Excuses, too; or thinkin' won't get it dun.

[catjac1975]

I still have lettuce and herbs growing. Carrots and potatoes waiting for digging. What is your zone that you just planted them out? How long before a heavy frost. Looks yummy!

 

[digitS']

These are in the floor of the greenhouse, Cat'.

It was 21f in my big veggie garden the other day. The outdoor bok choy had stopped growing a month ago. That's when the plants came in and I snapped that 1st picture - back in early October.

I just had the cucumber vine in there because there were so many cucumber plants in the garden after the "rabbit attack" on the cabbage, broccoli, and squash. The cucumber went in where there were rabbit-eaten plants and we had waaay too many cukes late in the season. This wasn't a good place for a late plant because it got very little attention during the summer. Then, I scuffed it up pretty bad pulling the bench out that it had begun to vine on. I'm still getting those 2 cukes out to splash some vinegar soon!

Steve

 

[digitS']

Here they are!

The last of the transplanted bok choy! A 2nd harvest, not very large plants but they are nice and tender. It is a little surprising to me that they are about 15 weeks old. It may well be that they are tender because they have been under plastic so long. Oh yeah, they'd be a mess if they were outdoors!

Still in there, and under not only the greenhouse plastic but another layer of plastic film over pvc hoops, are the seedlings. Those Asian greens are still way too tiny to harvest.

Very chilly outdoors. Wind was gusting to 25mph when I was out cleaning the battery of the pickup and checking the antifreeze level. I was really surprised when I learned that the outdoor temperature was also 25f! The windchill was 12. Tomorrow morning it is supposed to be 10. Those will be actual degrees Fahrenheit - Heaven help those who have to be outdoors if we still have so much wind! Nope, just checked - WS says 5mph by morning.

I am pleased how this turned out. Made a believer out of me . Yeah, why not move some greens into the greenhouse as cold weather puts a stop to things in the garden?

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Those baby greens sure look cute in their swaddling cloths Steve!

 

[digitS']

It was the warmest afternoon in nearly 2 weeks and the sun came out. So, I pulled the plastic off the little tunnel in the greenhouse.

I'm not sure if they've grown this month - lol! At least, they haven't died . . .

The red bok choy plants are the most robust but the old seed must not have had much viability. The green LuLan bok choy is a little crowded but we will see if either can do a little growing with afternoons above 40°f!

Using TEG's upload, I'm a little worried this image is too BIG! I'll do some editing if it is. Seedlings all:

Steve

 

[so lucky]

What is it ~ 2 months since the idea (job) occurred to me??

Here is the 18' bench, in 4 pieces, drug out of the greenhouse & before it went to the dump:

challenging you once again on your notion that you "want" pictures

Here is about 1/3rd of the space used as intended:

not much better of a picture since it was taken a few minutes after sundown with my cellphone

Bok choy, that had already been transplanted out of a seedbed in the garden - I should have just thinned that bed! Now, they have been transplanted twice . . . I would have taken more but those plants were just so tiny, I didn't think they'd take the abuse. These may be okay, most had a massive root system for tiny bok choy.

Next, I will sow some seeds. I figure that most any Asian green has the best chance here. Twisted-stem mustard probably would be the best choice but I don't want to fill up this small bed with mustard greens! Anyway, I'm not terribly optimistic. Timing is everything in life and this is all about life in my unheated, fall & winter greenhouse. Probably, it would have been better to get these things in here before any frost, about 3 weeks ago. The continuing cool weather outdoors have stopped them in their tracks and they just might bolt right now . . . or, a cooling outdoors and lower sun angle will keep them right where they are until the weather warms in 2014 .

Steve, the anti-JackB

the anti-JackB! LOL, Funny man!

 

[digitS']

I sowed Maruba Santoh seed beyond my left elbow (out of camera view).

If we think the red bok choy is sparse, the Santoh is even more so . . . or, less so.

There are plenty of the green bok choy plants and maybe I should just fill in the space by moving some of those plants around. There's an idea! I mean, 2/3rds of my little bed in there is 1/2 bare ground . . . or, something like that.

Steve
who is a little sleepy.

 

[digitS']

December 15th to January 5th, nothing much has changed:

Even being on the border of this western drought, I don't imagine anyone would expect it. Still . . ! It was 1pm when I took that picture and it must have been 80° in there!

Overnight, 15°. Let's see, it is a remarkably warm, sunny day and 30° outdoors! Frost still on the insulated greenhouse (sunshed) roof. Well, it won't last long but I have little doubt that these plants had a little frost on them last night.

The bok choy is probably asking, "What is with this weather?!"

I didn't move any plants. I'm kind of skeered to! These guys are toughing it out fairly well without me jerkin' them out & plunkin' them somewhere else! I think I can do better with this little scheme, next year. I'm expecting a mess of greens in another month!

Steve

 

[thistlebloom]

Well I think they look wonderful! And it has to be purely therapeutic to walk in there and say hi to them.

 

[digitS']

I do need to do better.

This is an 18' bed, altho' only 2½' wide. I had about 6' in transplants from the garden. I've actually left about 6 of those plants that weren't quite nice enuf to be harvested a month ago. A couple of them are dead - as doornails! I didn't see much reason to pull the plastic on the tunnel over them. They needed both layers of film and didn't get it.

What I could have done was to plant those several dozen plants in a couple of rows and sow seed between them. As they came out, more room would be given to the seedlings. As it is, I've got the seedlings, of the green bok choy at least, too crowded to make good growth. If they don't die over the next couple of weeks, and they certainly shouldn't with no temps even down to zero, they will begin to try to grow soon and not find enuf room.

I still haven't shown the Maruba Santoh behind the camera. They are doing okay. Experimenting with various greens should be a good idea and their performance during the growing season may not indicate how they will do during winter months.

Another bed of the same size could go in along the south wall of the greenhouse, also. It would be really close to the plastic film on that wall, however. I have trouble thinking about how it might work with so much exposure to outside temperatures. Two layers of plastic with only inches of air space between the plants and subzero . . . just doesn't seem like enough. But, I don't know - it may be sufficient to limit dehydration.

If this works, what about the 2 beds I cover with the higher tunnel beginning in March. Could they have protected a crop of greens thru the winter, also? I don't see why not. That is a 9' by 20' tunnel with a center path. Now, we are talking about sufficient leafy greens for a family thru the months of winter. Plastic film - it isn't free but . . .

Steve