Cleaning out the Greenhouse in Preparation for Seed Starting

My greenhouse has been up and running for 2 years so it allows me to grow more plants from seed. When the gardening bug bit me 25 years ago, I would order hundreds of seed each year! I will never be able to physically manage the constant gardening that I enjoyed long ago so many more controls are in place to stop me from completely going overboard with seed buying My main interest in seed buying has turned toward vegetable growing.

We always battle critters in our garden because I have a no kill policy when it comes to critter control as I do believe nature is smarter than me and will generally work out a balance (for the exception of imported Stink bugs and Japanese beetles). We had been losing sunlight in our garden space each year as trees matured so Anthony moved a part of the garden more into the sun which gave us some successes last year in growing crops. I'm a fan of cherry tomatoes and sweet peppers but my neighbor gave me some fun hot peppers that I enjoyed viewing but not eating. Thai peppers are quite ornamental and I will be growing them again this year from collected seed.

It has been fun researching online as to the current best varieties to order based on disease resistance, performance, and taste. I lean toward open pollinated seed (true to seed = allows you to collect the seed annually and replant). Hybridized seed will not come true to seed and you have to purchase seed each year to produce the same crop.

Long ago I gave up growing beans as they are a critter favorite. I'm focusing on veggies that I eat the most often so Squash is top of the list. We attempted several varieties last year. A patio zucchini in the greenhouse which never flowered so I moved it outside and it flowered but we only harvested one and then it became diseased. We tried a baseball sized zucchini and it was a total failure. All fruit rotting before forming. I believe it was too covered up by the volunteer Butternut squash which went nuts and we harvested 25 squash from several plants. I'm going to try Lemon squash and several zucchini again. I had some luck with Thousandhead Kale that wasn't as huge as described but it was bigger than most so I'll toss that out again this year. I will again try mini watermelon and melon in the sun this year as they were also in the shady section of the garden and did not do well.

I had to put toilet paper collars around all my plants last year when I set them out because something was hacking the stems off! Could have been cutworms or rabbits. Hoping to beat the heat, disease, and the critters!

The variety of cucumber I picked for the greenhouse last year was terrible. It rarely developed any female flowers, which means you don't get any fruit! I was so disappointed because my first year of growing cucumbers in the greenhouse was great success (Burpee Garden Sweet). I'm trying 2 open pollinated varieties; one that self pollinates (Beit Alpha) and one that produces mountains of cucumbers (Suyo Long) in hopes to keep them going from May - December. 

Part of growing plants from seed is that you can pick the recommended winners and really see if they are all they claim to be! It's fun experimenting and growing varieties that you have never tried.

I just finished Spring cleaning out the greenhouse. This Winter I moved most of my plants indoors to save on heating expense (it cost me an extra $200 to run heat in the greenhouse last year). As a precaution I will apply 3 treatments of BTI to my greenhouse planter box (another exception to the critter control rules). It is a selective bacteria that attacks mainly mosquito, black fly, and gnat larva. Working indoors in a greenhouse is very different than outside as far as insect management.

Cheers to kicking off the Spring growing season!

~Rebecca

Ringing in 2023, my year in review

For some reason my year end blog was not posted, so here it goes a month late! 

Another page has turned in the big volume of life. 2023 will be the year when my husband signs up for Medicare part B. We're beginning to talk about easing out of pets and into our winter escape plans to the tropics. 

It won't happen any time soon but the thought of slipping down south for the cold months has its appeal. The low of 6 degrees in Charlottesville, Virginia last week has gotten us thinking of where to go.

I've ended the year with monitoring the heat set up in my new greenhouse. As long as the power stays on it's working great. 6 degrees outside and 49 inside - YES. Success. The first winter for the greenhouse is soon going to be over. Last year my husband spent most of spring building a lean-to so there was no time to use it during the peak growing season. We did have a bumper crop of greenhouse cucumbers in the fall from 6 plants, harvesting close to 100 cucumbers. We were distributing to all the neighbors while making pickles and Tzatziki. I hope we can get some cherry tomatoes and cucumbers going this Spring. In August I decided to lop off the tops of several cherry tomato plants, root, and transplant into the greenhouse planter box to get a head start on Spring tomatoes. All trial and error.

Mom is still happy to be in her lower level apartment in our house. It's working out well and it's nice to not have to drive 2 hours for holidays. We share the cooking duties, Mom creates some of her classic favorites and I bring in the fake turkey. She is independent at 87, having a regular driving route to the hair dresser and grocery stores. I feel like a big part of her independence at this age is her life long commitment to eating healthy, low sugar, and no alcohol. It's never to late to change your diet to minimize the age related ailments that can unfortunately arise.

We're down to only 3 chickens now, our little 14+ years old chicken is still with us. A miracle bird, approaching a world record age! Our cats all have issues, Sylvie with irritable bowel, Gus with arthritis, and Cesar with various ailments popping up. A friend came to visit for the weekend and Cesar decided to lick his arm nearly bald from stress. He is a freaky cat, it was a long recovery but we finally got him to stop after months of trying various tricks of the trade. Inventing the final solution.

One of my joys is to participate in the annual butterfly count for our county. I've totally changed the way I garden from 10 years ago. I used to cut back all the dead plant material from my flowerbeds and compost it. For the last 5 years I have been leaving all the flower seed heads for the birds to dine on over winter. Also leaves are kept in place so when Spring arrives, insect eggs hatch where they fall and the cycle continues. It does seem that we have more and more birds, butterflies and insects. We also plant more natives and I'm no longer interested in what I call hybridized fancy plants. We had a moment of plant fever and Anthony was up for planting many shrubs last year, 3 blueberry bushes, and an apple tree. Our paw paw trees bore fruit this year!

We continue to plan our final home construction project, connecting the house to the garage. It's all pretty simple for the exception of the roof. I do not want Anthony to even attempt it, always scares me. It's also a bit of an architectural challenge and the price of lumber is still elevated. For the time being Anthony has instead decided to insulate his shed, making it more functional. There is always some construction project happening here!

My arthritis is under control. I have a new rheumatologist locally, for 15 years I drove to North Carolina. I'm not thrilled about a new doctor, my old rheumy was the best. I will forever be grateful to him for bringing me out of my RA dark hole. An insufferable disease unless managed. I've been on Enbrel for many years and I'm taking a few supplements, D and Curcumin / Tart Cherry. It just might be helping my bad wrists which are more useable now than in years past. I do have to be very careful to not overdo or push them if I feel any pain. It will require lifelong management.

I have a beach trip scheduled with my oldest friend. If all goes as planned, we'll feel some early warmth come April.

Happy 2023, here it comes!

~Rebecca

Designing and Building a Greenhouse maximizing Heating and Cooling

This past Spring my husband built me a greenhouse from recycled windows and wood. So far it's been amazing. I'm very happy that we kept it small as it is easier to heat in the Winter. Not to mention to maintain and clean. It's a 8' x 8' x 8' lean to, which in itself has provided many benefits. 

When designing a greenhouse, heating and cooling of the space and providing good ventilation are crucial. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the best and cheapest way to heat a greenhouse.

We positioned it south / east and the house blocks the hot Summer west sun at the end of the day, helping it not overheat. 

Several design decisions have helped with saving heating costs. Our house exterior wall is brick so there is no worry of rotting siding or other damage to the house. It also retains a little heat as the sun shines on it during the day and it's one less exposed wall that looses heat during winter. Inside the greenhouse is a window that connects to the laundry room. In Summer we can raise it and insert a window fan when the greenhouse gets too hot and in Winter open it during the day to let the heat into the house. A stagnant locked up space will cause your plants to burn up or mildew in the Summer and Fall high humidity. 

On the greenhouse itself, we installed 2 windows and a door that can be opened for air flow. During the hottest of Summer months, we have an electric computer fan mounted up near the roof that I plug in when the temperature starts climbing. It moves just enough air to not burn up my plants on 100 degree days. I also have a table fan that I turn on for a few hours each day year round.

To heat the space, initially I tried a 1200 watt heater fan that we had on hand and it did little to keep the temperature up during the coldest part of the night. I immediately gave up on using it at all. Several other small greenhouse owners recommended a smaller heater that used only 200 watts. It put out just as much heat using a lot less energy to run compared to my 1200 watt heater. It is my initial "cheap" blast of heat as the sun sets in Winter months. It provides enough heat in the Fall until very late in the morning. At that time another stronger heat source needs to run in tandem to keep the heat up around 50 degrees. 

My secondary and main heat source is a portable electric oil heater that I had on hand. It has 2 settings, so far I've only needed the 600W setting but I can add another 900W if temps drop below 20 degrees. Last night was the coldest night yet, getting down to 23 degrees and I kept my greenhouse a cozy 47 inside. My set up keeps it typically 20 degrees higher than the outdoor temperature. Because it was going to be so cold, I did hang an old wool blanket over part of the front windows and a temporary strip of bubble wrap over 1/2 of the side windows where my sensitive plants are located.

A must have is an automatic temperature driven dual outlet plug. I have both heaters plugged into this device so during the night when the temperature drops the units operate separately and come on at different temperature levels. It's a way to save $ and not just manually turn on units as night approaches and run all night. They turn off and on at temperatures that I have set. It also displays the current greenhouse temperature. It has worked magically. 

When you build your greenhouse, keep in mind that any sort of crack or draft is going to be really hard to keep heated unless you don't care how much money you toss at it. A lot of people suggest insulating with greenhouse grade bubble wrap. I have used stiff removable packing bubble wrap sparingly so far because my cucumbers are still coming on (I do not want to block the light during the day). I might eventually need to lower the roof area closer to plants with bubble wrap as January nears when I expect the cucs will stop producing. It would help save heating costs and keep plants cozier.

~Rebecca 

Fall is a great time to buy a Lemon Tree

Fall is it the prime time that Lemon Trees produce fruit for the picking, at least in Virginia!  A friend told me about a local farm that sells Lemon Trees! Bill has propagated 100's of Meyer Lemon shrubs. Conveniently located near the Ivy Landfill (we go there every few months to dispose of household trash and recyclables) I picked up a gallon sized shrub. 

My shrub in my heated Greenhouse all cozy

Bill helped us select the perfect specimen having 7 lemons developing along with fragrant blooms. I did not realize that it takes 9 months from bloom to fruit harvest. Wowza. So right now is a great time to snag a lemon tree and enjoy some fruit over the Winter months. 

They can be successfully enjoyed indoors in your brightest sunny window. To aid in pollination, you can take a paintbrush and lightly transfer pollen from bloom to bloom to encourage a robust crop. It's best to move them outdoors in the Spring once all signs of frost have abated. 

Quarters Farm also sells fresh eggs and has a 175 year old home for daily rent that would be a great remote Winter hideaway.

The greenhouse does not have standard hours but Bill is very flexible as to when you can snag a Lemon tree or pick up some eggs. Just send him an email (listed on their website) to set up a time when you are over that way.

~ Rebecca  

    

Spring is in the air and we're building a Greenhouse from old Windows

Spring is in the air in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Daffodils are in full bloom and I've been posting the progress as they open on my photography Tumblr blog, 30 days of Daffodils. The Forsythia is bright yellow all over our neighborhood and the pink peach tree blooms have opened and are filling the air. We did have a frightful event yesterday when we experienced Graupel, on a 50 degree day lit began to hail! Such starts and stops are routine when Spring rolls around.

Graupel event, March 26, 2022

I didn't bother to write my annual 2021 year in review, Covid put a damper on most activities and I can't report any exciting updates. We did continue to removed old drafty wooden windows from our house and install replacements. I hate removing any solid materials from a home, but it's a 70's split-level so not much historically to get upset about. The exciting news is that we're using our collected stash of these windows to finally build a 90% reclaimed greenhouse!

My first greenhouse was attached to our old 1930's home, we didn't have recycled materials so we used what was cheapest and using a roll of plastic we built a double wall greenhouse with purchased 2 x 4's. It wasn't particularly attractive, only functional. We hauled in huge metal tanks, filled them with water for solar gain and used it as the base for work benches but we still often had to fire up the kerosene heater in the winter.

Husband had to remove and rework stairway

Our new lean-to greenhouse is currently under construction. My husband has 3 walls up and left to complete is installing siding, a door, and roof panels. We fortunately hit the jackpot and hauled in 3 car loads of solid wood from a 1940's roof demolition that we're using for framing and the roof rafters. Our only purchases have been Tuftex roof panels, nails, and screws. The cost for framing materials is at an all time high with no sign of relief in the near future. Regardless, I prefer to use recycled materials and am lucky that my husband willingly was on board as he had to do the lifting and nail removal. Back in the 40's they used big wide planks for the top of the roof instead of plywood so the materials are amazing.

As Anthony builds, I work on a little flower bed next to the greenhouse, trying to not hit buried electrical lines which I've been known to do. Removing a jumble of a dying overgrown Viburnum, Creeping Jenny, Creeping Charlie, and Black Eyed Susan. I'm left when an open pallet to correct the old mess. I did leave 2 native climbers one being a delicate Wild Yam. I've divided some of my Iris, Daylilies, and Sweet Box and reworked a some Black Eyed Susan, my dwarf Carnival Rose bush, Daffodils, Dwarf Hosta and other perennials. I purchased a Mars grape plant this year and hope to trellis it beside the Greenhouse. I also purchased a colorful Spirea, Candy Corn, to add to my collection. I don't have many native plants in this area but I do have natives throughout my larger flowerbeds as they need a lot more leg room than this space would allow.

A work in progress

We also had to relocate our handmade bird bath to another area in this space. So many different critters love this little ground water feature. It's one of our favorite DIY project completions.

Seems there is always a Spring project to tackle. We have one big project left, connecting our garage to our house. We won't start it until lumber prices go down, if they ever do.

It seems like Winter was especially long and cold so get out and enjoy the warmth. 

HAPPY SPRING from Forsythia Hill.

~Rebecca

Grand View Nursery, a Charlottesville Hidden Gem

Yesterday I decided to take my dead lawn mower battery to the annual Hazardous Waste drop off at the Ivy Material Utilization Center, along with my household trash. I recycle practically everything we consume so I make a trek across the mountain three times a year to drop off trash for $2.50 a bag (this is in lieu of paying for monthly curbside pickup). I always look forward to driving past Grand View Nursery located at 648 Dry Bridge Road. I typically link to a business page to provide more details but this nursery is so popular it doesn't even need advertising and there is no online listing.

Tucked off the beaten path on top of Gilliams Mountain is a gardeners paradise. You won't have access to all the landscaped property which has been purchased over the years by the owners of Grand View Nursery but you can drive by in the Spring and see the thousands of Daffodils, Azalea, and Rhododendron. Stop by the nursery and be blown away by the diverse selection of annuals and perennials that are propagated each Spring. They also have slow growing Confer's, Azalea, and Rhododendron for sale. The nursery is only open for a short period in the Spring and on select days, so call before you head up. The plants sell out quickly due to the popularity of this hidden gem.

There is a lovely area across the street from the nursery that is gated and if you are lucky to find the gates open, you can stroll through the stream and perennial beds. Blooming this time of year are unusual varieties of tulips and daffodils artfully arranged with other Spring bulbs cascading over banks and streams. Soapstone boulders have been crafted into art throughout the landscape.

I was fortunate to walk through the other gated areas of the property during Historic Garden Week in 2010. Located on approximately 50 acres (property has been added gradually over the years), Grand View sits on top of the mountain with majestic views among massive trees dotted with an enormous collection of Azalea and Rhododendron. When the property was originally purchased, four hundred Rhododendron were obtained from a nursery in Germany. Many other pocket gardens were designed, mainly with an oriental flair.

Looking for a weekend drive? This is it! Don't miss the beautiful Spring show and visit the nursery if you are looking for unique plants.

Please be mindful that this is a private residence as well as Nursery so if gates are closed, there is no access to these areas but you can still catch quite a show just driving by!


-Rebecca