One Alaskans greenhouse

[Alasgun]

@heirloomgal, id be happy to elaborate on the amendments but it’s going to be about a week coming due to finishing up the planting.

i wont leave you hanging.

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal, id be happy to elaborate on the amendments but it’s going to be about a week coming due to finishing up the planting.

i wont leave you hanging.

 

[Alasgun]

Today, 528 grown from seed onion plants were set out using the new dibble board. What did i learn? I like the layout spacing but both the diameter and length of my pegs need to be larger/longer.
Thats something to work on before next year; to finish planting these i simply used my teflon hand dibble i’d made previously.

It usually takes about 3 full hours to prep and plant a full bed of onions, once the dibble is upgraded it will easily cut that to an hour!
The one i made for carrots, beets and parsnips (seeded stuff) is going to work perfectly.
After landscape raking, a bed is gone over with a 24 inch cement trowel to get a nice smooth surface; then the bed is watered to give a good soil texture so the dibble will leave uniform impressions. After seeding the bed surface is smoothed again ensuring good soil/seed contact.

i also got the 7 Comfrey plants set out and Ruthy got a few of the flowers planted.

 

[Alasgun]

Today i didn’t do anything in the garden but transplant some Rosemary, but i did take time to answer @heirloomgal request for the soil amendments i use.
If your Organic gardeners this may interest you.
In the spring each 3 by 12ft. Bed gets 2 cups Neem seed meal, 3 cups of Kelp meal, 1 cup of Langenbite, 3 cups Oyster shell, 5 cups of Fish bone Meal, 3 cups of Alfalfa meal, 2 cups Feather Meal, 2 cups Prilled Limestone, 4 cups of Agricolas 484 soil mineral mix, 10 lbs. of Azomite, 10 lbs. of Humic acid, 10 lbs. of Paramagnetic Bassalt. The 10 pound items = 1 - 2 gallon bucket full of each item. They get broadcast evenly on each bed then the lesser items get dumped into a 2 gallon bucket, mixed well and broadcast onto the bed as well. Then it all gets forked into the top 3-6 inches and watered well Before planting. And that’s usually with a compost tea.

 

[Alasgun]

Today the parsnip bed was prepped and seeded. Two small mint beds were rooted thru, amendments added and 12 new chocolate mint plants were moved in.
Then a couple basses were crafted to mount on the chainlink and hold up a couple cucumber varieties I'm trialing .

id mentioned the Seycheelles pole beans preciously and said id comment, once i had one! Well, we like them real well so far, early, productive and taste good. If they finish the season well, i may eliminate bush beans from the yearly ritual!

A beet bed and a carrot bed remain, should have everything in by Thursday. Then it’s off to the fruit and berry section.

 

[Alasgun]

Today both the carrot and beet beds were seeded, 528 seeds in each bed. Using the afore mentioned dibble board, each bed took less than 45 min to seed and cover! Im happy.

The remainder of the flowers were planted and now everything is in the ground!

Still no shortage of work around here, but we’re getting it all up and running now.

oh yea, i been a little short on pictures lately so here’s one from the greenhouse this morning.

 

[Alasgun]

While turning the compost pile a couple days ago, i found a “favorite hat” that disappeared last fall as i was wrapping up for winter. Apparently it over wintered 3 feet deep in the compost. A preliminary sink washing showed promise and i believe that after a full on soap and water bath it can still be a favorite hat. Cept now it’s got some pitchfork marks on the bill.

 

[heirloomgal]

Today both the carrot and beet beds were seeded, roughly 525 seeds in each bed. Using the afore mentioned dibble board, each bed took less than 45 min to seed and cover! Im happy.

The remainder of the flowers were planted and now everything is in the ground!

Still no shortage of work around here, but we’re getting it all up and running now.

oh yea, i been a little short on pictures lately so here’s one from the greenhouse this morning.

That is quite a harvest for end of May! I know you depend on a greenhouse for a full season, but when is your last frost date? Is that your main challenge @Alasgun - short season, or is it also a day length issue?

 

[Alasgun]

@heirloomgal , we learn to adapt! Although the season is shorter than most locals, it is intense and by the end we are really thankful it’s break time😳 We have 15 more frost free days here than where we moved from in North Dakota, typically we’re done before the frost day anyway Due to colder, wetter weather and decreasing light. Everything is usually good till mid August And usually have frost late September, early October. This is the time we lift Potatoes, Parsnips, Carrots and Beets.

part of the adapting is learning how to get along in an ever changing environment. Long days: are both a blessing and a curse. plants prosper under near ideal long days however, it messes with they’re metabolism some. For example; a lot of what you read on a seed package does not pertain up here. Some things seem to bolt prematurely, others will hang on and thrive long after they’re expected time.

The other side of this coin are the times of perpetual drip; during which we may be subjected to a week of gloomy, cool, cloudy wet weather. A powerful dehumidifier helps us get thru these periods without being completely overrun with various molds.

The Alaskan rule of thumb is, if your adaptable and not set in your ways and willing to accept some failure; you'll do just fine gardening up here. Not that much different than any where else really!

 

[heirloomgal]

@heirloomgal , we learn to adapt! Although the season is shorter than most locals, it is intense and by the end we are really thankful it’s break time😳 We have 15 more frost free days here than where we moved from in North Dakota, typically we’re done before the frost day anyway Due to colder, wetter weather and decreasing light. Everything is usually good till mid August And usually have frost late September, early October. This is the time we lift Potatoes, Parsnips, Carrots and Beets.

part of the adapting is learning how to get along in an ever changing environment. Long days: are both a blessing and a curse. plants prosper under near ideal long days however, it messes with they’re metabolism some. For example; a lot of what you read on a seed package does not pertain up here. Some things seem to bolt prematurely, others will hang on and thrive long after they’re expected time.

The other side of this coin are the times of perpetual drip; during which we may be subjected to a week of gloomy, cool, cloudy wet weather. A powerful dehumidifier helps us get thru these periods without being completely overrun with various molds.

The Alaskan rule of thumb is, if your adaptable and not set in your ways and willing to accept some failure; you'll do just fine gardening up here. Not that much different than any where else really!

I know so little about the Alaskan climate, other than the winters are very, very cold. I had heard, I thought, about a midnight sun? was it? or something in regards to long, long periods of sun in Alaska. Our days get longer here in summer, but it is still always dark at ten o'clock no matter what time of year. I had no idea that rainfall could be so significant up there.