The last post here ended with the remark "more tomorrow". And then I laid off for a year. Hard to tell whether keeping a blog makes any sense for me. I like my hand written notebooks with their coffee stained pages, dirt, plant pressings and other items that make them real. Blogging is just not all that exciting to me.
2010 was not exactly a banner garden year. One thing and another kept me from getting out there and getting the work done and I ended up with only a bed of potatoes, another of bush beans, and the greenhouse beds of lettuce, peas, carrots, squash and zucchini outside and cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, along with a small bed of late lettuce and basil inside.
Tomatoes and peppers are bearing nicely. The cukes are nearly finished because I haven't had time to get out and pick them. Cukes stop bearing if the fruit is allowed to fully ripen.
The demands of the beginning and the end of the school year really play havoc with the garden schedule. Once school is out, it is too late for lots of the work, and then much of the garden matures after the school year starts again. Beans need to be picked now, but there just isn't time.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Grasshoppers...
...invading the greenhouse.
Grasshoppers lay their eggs in "pods" that contain between 20 and 120 eggs. A mature female hopper lays between 8 and 25 of these pods. Cold winters have no effect on the eggs which will hatch when warm dry weather arrives. The nymphs are substantially similar to the adults when born, though much smaller in size and lacking wings.They mature in 40 to 60 days, so it is critical to address them now.
Grasshoppers are susceptible to a protozoa, Nosema locustae which is available commercially under the brand name Semaspore. They also do not like cold, humid conditions. I have been moderately successful controling them by leaving areas of the greenhouse (a block of bolted spinach) unwatered. The grasshoppers congregate on the leaves of the spinach and can be removed with the vacuum.
The greenhouse is pretty well completely planted save for places I have seedlings sitting out in pots. There are four tomato plants, two bunches of cilantro, two of basil, two four foot rows of carrots, all planted around april 1. A short row of Romaine planted from nursery starts around March 14
Next year, plant starts for lettuce and Spinach in January.
Tired. More tomorrow.
Grasshoppers lay their eggs in "pods" that contain between 20 and 120 eggs. A mature female hopper lays between 8 and 25 of these pods. Cold winters have no effect on the eggs which will hatch when warm dry weather arrives. The nymphs are substantially similar to the adults when born, though much smaller in size and lacking wings.They mature in 40 to 60 days, so it is critical to address them now.
Grasshoppers are susceptible to a protozoa, Nosema locustae which is available commercially under the brand name Semaspore. They also do not like cold, humid conditions. I have been moderately successful controling them by leaving areas of the greenhouse (a block of bolted spinach) unwatered. The grasshoppers congregate on the leaves of the spinach and can be removed with the vacuum.
The greenhouse is pretty well completely planted save for places I have seedlings sitting out in pots. There are four tomato plants, two bunches of cilantro, two of basil, two four foot rows of carrots, all planted around april 1. A short row of Romaine planted from nursery starts around March 14
Next year, plant starts for lettuce and Spinach in January.
Tired. More tomorrow.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Movable Greenhouse
I have been reading Elliot Coleman's new book The Winter Harvest Handbook and am very intersted in trying his technique of using a movable greenhouse so that the soil in the greenhouse has an opportunity to weather and be exposed to the elements over the winter.
I'm trying to figure out how to extend the foundation of my greenhouse so that I can move it back and forth between two locations. The greenhouse is currently set up on a rectangular frame of 4x4 redwood sleepers laid on top of trench filled with gravel. I'm going to add a second frame adjacent to the existing foundation, directly to the east.
I'm trying to figure out how to extend the foundation of my greenhouse so that I can move it back and forth between two locations. The greenhouse is currently set up on a rectangular frame of 4x4 redwood sleepers laid on top of trench filled with gravel. I'm going to add a second frame adjacent to the existing foundation, directly to the east.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Spring Snow
I was up and about at 6:30 this morning to check the greenhouse. Discovered that the timer on the circulation fan had stalled at some point, so that the fan was on in the middle of the night rather than in the heat of the day. Corrected that. Outside, the temperature felt about 30.
Soil and air temperature in the greenhouse in the mid 50's. Lettuce is growing well. Plenty to cut for dinner tonight.
The tomatoes are not looking exactly lush, they are putting on some new growth, but not bright glowing green. There appears to be a bit of chlorosis. I note that the water walls keep the soil moister than is the case in the rest of the greenhouse. I wonder if the roots are a bit waterlogged. I am going to cut back on the watering a bit.
The spinach is not growing the way I would like. It's growing long and spindly and not putting on a lot of leaves, and some of the plants are bolting. I'm thinking of hacking it back. These are nursery starts, var. "vancouver". Not sure I will do those again. Note for next year to start "bloomsdale" myself.
Carrots are still no-shows at this point. There are about 5 plants, but it looks like I need to replant.
I ran the lawnmower yesterday and picked up about 20 bushels (catcher holds 2bu) of dead leaves, old thatch and other debris. I dumped out the kitchen scraps and covered them with the lawn debris. Took me about 35 minutes to do the back part of the lawn. Would have done the front too, but dinner was ready and I need to move the trampoline and get the kid's toys out of the way first. I planned to do that this morning, but around 7:00 it started snowing hard.
It's actually snowing very hard. Not much wind, but BIG flakes and already about half an inch accumulated as of 8:00. Gray, cold, snowy day.
Inside, seedlings are doing well. I have 3 varieties of peppers and 5 of tomatoes growing well. I also have herbs going. Mint, Oregano, Marjoram, Savory, Coriander. I planted rosemary as well, but it's not coming up.
I worked in the garage most of the day yesterday, and planned to work in the garden most of today. Guess I should have done it the other way. Looks like it will snow all day.
I'm finishing up a seed starting bench to hold the grow lights today. It will support a bank of 6 flourescent tubes in three fixtures over a 2x4 area. This is a large enough space to hold 4 flats. I will be able to independently adjust the height of the lights so that I can start a couple of seed flats and also grow a box of lettuce or some tomatoes.
Not much else to report today. Time to go do something.
Soil and air temperature in the greenhouse in the mid 50's. Lettuce is growing well. Plenty to cut for dinner tonight.
The tomatoes are not looking exactly lush, they are putting on some new growth, but not bright glowing green. There appears to be a bit of chlorosis. I note that the water walls keep the soil moister than is the case in the rest of the greenhouse. I wonder if the roots are a bit waterlogged. I am going to cut back on the watering a bit.
The spinach is not growing the way I would like. It's growing long and spindly and not putting on a lot of leaves, and some of the plants are bolting. I'm thinking of hacking it back. These are nursery starts, var. "vancouver". Not sure I will do those again. Note for next year to start "bloomsdale" myself.
Carrots are still no-shows at this point. There are about 5 plants, but it looks like I need to replant.
I ran the lawnmower yesterday and picked up about 20 bushels (catcher holds 2bu) of dead leaves, old thatch and other debris. I dumped out the kitchen scraps and covered them with the lawn debris. Took me about 35 minutes to do the back part of the lawn. Would have done the front too, but dinner was ready and I need to move the trampoline and get the kid's toys out of the way first. I planned to do that this morning, but around 7:00 it started snowing hard.
It's actually snowing very hard. Not much wind, but BIG flakes and already about half an inch accumulated as of 8:00. Gray, cold, snowy day.
Inside, seedlings are doing well. I have 3 varieties of peppers and 5 of tomatoes growing well. I also have herbs going. Mint, Oregano, Marjoram, Savory, Coriander. I planted rosemary as well, but it's not coming up.
I worked in the garage most of the day yesterday, and planned to work in the garden most of today. Guess I should have done it the other way. Looks like it will snow all day.
I'm finishing up a seed starting bench to hold the grow lights today. It will support a bank of 6 flourescent tubes in three fixtures over a 2x4 area. This is a large enough space to hold 4 flats. I will be able to independently adjust the height of the lights so that I can start a couple of seed flats and also grow a box of lettuce or some tomatoes.
Not much else to report today. Time to go do something.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
One goal achieved
Today I achieved an important milestone in the development of our garden and my skills in managing it. I picked the first lettuce and spinach harvests of the year. The importance of this is that we still have storage onions and frozen beans and peas from last season. This means that we have succeeded in having vegetables from our garden available for our table for the entire year, and that if I am as successful with row covers and cold frames as I was last year, I should be able to extend my fresh food season to 7 months of the year.
I realize that in many parts of the country this is not that big of a deal, but I live in a high mountain valley where the normal growing season is less than 100 days. We are still 2 months away from our last frost (June 17 last year), so to have anything fresh from the garden is an accomplishment.
I realize that in many parts of the country this is not that big of a deal, but I live in a high mountain valley where the normal growing season is less than 100 days. We are still 2 months away from our last frost (June 17 last year), so to have anything fresh from the garden is an accomplishment.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Keeping the greenhouse warm
My improvised efforts to keep the greenhouse warm appear to be working out. In a week where the outside temperature dropped to 4F, the temperature in the greenhouse has not dropped below 45, and the soil temperature has stayed between 55 and 70. Heat for the greenhouse has consumed 167 kWh since March 20 for an average cost of around a dollar a day.
There is now enough spinach and romaine for daily salads. Tomatoes have recovered from transplant shock and are now growing visibly each day. Only about half of the radishes have emerged, probably because I used last year's seed. I replanted in the empty spaces between the radishes that have already emerged and I planted a short triple row on the other side of the greehouse this morning.
There has been no evidence of carrots sprouting, but I had noticed a large population of ants when I lifted the cover boards. I had been thinking that the ants hauled off all the carrot seeds. But this morning when I checked again, I noticed a number of small, neatly spaced plants coming up. These look like carrots. Carrots should emerge in 14-21 days. Today is the 16th day, so I am going to wait until next Friday before I replant those.
Cold outside. There was about 1/2" of snow overnight, but it is mostly gone now (11:30 A.M) I need to work over the outside beds where some of the grass and a number of weeds have begun to appear. I will do this later in the week after I pick up a roll of plastic film. I need to dig up the beds and then solarize them for a few weeks to kill off the weeds. If I get this done by next weekend, I will be in good shape.
I am putting a lot off until next weekend, but it is a four day weekend, so if the weather allows, I should be fine.
My seed starting is going well. 24 of 30 tomato plants that have out grown the Jiffy flat. 17 of 18 peppers are doing well. All of the herbs are up except the rosemary, which may take up to 21 days to sprout.
I started 72 more herbs at school on Tuesday, March 31, Dill, Oregano, Mint, Savory, Cilantro, and Rosemary. Some of them had sprouted by Friday.
There is now enough spinach and romaine for daily salads. Tomatoes have recovered from transplant shock and are now growing visibly each day. Only about half of the radishes have emerged, probably because I used last year's seed. I replanted in the empty spaces between the radishes that have already emerged and I planted a short triple row on the other side of the greehouse this morning.
There has been no evidence of carrots sprouting, but I had noticed a large population of ants when I lifted the cover boards. I had been thinking that the ants hauled off all the carrot seeds. But this morning when I checked again, I noticed a number of small, neatly spaced plants coming up. These look like carrots. Carrots should emerge in 14-21 days. Today is the 16th day, so I am going to wait until next Friday before I replant those.
Cold outside. There was about 1/2" of snow overnight, but it is mostly gone now (11:30 A.M) I need to work over the outside beds where some of the grass and a number of weeds have begun to appear. I will do this later in the week after I pick up a roll of plastic film. I need to dig up the beds and then solarize them for a few weeks to kill off the weeds. If I get this done by next weekend, I will be in good shape.
I am putting a lot off until next weekend, but it is a four day weekend, so if the weather allows, I should be fine.
My seed starting is going well. 24 of 30 tomato plants that have out grown the Jiffy flat. 17 of 18 peppers are doing well. All of the herbs are up except the rosemary, which may take up to 21 days to sprout.
I started 72 more herbs at school on Tuesday, March 31, Dill, Oregano, Mint, Savory, Cilantro, and Rosemary. Some of them had sprouted by Friday.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Tweaking the temperature
Overnight low was 14F.
6:00 Outside 14, Greenhouse Ambient 37.8, Greenhouse Soil 44.6
7:00 Outside 17, Greenhouse Ambient 37.0, Greenhouse Soil 43.0 (Sunrise 6:56)
8:00 Outside 21, electronic 64.8, alcohol 58, Greenhouse Soil 44.6 (sun shines more directly on the electronic thermometer)
The sun hits the greenhouse at sunrise, but only for a couple more weeks. Soon it will be shaded by the neighbor's house until around 10:00.
This morning I am checking the temperature every hour, but I have to wait until around 10 before it is warm enough for me to open the door and check last night's minimum.
Looking through the glass, the romaine, spinach and basil all look fine. About 6 radishes are up, as are about half of the red leaf and green leaf lettuce. I can't see inside the wws to check on the tomatoes.
I need to improve my temperature monitoring set up to avoid a false high temperature reading. The thermometer is exposed to the direct sun during part of the day and this gave me an inaccurately high reading of 102 yesterday when the real temperature inside the greenhouse was closer to 80.
At the moment though, my concern is accurate low temperature readings. I have learned the main thing I needed to know, that I can keep the greenhouse from freezing up when the outside temperature falls as low as 4 overnight. Doing so uses about 14 kWh of electricity.
A couple of things I need to do:
The thermometer needs to be installed in an instrument shelter that shades it from the direct sun. This could just be a shallow box that I could attach to one of the tomato towers with zip ties. Maybe a little birdhouse type box, painted white, about 3 inches deep with an angled shed roof to make it look nice. It needs to be deep enough to shade the instrument in the early morning when the sun shine on the east.
I need to move the weather station as well. I should set up everything so that I can go to one place to get last night's outdoor temperature, it would be nice to have a couple of remote sensors to put in the greenhouse so I could read it's temperature directly from the weather station. Expensive though.
Should I put the thermometer and the circulation fan timer and the Kill-a-watt meter all in a box together so that I can check the temperature, read the power usage and control the fan all from the same place? This would be convenient, but it might also mean a bunch of cords and wires all over the place. I don't want to be tripping over cords and it's bad enough with the heater, fan timer and cords where they are now. I guess the best would be to
Is it necessary or useful to regularly check the power usage? At minimum, I should make up a chart and mark down the power consumption once a day. Presumably once the temperature drops below a certain point, the heater will just run continuously. It might be nice to know what that temperature is. Then I could determine when it was no longer cost effective to try to keep the greenhouse from freezing up.
6:00 Outside 14, Greenhouse Ambient 37.8, Greenhouse Soil 44.6
7:00 Outside 17, Greenhouse Ambient 37.0, Greenhouse Soil 43.0 (Sunrise 6:56)
8:00 Outside 21, electronic 64.8, alcohol 58, Greenhouse Soil 44.6 (sun shines more directly on the electronic thermometer)
The sun hits the greenhouse at sunrise, but only for a couple more weeks. Soon it will be shaded by the neighbor's house until around 10:00.
This morning I am checking the temperature every hour, but I have to wait until around 10 before it is warm enough for me to open the door and check last night's minimum.
Looking through the glass, the romaine, spinach and basil all look fine. About 6 radishes are up, as are about half of the red leaf and green leaf lettuce. I can't see inside the wws to check on the tomatoes.
I need to improve my temperature monitoring set up to avoid a false high temperature reading. The thermometer is exposed to the direct sun during part of the day and this gave me an inaccurately high reading of 102 yesterday when the real temperature inside the greenhouse was closer to 80.
At the moment though, my concern is accurate low temperature readings. I have learned the main thing I needed to know, that I can keep the greenhouse from freezing up when the outside temperature falls as low as 4 overnight. Doing so uses about 14 kWh of electricity.
A couple of things I need to do:
The thermometer needs to be installed in an instrument shelter that shades it from the direct sun. This could just be a shallow box that I could attach to one of the tomato towers with zip ties. Maybe a little birdhouse type box, painted white, about 3 inches deep with an angled shed roof to make it look nice. It needs to be deep enough to shade the instrument in the early morning when the sun shine on the east.
I need to move the weather station as well. I should set up everything so that I can go to one place to get last night's outdoor temperature, it would be nice to have a couple of remote sensors to put in the greenhouse so I could read it's temperature directly from the weather station. Expensive though.
Should I put the thermometer and the circulation fan timer and the Kill-a-watt meter all in a box together so that I can check the temperature, read the power usage and control the fan all from the same place? This would be convenient, but it might also mean a bunch of cords and wires all over the place. I don't want to be tripping over cords and it's bad enough with the heater, fan timer and cords where they are now. I guess the best would be to
Is it necessary or useful to regularly check the power usage? At minimum, I should make up a chart and mark down the power consumption once a day. Presumably once the temperature drops below a certain point, the heater will just run continuously. It might be nice to know what that temperature is. Then I could determine when it was no longer cost effective to try to keep the greenhouse from freezing up.
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