Follow the trials and tribulations of this greenhouse gardener.
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Friday, 09 January 2009 |
| Today's greenhouse activity was to pot up some of the little mesquite trees. My major greenhouse project has been to raise trees for our one acre yard that currently only has one Vitex growing in it! Currently there are 29 mesquite trees of three different varieties and different stages of growth. Right now, the largest ones are around three feet and the ones pictured are the smallest. Aren't they cute? | 
Mesquite Saplings |
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Friday, 09 January 2009 |
| This year, Santa brought me an AeroGarden. After seeing these things on TV, I cannot tell you how excited I was! It has a grow light and soil-less growing system, so I will be sure to report periodically with my progress. | 
Aero Garden | | On December 26th, I started the garden and I am please so far with the results. I am anxious for the herbs to get bigger so I can start experimenting with marinades. My set came with a carafe with a built in blender, so you can make dressing and marinade with the herbs you grow. | 
Aero Garden Plants Started |
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Thursday, 08 January 2009 |
| I have to say I am quite please with the bare-root strawberries I purchased and planted last week. Here is a photo of their growth for the past six days. I don't know what I was expecting, but I was not expecting them to respond so quickly! Now I am all anxious to fast forward to the strawberry harvest. | 
Strawberry Growth | | Today was fertilization day for the melons and cannas. I used my favorite organic fertilizer from Palm Oasis and applied a side-dressing then watered it in. | 
Side-dressing |
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Wednesday, 07 January 2009 |
| On the 2nd (last Friday) I sowed a pot of loose-leaf lettuce, specfically Red Sails and Simpson Elite. Both are supposed to be tolerant of heat and slow to bolt. We shall see! Today, the lettuce germinated, so I will be curious to see how it does being that I have never grown lettuce before. I put the pot on the floor of the greenhouse, so that should keep it cooler than the other plants. | 
Loose-leaf Lettuce Germination |
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Saturday, 03 January 2009 |
| I had been struggling to keep the nighttime temperature in my
greenhouse up, there were a couple nights that it dropped to thirty
degrees, which wrecked havoc on my plants. Yesterday, I added
quite a bit of thermal mass to the greenhouse. For those that
don't know, the water in the barrels heats up during the day and
releases that heat at night, creating passive solar heating. I put
five one gallon milk jugs under the benches, added a thirty three gallon
trash can and four buckets all full of water.
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Thermal Mass |
| To my pleasant surprise, instead of the overnight temperature being in
the low thirties, it was forty eight! I think that by adding a bit
more thermal mass, I might be able to get that up even more. And
the plants seemed much happier!
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Additional Thermal Mass |
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