Is the Wooden Storm Window Done Yet?

Completed Storm Window left to dry.

The answer is YES, I finished last coat of paint while writing this.  I have many excuses why it took me so long to finish it. Here are some examples snow storms, planting seeds, house cleaning etc.  The last time I wrote about this project I finished priming the frame, ordered the new glass and planned on glazing the window panes over the weekend of February 24-25.  The glass panes were glazed in on the 25th.  First, I needed to throw out any glazing compound that showed signs it was drying out after that it needed to be knead.  The kneading allows it to soften and become pliable when working with it.   The first thing to do is put a thin layer of glazing on the lip where the glass pane will sit.  Then gently place the glass pane in the frame and press on the glass to obtain a good seal between the wood and glass. You will see some glazing squeeze out along the edge but do not press hard enough to squeeze all of it out. 


This type of glazing point is much easier to push but they also
have a setback.  Their edges are sometime hard to cover with
the glazing compound.

Don't use these they are awful to work with. 
The setup on the right show how I use a putty
knife to push it in. 

Once the window panes are firmly in place, it is time to press in the glazier's points.  I thought I still had some good points at home but all I have were these flat and large triangle points.  I decide to use them since I did not want to run out to the store, this was a mistake.  The triangle points are hard to push in and they need to pushed in a lot further compare to the other designs.  While trying to push in one of the points, my glazing knife slipped under my thumb nail.  Boy, there were a few #### when that happen.  I kept on working until all the points were inside the lip edge.


A completed glazing corner.

I learned a lot about glazing windows from "This Old House" and the book Working Windows by Terry Meany.  I need to re-glaze and weather-proof all my old window in this house.  Years ago when I owned another house I used an one-inch putty knife to do re-glaze all those window.  It was hard try to achieve a constant angle across the frame and it was almost impossible to get the angles to meet at the corners with the putty knife.  I found a glazing knife two years ago while working on the storm window to my back porch door.  The design make glazing so much easier one end of the knife is angled and the other side is flat.  The angled end makes it fairly easy to get a smooth straight angle across frame and the corners come out nice.  The flat side is good for removing the excess glazing compound.  You still will need to practice but it does not take long to archive a good result.  I rolled out long ropes of the compound and pressed them along the window frame and the glass.  After I pressed in the caulk I using the angle end of the knife to cut through the extra compound until there was a smooth angle of glazing compound between the frame and glass.  If there are a few minor flaws I used my fingers get a smooth edge.  Wear plastic gloves when doing this since the compound does not easily wash off your hands.  I cleaned up the area and put the window against the wall for the next week since the compound needs a week to setup.  It took me about 3 hours from start to finish before I had a nice looking window.  The longest time I spend was trying to get those triangle points in the frame.

Putty Knife top.  Glazing Knife is on the bottom.

A  week later I primed the caulk with an oil-based primer from what I read I needed to use an oil-based primer.  If using a water-base primer the glazing compound may fail sooner because the oil migrates out faster.  Last Wednesday was the first day I found time to start applying the exterior paint on the frame.  The hardest part painting a narrow bead of paint along the caulk edge and the glass.  Doing this forms a seal between the glass and glazing.  If you use a scraper on the bead to clean up, there is an chance that the seal been broken and the window will not weather very well.



Primed glazing: You can see how hard is it to keep a steady
hand along the glass and glazing edge.

Unfinished panel on the folding door.

My next unfinished project is shellacking the second panel to my closet door.  I finished half the door awhile ago but never found time to complete the job.  Don't ask how long ago it was; it is embarrassing to think I left it undone so long.

Winter Gardening

I spent this weekend working in the basement again.  I did some cleaning but most of the weekend I spent putting together a new plant stand.  I brought the stand in December when Jung had their Dollars Days.  I waited until the basement floor was done to assemble it and it was fairly easy to put together.  The wooden plant stand in the second bedroom just could not hold all the plants I start from seeds. 

Sunday, I planted two flats of petunias and put them on the heat mat.  I found time to start my 2013 Seed database.  This allowed me to determine which seeds I still need to order.  I will be ordering German Pink Tomatoes, Black Krim Tomatoes, Chocolate Beauty Pepper, Forkhood Acorn Squash, Table Queen Acorn Squash, Cheddar Cauliflower and Graffiti Cauliflower.  I will be trying these new varieties Black Plum Tomato and Lemon Mint Herb this year.

2nd Weekend in March: Mother’s Day was only 9 weeks away.

Mother’s Day is my starting date for planting the tomatoes, peppers and eggplant outdoors.  So I pulled out my seed tray starter kit and started planting them.  I have 6 trays sitting on my heating mat set for 75^oF.  I hope to see tomato seedling in the next 7 to 14 days.  The eggplant and pepper will sprout a little latter.

Here is my initial seed starter list for 2012.

Tomatoes
Brandywine: These heirloom pink tomatoes are large and taste great.
Black Krim: It is a little hard to tell when they are ripe.  The area around the stem may still be green and the lower section is a dark red (almost black).  This is my favorite for a bacon and lettuce sandwich.
Pink German: Pink Germans can weight up to 1 pound.  It does not take many of them to fill a quart canning jar.
Celebrity: A large perfect round red tomato.  This tomato is not an heirloom but it does produce well but not as flavor full as the three above. This tomato has been bred with resistance to many of the viruses that attack tomatoes.
Delicious: Another hybrid tomato which is a medium round size and colored red.
Green Zebra: When this tomato is ripe, its skin is yellow and green striped with green pulp inside.  I heard some say it taste like an apple but I do not think so.  To me still has the tomato taste but less acidic and not as rich as a red tomato.  It is nice to have different colored tomatoes to add visual appeal to a cold salad dish.
Gold Metal: A large yellow tomato with red streak in the pulp.  It is less acidic than the red and has good flavor.

Paste Tomatoes
Amish: After I told the guys at work that I started my tomatoes seed, one of them requested that I saved some Amish Paste for him.  He commented that they make a nice smooth thick tomato sauce.  All my paste tomatoes do not look like anything you can buy in the store.  Amish paste get about 4 inches long and about 2 inches wide.
Opalka: This is a new type for me and the description state 4-6 inch long with few seeds.
Federle: Another nice paste tomato about 4-6 inches long and 1-1½ inches wide

Cherry Tomatoes
Chocolate Cherry: This cherry tomato is large about ½ to ¾ in diameter.  The color when ripe is a dark reddish brown and has a nice mix of acidic and sweet flavoring.
Sungold: Pop this golden cherry tomato in your mouth and you will get a wonderful sweet rich flavor.  It is the taste of summer.

Tomatillo
Green Husk: Last year this plant grew to 7 feet high and it had the biggest tomatillo I ever seen.  The biggest were at least 2 inch across and produced tons of fruit.
Dr. Wyche's Yellow: When this tomatillo is ripe it is a little yellow color and tastes very sweet.  It only grows to about 5 feet in height.
Purple: Another 7 feet tall plant, the fruit has some purple coloring on the skin.  It grows to about an inch in size.

Sweet Bell Peppers: Orange Bell, Chocolate Bell, Purple Beauty, Early Sunsation Hybrid (Yellow), King Arthur (Fat’n Sassy, Red), King of the North (red).  All the peppers except Purple Beauty and Early Sunsation are green until they ripen into their color.  They can be eaten green or wait until they turn color.  The peppers are sweeter when fully mature.  The red is the sweetest with chocolate next.

Hot Peppers: Early Jalapeno and Ancho Girantea both are great.  I add roasted Ancho to green salsa made with tomatillo from my garden, and boy that was good!

Eggplants
Udumalapet: This egg shape fruit is a bright yellow and purple striped when ready for picking.  The fruit ranges from 2 to 4 inches in length.
Rosa Bianca: A nice round fruit and I picked it as big as 8 inches.  The prefer size for grilling is 4 inches.  I cut it into slices and brush on a little olive oil with some salt and pepper.  Melted provolone cheese on it and add fresh tomato, lettuce, onions and some vinaigrette on it and serve it on a toasted bun.  Mmm!


This coming weekend I will be sowing my cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and broccoli.

Week 2: The weather has not been helpful.

 

We had freeze warnings from last Friday to Tuesday night, so none of the plants were put outside to harden off until this Wednesday afternoon.  I only put the cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower along side the house with a light covering over them.  The stones next to the house work as a heat sink and keep them warm overnight and the covering is also use to use the plants from being burned in direct sunlight. 



Plants are kept under a light weight cover the first couple days.





Here are some blooming plants that did survive the frost.

The first tulips of the year.



The hyacinth is near the end of its blooming cycle.



Prairie Smoke is just beginning to bloom.  When the flower starts to died it looks like smoke is billowing from it.

  

The next two pictures show Wild European Ginger in bloom.  The blooms are very hard to find.  It is hidden under the leavers on very short stems next to the ground.  The flowers are not at all showy.  If you look in the center of the pictures you will see a small bud like flower.

Last weekend I did get all my basil and paste tomatoes transplanted into their containers.  I did plant seeds for my cucumbers, winter and summer squashes.  I put the cucumber and squash plants in the garden on the last weekend of May.