New Projects

A few new projects in the works this Fall. I sure love projects, especially food-related ones.

1. Cold Frame in the garden: this is a scaled down greenhouse-like box that sits over the ground. It moderates the winter temps a bit so you can grow some cold-hardy veggies through the winter. I'll be experimenting with spinach, kale, and leaf lettuce this year. Maybe I'll have grown a salad by Thanksgiving, eh? The chard in my regular garden bed is also an experiment this year...will it grow through the snow? Can't wait to see. My friend Denise has all the tools and construction know-how to build the frame itself (lucky me!) so I get to learn about lumber, hinges, plexiglass, and framing DURING the project, not before. That means I get the cold frame 2 years ahead of schedule ;)

2. Root Cellar: it turns out my garage maintains a pretty "moderate" temperature throughout the winter. I'll be storing a few root veggies in there this year to see if it's worth the hassle. Different root veggies have different storage needs (temp, humidity, grouping, etc.), but I'm hoping it's not as complex as the books make it out to be. Worst case scenario: rotten veggies. Best case scenario: eventually growing and storing my own root veggies to enjoy all winter! How cool is THAT?!

3. Remodeling our bathroom: pricer than the other two projects. More complex, too. I'm REALLY nervous about this one, but motivated. I think. Anyone ever replaced a tub before? Yikes. Maybe I can fly my parents out sometime to help me...