Dreaming of Tomatoes

Yesterday, my tomato seeds and starting mix arrived in the mail.  This morning, I grabbed the box and headed for my greenhouse.

It's been many years since the kids called me "Mommy" but I'll keep Camille's editing job on my sign forever.

The snow is gone and the sun is out, but the wind is blowing hard - and it's a cold wind.  Instead of riding, I got busy in the greenhouse where it was nice and warm.

I had three kinds of tomato seeds to sow: slicing, sauce and grape varieties.  Last year I had enough tomatoes to make and freeze a whole bunch of sauce and roasted tomatoes.  I intend to do the same this summer.  We have really enjoyed our spaghetti dinners this winter.

In the summer, our nights remain cold so I need early varieties of tomatoes.  Legend was a winner last year.

I use this heating pad to keep the soil warm and germinate the seeds.  That way, I don't have to heat the greehouse.

I sow the seeds in this plant tray. 

...which has a soil temperature sensor buried in the dirt.

I plug it in and set the temperature to about 65F.

I keep the tray covered until the seeds germinate.  This creates a warm moist environment for the seeds.

Somehow, I have ended up with volunteer poppies growing in the gravel of the greenhouse floor.  I love coming out here with a book and relaxing with all the baby plants perfuming the air around me. 

Back in the house, I immediately recorded my activities in my new obsession -- a gardening network called Folia.  You can click on the badge on my sidebar and it will take you there if you want to check it out.  I've tried other gardening websites before and they were awkward to use and I wasn't impressed.  Someone recommended this one to me in a comment and I love it!  I can follow other gardeners all around the world, I can read (and contribute) to forums on all aspects of gardening, and I can track my plants.  What fun! 

Going Western

The other day I hand walked Winston a bit on the bridle path by our property, just to get him used to being out there alone.

Saturday, we went western.  I put on my boots and dusted off the trail saddle.

I don't think Winston has ever worn a Western saddle before.  Fortunately, he is the same size as Jackson so my practically brand new trail saddle fits him.  I thought he looked pretty spiffy in his casual wear.

When we started walking over to the mounting block, he wasn't too sure.  The saddle creaks and squeaks a lot -- the way new saddles do.  We walked around in the arena until he got used to the sounds and relaxed.  Then we hit the open road.

Past the bunnies and the hay shed...

...down the back driveway

 and back to the arena.  In the arena we did a bit of work turning on the forehand and leg yielding.  When he had that down, we went back down the driveway to the gate.

Jackson wanted to know what the heck we were doing going back and forth, back and forth, up and down the driveway.

We got the gate open.  It wasn't graceful and involved Winston getting smacked by the gate (he didn't even jump!).

We turned right and followed the property line towards the main entrance and the goats.

The furthest he had been was this corner.  He wasn't sure about going further.

And he wasn't sure about the two goats that were napping on top of the big boulder (gone in this photo).

Yawning, stretching goats resemble bobcats.  At least, that's what Winston told me.  Not that he's ever seen a bobcat.

We continued on to the neighbor's driveway before turning around.  When we got back to our back driveway, I decided to continue on to the corner since he was doing so well.  I was riding on a long rein and he was pretty relaxed.

We were riding into the sun... a photo no-no.  Or maybe we were being blessed by the sunlight. 

We met a neighbor coming back from a ride on one of her horses and chatted for awhile. 

Then it was back up the driveway to home.

I think he earned this.  Don't you?