Greenhouse revival

[TeeDee]

I've just cleared the Greenhouse of junk , created some deep low beds ( 60cm wide , 20cm deep 4.4 long ) , High narrow growing 'gutter' (20cm wide , 10cm deep , 2.4 long ) and climbing mesh up the back wall.

I know the answer maybe ' plant what you eat ' - but what can I plant now that will do well?

Timings are not my best thing.

 

[Toddy]

Salad crops, lettuce, radish, chard, rocket, onions....just take those young for the greenery if you like, I like assortment of winter greens just grown young, cabbage, kale, brocolli, the oriental ones are very good too, mizuma and the like. Even carrots will give you baby sized ones this year.
It's also fine to start off herbs like chives, parsley, coriander, dill and fennel....if you don't eat them this year, chives, cabbage, kale, etc., will over winter and be bigger next.

 

[TeeDee]

Salad crops, lettuce, radish, chard, rocket, onions....just take those young for the greenery if you like, I like assortment of winter greens just grown young, cabbage, kale, brocolli, the oriental ones are very good too, mizuma and the like. Even carrots will give you baby sized ones this year.
It's also fine to start off herbs like chives, parsley, coriander, dill and fennel....if you don't eat them this year, chives, cabbage, kale, etc., will over winter and be bigger next.

Thanks Toddy. I should have done this months ago , but life got in the way.

 

[Toddy]

I know that feeling

You've still got time to grow decent pickings though, and start stuff for over Winter too.

 

[Robson Valley]

One more thing on my bucket list:
I need to find a green house that functions with added heating, all Canadian winter. I want to live in it, last week of January and the first week of February.
Paint and draw the plants, wood carving and reading, watch the Northern Lights at night (low in the north last night but we got quite a show, red and purple even.). Watch the winter storms, count the icicles.

Neighbor 2 doors south has a double property. One side was covered with poly tunnels all last summer. Never learned what he was growing but there was a lot of it. We are limited to 4 Cannabis plants.

 

[Toddy]

One of your countrymen, Shawn James, has a couple of YouTube channels. He built a geodesic dome greenhouse and used it to sleep in Winter while he is building his new cabin. His panels aren't clear though, they're corrugated/channel type plastic. Still very effective, but I'm with you; I'd like to see out

 

[Robson Valley]

People who live in green houses should get dressed in the basement. Dome greenhouse, huh? I'm too old to get excited about living in a genuine igloolik. They used ice and fish skins for windows. I bought 50 lbs soapstone with every intention to carve an Inuit oil lamp. The stones still sit outside my back door, some 5 (?) years later.

I could do with translucent walls and roof. Scattered windows to see out in every direction. Lots to drink and catered meals.
What a hoot to wake up in the middle of a crop of tomatoes or cucumbers.

 

[slowworm]

Thanks Toddy. I should have done this months ago , but life got in the way.

I probably shouldn't mention it's been the best year I can remember for growing stuff, we've been eating toms and cucumbers for ages but I'm surprised how well the aubergines, papers and chillies have done as we're eating a them as well which is very early for here. It was well worth the effort of renovating our rather dilapidated greenhouse this spring.

It might be cheating a bit, but if you could find some cheapish pot grown veg such as chillies they might still be productive if you can pot them up. Likewise pots of basil can be bought cheaply, potted up and provide a good crop.

Salad may not do that well at the moment as many types don't like too much heat. Something like French beans or mange tout should provide a crop.

I tend to over winter some garlic and autumn onion sets in the greenhouse and then take them out when the toms get planted out, I get an earlier crop that way. You could always try some Christmas new potatoes.

 

[Toddy]

People who live in green houses should get dressed in the basement. Dome greenhouse, huh? I'm too old to get excited about living in a genuine igloolik. They used ice and fish skins for windows. I bought 50 lbs soapstone with every intention to carve an Inuit oil lamp. The stones still sit outside my back door, some 5 (?) years later.

I could do with translucent walls and roof. Scattered windows to see out in every direction. Lots to drink and catered meals.
What a hoot to wake up in the middle of a crop of tomatoes or cucumbers.

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I'd love an enormous one attached to the house. Someplace I could enjoy all the light possible in Winter time.

 

[Robson Valley]

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) scrambles a lot of people up herein the winters wit the short days. Even worse at my place is living in a valley. That clips an hour off the sunshine at both ends of the day.
Friend of mine had the brightest lights imaginable that were already on when he got up and came home. Fixed him right up.

Attached to the house? Grand plan but the energy cost is considerable. Takes a lot of money to grow orchids in a Canadian winter. But it is being done away up in Canada's Arctic, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Cucumbers radishes and lettuce are cheaper than transport. The next puzzle is how to get that produce home in -40C before it freezes!

 

[TLM]

While geodesic domes are kind of stylish they have an awful lot of joints and joints are bad in a structure that should not leak

A tunnel would serve the same purpose with much less joints. As a structure it is stable enough when properly done, cheaper too.

 

[Toddy]

It's the whole open space thing. A tunnel is a miserable place to spend time in. A dome is high, light and airy.
I've used both, and the dome wins hands down. A decent sunroom can be built onto a house and insulated properly, and it still gives a heck of a lot of light Indeed it can be used to help regulate the temperature of the rest of the house.

M

 

[Stew]

I probably shouldn't mention it's been the best year I can remember for growing stuff, we've been eating toms and cucumbers for ages but I'm surprised how well the aubergines, papers and chillies have done as we're eating a them as well which is very early for here. It was well worth the effort of renovating our rather dilapidated greenhouse this spring.

It might be cheating a bit, but if you could find some cheapish pot grown veg such as chillies they might still be productive if you can pot them up. Likewise pots of basil can be bought cheaply, potted up and provide a good crop.

Salad may not do that well at the moment as many types don't like too much heat. Something like French beans or mange tout should provide a crop.

I tend to over winter some garlic and autumn onion sets in the greenhouse and then take them out when the toms get planted out, I get an earlier crop that way. You could always try some Christmas new potatoes.

I’m the opposite - one of the worst. Really struggled to have much germinate. Not seed age but have had a new greenhouse. I’m paranoid that it’s because of that!

 

[slowworm]

I’m the opposite - one of the worst. Really struggled to have much germinate. Not seed age but have had a new greenhouse. I’m paranoid that it’s because of that!

We had very poor germination last year and this year could have been better. I've also found all the multi-purpose complete to be very poor quality. However, once things get going we've had a lot of light and hardly any cloudy days for our area and that has produced very early crops.

 

[Stew]

We had very poor germination last year and this year could have been better. I've also found all the multi-purpose complete to be very poor quality. However, once things get going we've had a lot of light and hardly any cloudy days for our area and that has produced very early crops.

My wife thought it might have been the compost!

 

[Toddy]

I gave up buying compost in bags. In the determined attack on peat they're putting in so much 'recycled/ post consumer waste' that I had to riddle through every bag and remove plastic, glass and weird wood (I think from chewed up chipboard cabinets) that I just didn't trust it to be any good. I'm not buying that rubbish, and I'm not adding that carp to my garden.

I know that's not helpful for folks who are stuck with it, but if no one complains, nothing will change.

Hugelkultur works in greenhouses too, and doesn't need near as much compost.
Get your compost heaps going, and riddle though to get enough fines to use for seed sowing, and your pots and borders will love the rest

If you buy bags of gravel, wash them in a big trug/bin and sift the stones out. You'll end up with a lot of fine grit that's excellent for seeds.

Mix compost, sand or grit and you'll make excellent soil....bit like mixing a cake

If you need acidic then take a wander in a pine wood and gather a carrier bag of needles. Stir that through the mix. If you live near the seaside, then the tangle washed up at the tide line (cleaned of litter) is really good in a 'lazy bed'....basically layer upon layer of stuff that will allow roots to grow through.

My garden is heavy blue clay at it's core. I compost every blooming organic material that I can from the kitchen and the garden, and add what I can easily bring in. The annual leaf fall is truly gold

 

[Stew]

I’m looking forward to when my leaf mould is ready.
A neighbour has a massive walnut tree that gives a large amount of leaves in my drive. Seems silly to waste them!

 

[Toddy]

I’m looking forward to when my leaf mould is ready.
A neighbour has a massive walnut tree that gives a large amount of leaves in my drive. Seems silly to waste them!

So long as you compost them well, get rid of the juglone ?? then no reason not to use them.
On t'other hand they'll stop any weeds growing in your drive

 

[Stew]

My drive is tarmac!

 

[Stew]

Hadn’t heard of juglone before. Interesting!

Walnuts, Juglone and Allelopathy - Myths

"Nothing grows under walnut trees" and "walnuts produce juglone" are both myths. Allelopathy is still not well understood. Learn the facts.

www.gardenmyths.com