Hello wcgypsy, It is winter now, and today it is overcast with probability that rain may turn into snow, Winters area coldish, it hardly ever reaches to -5°c that is 23°F; so only some years the ground freezes interrupting our growing season to a full stop. This may last perhaps a fortnight. As winter progresses, ( plus forecasts in sites such as Accuweather) it seems that we will continue with a mild winter. Yesterday we finished the expansion of our heated greenhouse which now has 5,200 sq.ft. We grow fresh vegetables organically to provide for our local (only) consumers and deliver the produce straight to their homes. Gradually we try to expand the buisiness covering as much as possible all along the year with the maximum diversity possible ( that is what we have learnt how to). I'm the planner and my godson who is an agronomist like myself, actually in charge of the operation. I'm already 66 and life has burdenned me with some ailments that I am learning how to swimm thru. My godson is only 40 and has a long life ahead. So, I select activities that are within the scope of what I personally can achieve. Hopefully, years to come we will be adding fruit trees under cover also along with the dairy products that we already have ( milch sheep, east Friesians); soon our ewes will be lambing; later on I milk them by hand and we share the milk processing: fresh cream, yoghurt, crean cheese, Mozzarella and later some grating cheese. The present state of our farm was the result of almost 20 years of figuring out with my late wife how we could provide us, healthy, nutritious organic vegetables and fruits grown in a beatiful and friendly environment. The buisiness developed later when my godson showed up and we decided to share our lifestyle with others. Pleasure gardening grew alonside and I'm at the stage that some gardens need renovation and others are simply new.: the dissadvantage of having plenty room. Eventually I'll have a plant list with all of what I'm growing nowadays. This season I'm setting new rose bushes into a new formal rose garden. I'm targeting onto a collection of only fragrant roses, of which some will have to be the old antique roses. In summer I grow Dahlias which I produce from seed. Also this summer as part of the general renovation scheme I'm adding a few perennial flower beds that include Irises, Scabiosa, Alstroemeria ( Peruvian lily), Crocosmia, Purple coneflower, pinks, yarrow, perennial oriental poppy, salvia (sage), lavender. I also prepare my flats with annuals such as marigolds, snapdragons, petunias, cosmos,larkspur etc. In due course of time I'll keep you posted with how things ( seeds and seedlings all the way into flowers ) develop.
