Update - sunflower house and coldframe

Here is the newly dug sunflower house - look at that rich soil! I also added a dozen shovelfuls of aged organic manure and loosened the earth to about a foot - we want HUGE sunflowers.. We started the seeds indoors to get a jump on their growth and planted 'Kong' (often up to 15-feet tall!), 'Van Gogh' (the classic sunflower from Van Gogh's paintings) and 'Teddy Bear' (a dwarf double type to help 'fill in' the lower portion of the sunflower house). I still need to finish cleaning up the sods I removed, but it's ready to plant! Now, all we need is some sunshine..

It's been 2 weeks since I seeded cold frame #1 and the seedlings seem to be doubling in size every day! So exciting.. The arugula (in the middle) is ready for baby greens (2 weeks!) and the purple pak choi is in the 4th leaf stage.. Even the carrots sprouted after only 6 days - they usually take at least 2 weeks to emerge when planted in the garden.

This shows just how much a cold frame can impact a garden in the spring, fall and winter. I think I'll tuck some hot peppers in here during the summer - keeping the top up, but this spot will allow the peppers to maximize the amount of sun and heat they receive..

Oh, and in cold frame #2 - seed 1 week ago, the radishes are growing like they're on steroids! I hope to break my record for the first radish! Old record is 23 days.. new record is ?? I'll let you know in a week or two..

Happy Gardening!