Garlic Bed

Snow due tomorrow. Time to get the garlic bed ready.

Large garlic bulbs in the center. Smaller bulbs all around the outside of the bed.

Pine needles use to cover the bed for the winter.

39 Degrees

39 degrees this morning. It's getting cold outside! Plants like being in the greenhouse.

Finishing the Roof - Part 2

Framing completed! (All rafters and wall studs in the greenhouse are re-used apple orchard stakes) Next step was attaching plastic on both ends.

Placing the plastic over the top requires a few things to to make the process go smoothly. A day with no wind is a definite plus. The far side of the plastic sheet was attached first. Then ropes were attached to the plastic so Michelle and I could gently pull the sheet up and over the top.

Plastic attached to the final side. We are all prepared for snow.

Finishing the Roof - Part 1

Snow season will be here soon! It's time to finish the roof. Two main support posts were attached to the current center beam of the green house. I was just going to eyeball it, but Michelle insisted on making sure each post was level before we attached them to the beam. The next step was placing the top beam into the slots on the support posts. To save time and make it easier, I pre-attached the center three rows of rafters to the top beam with hinges. Once in place, I simply screwed the bottom of each rafter into the side wall of the greenhouse.

Back inside the greenhouse

New lettuce coming up!

 

Swiss chard transplants, thyme, chives & tomatoes seeking shelter in the greenhouse.

The black 5 gallon bucket is filled with water: 

warms up during the day and releases heat at night.

Added some benches. Already put to use ripening tomatoes.

Fall for Art 2012

Putting Produce to Work

  

The gourds from the garden needed something to do so I had them decorate the barn for the "Fall for Art" tour.                  

Harvest

Starting to bring in some gourds from the garden!



Start Planting

 

Since this is our first time growing anything in the greenhouse, we'll stick to some cold weather crops. We added some compost and are starting out with lettuce, kale, swiss chard, onions & peas. We're also going to transplant some swiss chard from the garden and bring in some tomato plants and some herbs. We'll keep you posted on how they do once cold weather sets in.

Movable Side Door

Next step was the addition of the movable side door. We had to dig enough dirt out in front of the door to allow for it to move freely. Found a use for those stones we dug up at the beginning; they will help prevent erosion. The door is held up by two door hinges and secured on the inside and the outside with bungee cords.                                                                                                                  

Roof

 

Next step. Addition of roofing material.

Open the Door

Time to add the door. We recycled an old screen door for the greenhouse. Reuse of existing materials, and the bottom pane of glass can opened or closed to allow for increased ventilation if needed.

Inside Look

 

A view of the plastic sheeting from the inside.

Plastic Siding

Next step in our greenhouse fabrication was the placement of plastic sheeting. We used 6mil plastic which seems pretty standard for greenhouse plastic. As you can see in the left image, the plastic is wrapped on the inside and outside of each wall. Not much, but the double layer of plastic adds a slight amount of insulation. Just trying to keep from reaching freezing temperatures overnight as far into the season as possible. The center picture shows the space for the movable section of wall on the south side. In the right hand picture, we left space for a recycled screen door.

Construction

We removed plenty of fieldstones and all the roots are gone. Time to start building the greenhouse. We've decided to start small and simple. The structure will be a wooden frame with plastic sheeting. If we like the location and design we can always upgrade with hard plastic widows later.

The initial size will be 12' x 8.5' with a door on the east side and a movable section on the lower half of the south side. Both the movable section and the screen door can be opened and closed depending on warm or cold conditions.

Let the battle of roots begin

       

               "Break it up!"                                                           Initial Layout                                                            AYFKM

 

Too much chit chat between Michelle, Colleen and Ray. I finally had to break up the meeting and decide on a location. With a slight slope away from the garden, the west side of the structure would have to be dug into the hill. It was tough going removing all the stones and roots but it had to be done.

 

 

 

Where do we put the greenhouse?

 

Shell's father, Ray, starts the discussion. No conclusion is reached. Time to bring in the experts. Shell's mom, Colleen, joins the discussion. It's good to make everyone feel like they're contributing. What about Doug? Hello.

Greenhouse!

Chainsaw comes in handy

Summer won't last forever. Winters are long. We need more growing season! Shell and I decided it's time to put up a small greenhouse. Since the tree that was partially shading the garden was damaged from the snowstorm, we thought it would be the perfect time to cut it down and make room for the greenhouse and increase the amount of sunlight to the garden.

24 inches

Shell and I woke up in early spring to see the damage of over 24 inches of snow in one night. Wet, heavy snow wreaked havoc on most of the trees on our property. One particular tree near the garden lost major limbs. This particular tree shaded a portion of the garden during most of the summer. It looked like maybe it was time to go.

Forever Summer

So the reality is summer won't last, especially in Northern Michigan.