Gardening with Soule

I am re-posting about this fun project since it’s about that time again to put it to use.

We found some vintage windows which inspired this entire project.  With a bit of wood found in the garage and a quick trip to Home Depot, we had the makings of a fun weekend.

On a gorgeous day in Spring,  my husband  got started on building me a cold frame..

First he built it,

then he put on wheels so we can move it into the sun or in and out of the garage if we have a bad frost coming.

Next we painted it,

put the windows on with  hinges,

and reused the window hardware as handles.

He added a couple of heavy duty handles on the sides for lifting (you never know)

and there you have it…

a great cold frame to hold all my fledgling seedlings and give them an early start.

~ All through the long winter, I dream of my garden. On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth. I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar. ~ Helen Hayes

Those winter chills are in the garden so this shamrock(oxalis) plant can thrill me with this simple little purple flower.

Kind of looks like the Garden Shoes Online flower…..

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.  ~Gerard de Nerval

 Starting seeds can be a sanity saver for many of us waiting  through a long winter for spring to arrive. 

 Last year my husband and I built a seed starting rack with lights so I could survive the winter gardening blues.  It was an easy and  fun project.

We purchased a metal shelf unit from Sams club. Then we  bought shop lights from Home Depot that could be plugged into a powerstrip so that no electrical wiring was necessary.

 Easy peasy.

 The only problem I found was that I wish we had made two shelves.

        ~”So many seeds, so little space.”~unknown 

I have to buy a Cyclamen every January to bring color back in to the house.

They always feel like an after christmas pick me up.

  And who can’t use that?

~”Winter is the season in which people try to keep the house as warm as it was in
the summer, when they complained about the heat.”  ~ Unknown

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine
when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts.  ~Dodinsky

 The color of springtime is in the flowers, the color of winter is in the imagination.  ~Terri Guillemets

Since it is January, I thought I would reminisce a bit about one of my favorite flowers.  Dahlias.

They never disappoint.

 Dahlias come in all sizes and colors. 

 They aren’t hardy, so their tubers must be dug up before the first frost to be replanted the following year.

But they are so worth the trouble. 

They are one plant that I put in every year because they are so dependable and rewarding.  

~”When words escape, flowers speak.”-   Bruce W. Currie

~”A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” 
~Author Unknown

~”May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through! ” ~
Unknown

~”Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.”  ~Peg Bracken