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My mom and dad gave me a gift certificate to the local Garden Center for my birthday coming up this week. This is what I bought.
As I started to pull the pieces out of the box, it seemed as though there were quite a few for such a simple structure. I laughed at one of the bullets in the "Safety Advice" section of the picture instructions. It read: Do not attempt to assemble the Cold Frame if you are tired, have taken drugs or alcohol or if you are prone to dizzy spells. Now by no means do I laugh at drug and alcohol usage, however I have been chasing around a 4 year old all day long and did take a little catnap to recover. So I would say that I fell in the category of "if you are tired."
I pride myself on putting things together and being able to follow cryptic diagrams, but I should have heeded the warning a little closer. I don't know how long it would take a guy with power tools to put this thing together, but with just a screwdriver and arm power it took over an hour. I may have blisters tomorrow. Nevertheless, I will have lettuce sooner than anyone else in the area, so it was all worth it.
Note To Self: Next time buy the floor display model.
Well, it's official, I passed my test and am now a Master Gardener Volunteer with the Lancaster Extension office.
Monday we learned all about pests and animals in our area and what to do with them if they became a problem. It was interesting to find out that most trapped animals cannot be relocated more than 100 yards from the trapping site. My thought was why bother trapping then. But there were a few instances brought up to validate trapping as well.
Today we learned mainly about fruiting trees that grow well in Nebraska and I was surprised to find out some of the history of fruit production here. It turns out that back before Nebraska was a state and still a territory there was quite a lot of fruit trees, but due to an untimely freeze in November of 1940 almost all fruit trees here were decimated by the freezing water in their trunks. Then locals never replanted to replace the destroyed trees.
Anyway, I am looking forward to a number of volunteer opportunities this year and hope to continue to expand my knowledge. I feel that the classes were conducted by those who are experts in their fields and it made me feel good that we have them on staff at the University and the Extension office.
Continually amazed at how much knowledge these presenters have about their subjects. We learned about Perennials installed in the city gardens and landscape design on Day 4. Then on Day 5 we learned about the effects of Pesticides. I only have two more class sessions before I have to take my test, I hope that the test will be easy.
On another note, peeked out in the garden yesterday and saw the first tips of Asparagus breaking through the soil. So I added my 1-1/2 of compost for the season. I should be eating fresh Asparagus in about 2 weeks!
Some tulips are putting leaves up as well as the daffodils, but it will still be quite awhile til they bloom.
Monday went well, we learned about different kinds of turfgrass suitable to our area here in Nebraska. Learned a lot of good information during the day.
I have class again today, we will be learning about Tree Disease and Insects as well as Plant Morphology... that one sounds kind of interesting. All I can think of is "Feed Me, Seymore" from the 1986 movie Little Shop of Horrors.
I plan on signing up for one of my first volunteer opportunities today, our local Children's Zoo needs help this spring to wake everything up. So excited.
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