Spring Gardening? Nothing like a greenhouse to extend your season.!
Here
in PA I get about one month on each end of the growing season,
depending upon the plant. My greenhouse is not heated so the
temps aren't far above ambient overhight, but days are usually in the
60's.
To be considered... It never rains in your
greenhouse, so the watering can is important, and needs to be an almost
daily ritual. Adding coir or pumice to your potting mis can help
a ton!
We just took an order for a Solexx 16 x 16 Conservatory
GH for a family in Dingmans Ferry! They are going to enjoy
greens and an early start to their 2012 garden!!
Enjoy your day, and Happy Gardening!
Critter
Providing greenhouses and hobby greenhouses nationwide and in Pennsylvania breenhouses and the Pocono greenhouses.
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The
Lasagna Garden method, that is....
In
the '70's we called it Sheet Composting. The current trendy
phrase is Lasagna Garden... Built in layers as you would do
lasagna,,, and YES, worms love tomato sauce!
I just did a batch,
but, alas, no pics... There was an unused section of my
garden
that was knee deep in weeds and quack grass. I pulled it all
out
y the roots and left it on the surface. Then a layer of
cardboard and office paper. Nothing shredded, just a thick
layer
of paper products. Then I added a bunch of spoiled veggies
that
I collected. Tomatoes, vines, pumpkins, etc. Then,
I mowed
the lawn and buried it all in grass clippings.
This is
first week of September and it will (did) get a good soaking form the
hurricane and then start to percolate. That hot phase will
take
a few weeks and then the worms from below and nearby will move in to
work on the contents through fruition. I'm putting a Solexx
cold
frame over it to extend the season... That I should be able
to
get a pic of.
The result should be a 6'x8' raised bed with NO
WEEDS! (since everything on the surface will have been hot composted)
and many pounds of worm castings.
Tune in soon to see our next articles about Wintering your Worms.
Thanks for reading, Critter
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This is the Daily Scoop! News about gardening and Greenhouses..
Our Primary BLOG is www.TheWormist.com so be certain to check there often.
WThe Magic of a Solexx Greenhouse!
Feed
your worms BETWEEN THE ROWS!
I know... I hear it all the time. "My garden has tons of worms"...
Feed
your worms 5 21 11
A) I doubt that you have any idea what a ton of worms
looks like.
(attitude day, sorry...)
B)
Let's calculate. they eat 1# per day per pound of worms.
Let's be conservative and say they only eat 1`/2# per day.
Did you give your worms 1,000# of food yesterday?
C) If
you don't feed them they will leave. Picture this
(from an
old post)... August 2010. I turned over my garlic
patch
and found great garlic, dry bedding and NO WORMS!
When
was the last time that I fed them? Fall of 2009???
Where
did they go??? The adjacent compost heap. The
green lawn?
Worm Heaven?
This year I'm composting
grass clippings and horse manure and putting the kitchen leftovers
(microwaved) between the rows. Let's see how we're doing in
August this year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
May 19, 2011 - How handy is a cold frame?
Well... In addition to my Solexx Greenhouse I have built 6 cold frames, covered with Solexx paneling. Other than you can't walk around inside,,, the plants love them!
Two are aprox. 6'6 x 8' and are arched to about 24" tall. PVC pipe frames and can be mace from one 12' piece of Solexx glazing panels. Takes an afternoon to assemble and is sooo easy to work with. This is similar to the kit we sell from Solexx. (See the Greenhouse page)
I
put the first one on a raised "lasagna garden" bed and gave it a few
days to warm the soil. With air temps in the 70's the cold
frame
goes over 100 deg. f on sunny days. I planted rows
of
beans and peppers ans waited... The plants germinated within
days and are doing great. The bed hs to be watered every
couple
days because it cooks out the moisture, but the plants are in 100%
humidity during the day with diffused light. No signs of
damping
off or sun scald. My
first experimental unit is only 24" x 36" and 18" at the peak.
I
put that unit over one end of a row of potatoes. The
potatoes
were planted on March 17th and today, May 19th, the plants under the
cold frame are 12" tall and the others have just broken through the
surface.
The second large frame is over a bed that will be all flowers. Same process. Put it in olace for a few days to warm the soil and then start moving in. About half of the bed is now planted with zennias and Guardallia. They are looking great, having been started indoors a month ago. The rest of the bed is filled with containers of more flowers which will be placed around the property as the weather warms and the plants mature.
I had one remaining 66" x 49" Solexx panel so I just made a square flat frame of 2x4's. That frame is out on a bed of peppers and beans where I planted seeds 10 days ago. We've had nothing but rain and mot much sun, but those seeds are up and the open plots aren't.
With this frame, I'm going to do some 'progressive' movement of the frame. Let it boost the temps in that section for two weeks and then just move it 4' to speed up the next patch of veggies.
Tomorrow the first frame moves 8' up the bed to warm a patch for tomatoes. I'd like to see that soil temp up in the 70's before I put plants in the ground. Our outdoor temps right now are 65 days and 40's overnight.
One thing about greenhouses and cold frames... and I say this about container gardening... Once you enclose your plants, Mother Nature can't help (much). It can rain for a week and the plants indoors still need to be watered.
Happy Gardening!
Critter
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April 23, 2011 Update - Harvesting Red Wigglers from a Horse Farm. Bring buckets and wear boots.
On Thursday I went back to a friend's horse farm to see how the resident population of worms was doing... and harvest a few for my garage farm makeover.
The first turn of the shovel revealed a healthy mass of red wigglers and a few larger companions. I expect that the adults over-wintered deep in the manure pile where things stayed warm and moist. The guys I was seeing definitely weren't newborns and they were loving the spring temps.
As last year, I found more on the north side of the slope, which I think is because the sun warms and dries the compost on the south slope.
What a great way to restock my bins and garden beds for the summer!
We have added our fresh castings to the website at the CASTINGS PAGE.
Enjoy the day, Critter
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...Pardon our dust while we cultivate our Website! Most everything that is here is connected.
Featured Blogs!
Friends we cultivate and support. There's more
than one way to skin a carrot!
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RedWormComposting Bentley Christie, Canada
WormFarmingSecrets Duncan Carver, New Zeland
SoilSecret Jay and Naleene Myers, PA
TheSavvyGardener Shelly, Kansas (24hr ahead of our weather)
PASA Farming PA Society for Sustainable Ag.
RedWormComposting Bentley Christie, Canada
WormFarmingSecrets Duncan Carver, New Zeland
SoilSecret Jay and Naleene Myers, PA
TheSavvyGardener Shelly, Kansas (24hr ahead of our weather)
PASA Farming PA Society for Sustainable Ag.
and PolyPropylene Panels
