Posts Tagged ‘Greenhouse’

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April Gardening Check List

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Rare are the weekends that I have both days to myself in my garden. Usually, I’m meeting with clients all day Saturday. This weekend a last minute emergency cancellation meant a Saturday to myself and for myself to just “be” in the garden. That meant I was able to get caught up on numerous tasks that are best completed this time of year, April, in the garden. Perhaps it’s time to start focusing on some of these tasks in your garden as well?

  • Hardening off: If you’ve been buying veggie starts (or even ornamental starts), hopefully you’ve confirmed whether they’ve been hardened off yet or not.
    Brassicas Hardening Off in the Cold Frame

    Brassicas Hardening Off in the Cold Frame

    This refers to acclimating them to cooler outdoor temps from the coddling environment of the heated greenhouse. You can accomplish this at home by keeping starts in a cold frame (learn how to build one here), greenhouse or even hoop house. Or taking them outdoors for longer and longer periods of time over the course of several days, bringing them indoors for shorter and shorter protective periods during the coldest days and chilliest times of night.

  • Weeding: Even if you’ve been weeding all winter long and have a thick layer of mulch on the ground, odds are some wily weeds are popping up. I dug up several dandelion, shotweed and even a few tenacious dockweeds. Keep on top of them now to make life easier later when they’re stronger, have seeded and the ground gets hard as rains begin to wane.
  • Cutting back: Haven’t gotten out in the garden yet and finished cleaning up from last winter? You might want to hurry up. Most perennials have already put on some hefty growth. Ferns are unfurling. As delicate growth takes off, it can be difficult to cut back dead or winter-beaten parts of the plant to show off the beauty of the new spring growth. What makes this difficult is the new, tender, succulent growth can get in the way. When I cut back the last of my sword ferns over the weekend, for instance, I accidentally snipped off at least one tender new frond as it was unfurling – bummer! (more…)
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Garden Coach on Garden Blogger Bloom Day February 2010

Monday, February 15th, 2010

I spent the past several days in the San Francisco Bay Area visiting friends and attending a fun – if surreal – college reunion. While I was there I soaked up the warm, sunny weather.

Winter Daphne Blooming in Seattle Welcomed Me Home

Winter Daphne Blooming in Seattle Welcomed Me Home

I woke each morning to dynamically varying views of foggy Mt. Tam. Brilliant yellow Acacia trees had both my allergies and the hummingbirds riled up. Camellias, a wide range of bulbs and many other flowers were decorating gardens. While visiting Orinda, the first California town I ever actually lived in, I spied blooming winter Daphne and stole away for a deep whiff. The visit was lovely and heart warming in so many ways.

Departing for home, we exited the Rainbow tunnel on our way south toward the Golden Gate Bridge in the jumbo Marin Airporter. The day was fairly clear and the high bus seats afforded us an unparalleled view of the scenery — a place truly home to me. It was hard to leave NorCal; each time I do, I bit of my heart always stays behind.

This morning though I was reminded why I love to return to Seattle. I awoke to a heavy blanket of fog; bouncing off this grey, misty background were an array of super-early bud breaks and bright spring flowers in bloom. I exited by back door to the greeting of hot cocoa aroma from our Azara. And, this afternoon, as the sun begins to set, I’m gazing beyond my garden to the majestic Olympic mountains in the distance.

Overwintered brassicas in the February Greenhouse

Overwintered brassicas in the February Greenhouse

In addition to all the great things in bloom in the garden, I noticed so many that are on the cusp of joining in the spring bloom: Acer triflorum breaking bud with tight flowers ready to go; Ribes sanguineum just a few days from opening drooping pink flower clusters; many other hellebores have lifted their heads above the soil and will open soon; epimedium desperately in need of cutting as hairy flower heads lift from the base, Sarcococca, Camellia and Witch hazel wrapping up for the season; Viburum carlesii buds swelling; Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ showing hints of blue; Bleeding heart risen from the soil with clusters of flower buds dripping from tender tips. And, in the greenhouse perhaps no flowers, but a burst of leafy green goodness in the form of cabbage, cauliflower and kale thriving in the 70F heat inside. It is time to play catch up and start seeding. Oh, and yes, it’s time to weed — the shotweed is perhaps ahead of every other plant I have!

Curious about the really pretty plants now blooming in the garden? Enjoy the photos that follow:

(more…)

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Harvest for the Hungry Frozen for Winter

Thursday, December 10th, 2009

Seattle readers won’t be surprised to learn that this is the week our food bank harvests came to a screeching, sliding, Bambi-on-the-ice, wintery end.

Frosty Broccoli in the Hoop House

Frosty Broccoli in the Hoop House

The ground is frozen and so are my winter crops. Even the added protection of hoop houses hasn’t kept chard, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, arugula, lettuce and beets from shriveling their leaves in the cold. Our greenhouse isn’t heated, so even the crops in it are a bit worse for wear — though I will say there’s still a bit of hope for the lacinato kale and lettuce inside it. Still, it’s not enough to harvest for the food bank. And, ironically, the tough red winter kale is having a harder time in the greenhouse than the lacinato kale — good to know.

Earlier in the year I had hopes of growing hundreds of pounds of potatoes that I would share through the winter with the food bank. Alas, our harvests were much more meager than this. Despite sharing this harvest over past weeks, our stock is getting low. So, the pantry donations from the garden aren’t as hardy as I’d hoped.

I suppose I could harvest a large batch of sage and thyme to share, but for now, our weekly donations will come from what we can afford to pick up at the market — hearty dried beans and pasta can go a long way toward feeding the hungry.

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Snap Goes the December Cold Weather

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

This morning I ventured into the garden to see what might be available to harvest for our weekly food bank donation. Even our hardiest kales are slowing production this time of year, and I didn’t expect to find much for this, our 26th week in a row donating weekly.

Early December Food Bank Donation

Early December Food Bank Donation

As well, I didn’t expect to find quite as crunchy, rock-hard, frozen ground. Yep, the cold snap is here & the garden is seizing up because of it. The sun is shining, but the ground is freezing. The weather reporters are even starting to threaten flurries this weekend and possibly a real snow event in the Seattle lowlands next week. As a longtime Seattlite, I’ve learned to “believe it when I see it”. I’ve also learned to get ready for just about anything. And, if you haven’t already winterized your garden, I encourage you to do so.

If you’re growing edibles, even hardy winter edibles like kale and broccoli, be sure they’re protected from freezing temperatures.

First Hoop House On Raised Bed

Be sure to shut your hoops in the cold!

If you have them inside a greenhouse, under a hoop house or inside a cold frame, most winter-hardy edibles should continue to thrive in temperatures hovering around freezing. If they aren’t protected, get out and harvest them asap or risk losing them in times of cold. A few of the exposed chard leaves I cut this morning were fairly frozen, but they’ll still make a great wilted greens side dish tonight. A few more nights out in that weather and the leaves will be completely shot though the plants may re-surge in spring.  I find chard, lettuce and bok choi the most tender of the winter veggies in my own garden.

If you’re maintaining a worm bin, don’t forget to check on their habitat. They’re probably fairly sluggish and in need of very little food right now. But, they do need a good layer of insulating leaves, shredded paper, straw or other bedding material to keep them from freezing. If you’re having an extra chilly season, consider starting up an indoor bin to keep some of your population fat and happy in the kitchen, pantry, cellar, garage or other protected location. Last winter I put together an indoor bin in 30 minutes, for under $20. Perhaps right now I better get that one rev’d up again before it freezes again tonight!

Looking for other garden winterizing ideas? Read on! (more…)

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Sturdy Structures Withstanding the Wind

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

Today I’m really glad we invested in a real, sturdy, heavy, anchored greenhouse. It’s windy out there today with gusts in the 20-3omph range. It’s truly howling out there, and I may have seen a large cat fly by earlier — but I’m not entirely sure — it may have been a Norway maple leaf. Hard to say. What I do know is my greenhouse is going nowhere unlike what happened last year when the storms really got going.

A View out the Greenhouse Back Door

A View out the Greenhouse Back Door

Last year when the wintery winds kicked up, our first little greenhouse crumbled like the straw house built by one of the three little pigs.

So, let the wind blow. My well-anchored greenhouse is standing steady. From it, I harvested habanero peppers, leafy greens and even another ripe lilikoi today. Heck, the passionfruit vine is even forming new flowers in November though I seriously doubt they’ll become fruit over the winter.

Still, I expect the structure will hold, and we’ll be enjoying it for years to come despite wind, rain, sleet and snow.

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