlings getting big enough to plant just yet.  I only started them 4 weeks ago.  But it's a beautiful day outside, I happened to pick up some manure and compost yesterday, so I figured it was a good day to plant.

I'm giving broccoli and cabbage a try along the fence line.  I haven't attempted veggies there, thinking they wouldn't get enough sun.  But the herbs and flowers I planted there last summer grew fine.  I'm hoping that the afternoon shade will protect these cool season crops from bolting on a warmer day.  We'll see.

 

These broccoli are going in my triangle bed and will be replaced by peas later in the season.

DIY Kitchen Project

I know, this is supposed to be a garden blog, but today I'm going to gush about my latest indoor project: Lighting.

Here is a pseudo-before shot of our kitchen.

All the lighting for this room came from 6 4' fluorescent fixtures installed above the cabinets (see bright shiny spot at the top of the picture).  Then there was a globe chandelier circa 1965 above the sink.  If you were interested in a clear shot of the cobwebs on the ceiling, you were in luck.  If you wanted to cut an onion on the countertop, you had to hope for a sunny day.

So we've completely redone the lighting in the room.  Now it looks like this:

The globe chandelier was replaced by a track light fixture above the sink.  I removed all of the fluorescent fixtures above the cabinets except the one in the center.  In their place, I installed lighting under the cabinets to illuminate the counter area where we actually need it.  And with the fixtures gone, I was able to put up some decorative accents above the cabinets to really soften the room.

The other nice thing is more control over the lighting.  One switch turned on all the lights in the room.  You were either in hospital-bright, or total darkness.   Now, the countertop lighting is one one switch, the rest is still attached to the original.  You would be amazed how nice it is to be able to turn on just some of the lights in your kitchen.  That was a luxury we never appreciated until it was gone.