by Noel | Mar 21, 2011 | CobraHead
I built this cold frame in January with a lot of help from my friend David Peterson who built a duplicate model for himself at the same time. David is retired, lucky guy, and he has put together a really well equipped workshop with lots of woodworking equipment to keep occupied. We were discussing cold frames over dinner quite a while back and I let David know that I had a whole lot of 1/4″ clear glass sheets about 2 feet by 6 feet that I thought might be...
by Noel | Feb 16, 2011 | CobraHead
As our little business grows we’ve had to develop selling aids so the stores who sell our products can display them prominently. Hopefully the displays get noticed and entice people to buy. They are referred to as POP’s – Point of Purchase Displays. For the past several years I’ve been making them for both our short and long handled tools in my garage. The displays are okay looking and easy for me to produce cheaply in small...
by Noel | Jan 18, 2011 | Gardening
Gardeners are risk takers. They have to be. Nothing is guaranteed with seeds and plants. Even with the best care failures occur. I tried several new things last year and had some successes and some failures, but as usually happens, what works outweighs what doesn’t. Running two businesses keeps me short on time. My garden is most always a weedy mess. It’s gardening on the run. I’m gone many weekends doing trade shows and while I do get...
by Noel | Dec 13, 2010 | CobraHead
In the past when we’ve encountered ladybugs in the house, they have been treated with disrespect and vacuumed up or tossed outside. With the onset of the Asian variety in the Midwest, these garden friends have become a pest solely because of their exploding populations. In winter, they find their way into the house and collect in corners and other warm spots. I found this one basking under the grow lights in the marjoram plant. I’ll let it alone and...
by Noel | Dec 7, 2010 | CobraHead, Gardening
Less than three weeks ago I posted about my new grow light setup. I’m happy to report that things are working out well. We picked our first small salad today. The top picture shows thinnings and cuttings of a salad mix that germinated profusely. The mix can be seen in the second flat from the right in the second picture. On the far right I’ve got a flat of lettuce mix which did not have spectacular germination, but is still putting out some nice...
