Greenhouse work from December

December snowfalls did not stop Rich from building. View from the top of the greenhouse at night:

The outside is now covered with clear plastic and a temporary roof of plywood will cover the top.

And the poly carbonate roof panels have now replaced the plywood.

Greenhouse work from later November

Later in November, we built the North wall.

Still warm enough for the signet marigolds to be in bloom in the garden, plus the low grass and clover mix that I fall-planted between the beds. Shredded bark mulch is just too much work to constantly replace, so I am experimenting with low-grow grass.

Greenhouse work from early November 2016

November was warm and productive! We painted and raised the south wall.

Greenhouse work from October 2016

After an extremely humid August and September, we finally got back to construction in October. We started building the south wall by laying out a frame for the antique windows:

Red Onion Harvest

Protecting strawberries from chipmunks

Making dill pickles

Father's Day Tree Frog

Cleaning up the concrete pad for the greenhouse

Old rotting shed coming down...greenhouse going up!

Broccoli harvest

Packman broccoli from Jungs was started on March 15th and it is now ready to harvest. Quiche also had our chives.

Storage shed shelves

Memorial Day Archaeology find

Census records and historical maps of Verona, Wisconsin show that in the 1880's and 1890's  our land was farmed by James and Ann MacDonald and their children. 

We unearthed this metal oddity on our land over the weekend, and discovered that it is a Civil War hat pin from the 69th Irish Union brigade. 

Records of the 69th include a James MacDonald who enlisted in December 1861 at the age of 26 and deserted two years later in June of 1863. Only 1 in 4 soldiers survived the war.

Archaeological finds at Horseshoe Bend in Dane County, Wisconsin

My husband has been excavating an old foundation he discovered on our property. We should probably stop teasing him now... a Civil War Irish 69th brigade hat pin, porcelain imported by the first mayor of Madison, Jairius Fairchild, and many other items have been unearthed.

Robin's egg

Lovely moss nest with white eggs