I have become a bit complacent. The greenhouse is still not quite finished. It is just a couple of roof panes that need to go in, but I can’t do it by myself as I really don’t want to be climbing ladders with glass all by myself – it just seems a little bit too dangerous. So the plan is to climb the ladder safely and then Hubby the Un-Gardener will pass me the glass.
There are problems with this safe plan. I have to wait for him to be free, and these days he is a very busy man, and when he is free it is raining. He doesn’t want to do it in the rain as he doesn’t think it is all that safe – something about slipping while holding glass… I guess he has a point.
In the meantime I have been letting my wee seedlings spend the day in the glasshouse and moving them into Hubby the Un-Gardener’s office at night – in front of his big window. Then every morning I have to move them out again so they don’t get trodden on. It is a real palaver but it keeps the need to get the greenhouse finished in the forefront of his mind.
But the other night I was really knackered and I checked out the weather forecast and was surprised to learn that the overnight low was supposed to be 14°C!!! We have had days colder than that with my seedlings hanging out in the uncompleted greenhouse. So I figured they would be ok to have their first sleep over in the greenhouse and they survived the night.
So last night I checked the weather and once again it was to be 14°C so I decided to leave them in there again. The thing is, when checking the forecast I didn’t look beyond the temperature and completely missed the severe weather warning.
Feeling a little smug I climbed into bed only to be woken at 4am to an incredible electrical storm overhead, heavy rain – you know the kind with the fat rain drops and winds that seemed really strong. Aside from being afraid of thunder and lightening – although I tried to make myself feel better by reminding myself that lightening is good for the garden as it converts nitrogen from the air into something plants can use – I felt happy that with a good solid glasshouse I wouldn’t need to worried about it blowing away like every other greenhouse I have ever had. Not one of them would have stood up to the elements last night.
Then I remembered that it was not all snug and secure out there. There were still panes missing. The wind could get in and wreck my seedlings or knock over the shelves. So I lay there worrying about my seedlings out in the storm, like I have in every spring storm there has ever been since I first put a seed into soil.
Daylight revealed my fears were unfounded and my seedlings were safe. But my garden and the backyard seems to have turned into a lake. The boffins as the weather office suggest we had 26.6mm of rain but it seems loads more than that and some of my taller plants have taking a bit of a hammering. But it is spring and the weather is unpredictable, but best of all we are one day closer to summer.
Come again soon – I still have a load of weeding left to do to be truly spring ready.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
Well, at least everything turned out OK.
Hi There. Thanks for your support – Spring is such a tumultuous time, but before we know it we will be basking in the warmer summer weather.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Hey Sarah, mean’t to write much earlier to say Thanks.. for your wonderful hosting the othercday for our garden club.
Very inspiring! I have been down the lower South Island for the last 11 days. We have enjoyed lovely scenery, snow, , daffodils, baby lambs.
Home tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing whats been happening in my garden. Glad all survived the rough night.:)
HI Sandy. Thank you for visiting my garden. I love showing it off and you such a lovely bunch of people in your group. I ended up using your generous gift to buy a new garden fork as I seem to have worn out the old fork and broke two prongs off it trying to clear out a weedy bed. I didn’t know I was so strong!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Glad the seedlings survived the onslaught.
Didn’t know about lightning converting nitrogen – you learn something new every day 🙂
BTW now that her eye is fully recovered I showed Middle Mudlet and her sister your new header picture and they both spotted the lambs 🙂
That is good news. I’m glad the Middle Mudlet is now back in good health.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Hi Elaine. You have to find your blessings were you can and if a scary thunder storm is going to work for good in my garden then I’ll take it. But it is still quite frightening! I hate them!
Cheers Sarah : o )
We had a big storm here yesterday too – glad everything turned out ok for the wee seedlings.
Hi Heidi, sometimes we take the settled weather a little for granted, but after a storm we end up appreciating things a little more. I hope your descent into winter is slow and gentle and you still get some lovely days.
Cheers Sarah : o )
No storm here but we did get lots of rain and reading your story was a bit like reading a horticultural Stephen King novel…will the babies be alright?!!! Glad to see it had a happy ending…NOT like most of Mr Kings books 😉
Hi Fran. Spring weather is so unpredictable – well only if you forget how yucky it was at the same time last year! But then experience lets us know what is safe for our wee green babies and what will kill them if they are released into the wild too soon. Good luck with your gardening endeavors this spring. Cheers Sarah : o )
Looks like the storm is back, big time, we may JUST miss it…..fingers crossed.
Summer crop is safe anyway, seedling and baby plants in door 🙂
Hi Dina, I managed to put another couple of panes of glass in, but not all of them, so I think I might just move my plants inside…. just in case. It would break my heart to lose them now!
Don’t get too soggy.
Cheers Sarah : o )
and I thought your glass looked very clean….. 😉
how did the garden survived last night’s storm?
I’m keeping dry, not going to work today …..:)
Hi Dina, Good news is the glass is all now in and the seedlings are all tucked up safe and well. It is so reassuring to have a solid well built greenhouse after years and years of cheap plastic ones – and some not so cheap – that never seem to last.
How is your garden faring in this spring weather?
Cheers Sarah : o )
Hi Sarah, as much as we want to follow nature, the weather is getting crazier every year, so it is great news that you have protected area for the seedlings. also a safe spot to sit with a glass of wine and look at the garden, even in a middle of a storm, must be awesome.
my polypalace is finally a place I want to be in. clean, re organised and most of the hard work behind me and everything is growing so fast.. after a day in the office, it is a joy to finish it in my shed, I even have few tomatoes in the ground – so I’m sure we’ll have tomatoes before Xmas.
outside way to wet to even think of preps but I did make 4 small beds from tyres for pumpkin and zucchini, will be planted as soon as this wind stops. there is a feeling of happening in the air, we almost there =D Dina
Haven’t visited you for a while Sarah, been too busy with the B and B thing, but it’s good to see all your spring plantings as well as your long-awaited greenhouse! Of course we’re into autumn now and I must admit that I’m looking forward to a slower pace all ’round. Very high winds and rainfall tend to hit us in the winter so no plants to worry about!
Christine
HI Christine. It is so good to see you pop by. Summer tends to be a hectic season and time for catching up on blogs often gets cast aside for other things like processing produce and doing actual gardening. I hope you had a successful season and can now relax and enjoy that slower pace and hopefully watch me with my turn to have the hectic season.
Cheers Sarah : o )