Ready to Grow!

[digitS']

Today, I pulled the benches out of the greenhouse and cultivated the beds under them.

I believe that this is 6 days later than last year, the first time I did this. It's been warmer and the bok choy that I planned for transplanting is all gone! They were real nice plants and grew to a good size with the nice weather in September and early October. Gone.

I started some seed and have tiny plants, bok choy and choy sum. It won't be like 2013 when I was relieved that the transplants didn't just bolt because they were quite old, if not very big.

What may happen is that we won't have any greens until the New Year. Things didn't really grow in early winter. The heat isn't on and, more importantly, the sunlight is so limited.

Today was a lovely day. It was too warm in there with everything open! I should have turned on the exhaust fan, I guess. Pulled a little more of the 69°f afternoon air through.

If things go as expected and like last week, there should be several sunny days each week and that should keep my little seedlings going good and pop some more out of the ground. I'll probably sow more seed tomorrow.

Two beds this year in my 9' x 20' greenhouse. I will have to learn to walk on very narrow paths ...

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

Sigh! I am still putting my gardens to bed for the winter. It will be a while before I get back into the "ready to grow" stage. Perhaps you will shame me into starting a few cold weather varieties in the sun room. I had not even given a thought to winter lettuces yet.

Someday, someday my garden shed will have a heat source and so it can be used as a greenhouse for winter gardening. This past year everything I tried to start was frozen out.

 

[so lucky]

I am preparing to put up a low tunnel over my small starts of spinach, mustard and orach. But will they grow enough to harvest in the winter or would I just be saving them from freezing till spring growth begins? I am trying to find some Agribon 19 to use. (I don't know enough about the orach, but was out of kale and chard seed, so planted what I had on hand.)

 

[digitS']

@Smart Red , you had a severely cold winter.

Of course, I don't know what winter temperatures here will be. I will cover the beds against the cold and the Asian greens survived several subzero nights unharmed, last year.

I don't know how they would do if we have double digitS subzero. That temperature is not uncommon but hasn't been what we have been seeing the last 3 or 4 winters.

If there are alfalfa sprouts in the kitchen, they can serve as crop insurance.

Steve

 

[digitS']

@so lucky , they look like excellent choices to me .

Mustard greens will sometimes survive unprotected outdoors. The come through winter severely damaged. You may be planning just what they require to do better.

Orach should not have a problem. Spinach is a relative and, from what I have read, should be fine in a zone 5 winter.

The solar energy industry rates this area one of the worst in the US because of the low angle of the sun, short hours of sunlight, and winter clouds. That will be my biggest problem for growing winter greens.

Steve

 

[AMKuska]

How much did your greenhouse cost Steve? I've been thinking about either buying one or asking my husband to make one.

 

[so lucky]

I just found some nice looking chard plants growing amongst the row of lettuce and bug-eaten mustard on the other side of the garden. I took a chance and transplanted them to the area of the garden that I am getting ready to put the row cover on. I sure hope they grab hold and continue to grow. Wonder if I should cut the leaves off the larger plants so they won't be as shocked by the transplant?

 

[NwMtGardener]

I am getting ready to grow too!...next year, that is. I'm so excited, we got all the wood cut, split, stacked, finished "vacationing," and did myriads of other chores so today we had time to go get free horse MANURE! We have a pickup bed trailer, and the guy at the farm where i used to work loaded in 3 huge scoops of very very well aged compost. I'm hoping to snag some bags of leaves tomorrow too, and that will pretty much be the growing medium i'll have for next spring.

My only plans so far are to plunk my poor things i brought from our old house in there ASAP, so they have a better chance of surviving the winter. There's iris, rhubarb, allium and yucca...its going to be quite a combination, haha! Oh and i have garlic bulbs to plant. Eventually this will be a perrenial bed, but i think for next year it will be my only growing space so it will be a mixed community. Excited to get started!

 

[baymule]

@NwMtGardener sounds like you have a good plan for starting your new flower beds! I have plants to move too, so I can share your excitement over the valuable load of manure!

 

[digitS']

How much did your greenhouse cost Steve? I've been thinking about either buying one or asking my husband to make one.

It's hard to say what my greenhouse cost, @AMKuska . It evolved.

My greenhouse began as a lean-to against the wall of my garage at another home. It was built out of storm windows with a corrugated fiberglass roof and bolted together. I unbolted it, built The Wall, at a new home, and set it against The Wall.

In a few years, the lean-to was replaced by a "sunshed." That Wall remained and remains to this day. A few more years, the south, sloping wall was expanded by another 4' to the structure's current size of 9' by 20'.

I did all the work by myself except installing a natural gas furnace and electricity ... I don't know what all it cost! It began over 20 years ago and evolved over about its first 7 years from something very simple and small.

Steve