by Kenan White | Feb 24, 2010 | A Year in the Life.., Basics, Gardening, Growing |
We have introduced our new garden we plan to grow in our cold frame beds and containers. In this garden we hope to recreate situations many home gardeners face. Limited space is our main focus and we will grow annual plants and various herb plants in combination to get the most out of a small space. This is an exciting venture for The Growers Exchange and we can already imagine the beds full of flowering annuals and all of our herb plants inter-planted. Vines will grow on trellises and melons will hang from the rafters. Will spring ever get here?
The other side of “ A Year in the Life of a Garden” theme is the outdoor garden surrounding the nursery office. A hedge was planted and a waterfall was built. As soon as the ground dries enough the beds will be cut out of the grass. Paths will be mulched and when the weather cooperates, plants will be planted. Here we plan to grow every plant we offer. By growing a test garden, we will be better able to know the ins and outs of the plants we sell. New plants will be trialed so we can see how they perform in all seasons. A photo record will be kept and journal entries made to our blog.
Follow the garden as it grows. We hope to begin planting the first seeds this week. Check back here to see the salad garden planted!
by Kenan White | Feb 22, 2010 | Basics, Gardening, Miscellaneous |
Every work place has certain jobs that no one looks forward to doing. But they must be done! One of ours here in the greenhouse is the annual event of putting the little water drip tubes in each pot. That doesn’t sound so bad until the number of drip tubes is considered. Each table has a thousand tubes, eight tables per greenhouse, as you can see it adds up. Broken ones have to be replaced, other than that every one is the same. It takes about a week to complete the task. If this is the kind of work you’d love to do in your greenhouse, you may want to opt for a dwarf wall greenhouse that would look amazing in your back garden.
The good news is that once the drip tube is inserted in the soil, we can feed and water that whole table with a switch. Uniform water in each pot is very important and impossible with hose watering. Once the spring crop is done, we will not face that many at once again until next year. The most important thing about the drip tubes is that they free us up to spend hands on time with the plants, not just watering all day. These little plants will be sent to zone 9-11 gardeners in just a few weeks. Plan your garden now while there is plenty of time, your plants can be ordered for the frost free date in your area.
by Kenan White | Jan 4, 2010 | Exploring, Gardening, Inspiration |
The new year always starts slow in a greenhouse. Winter is howling outside and spring is a long ways off. January is too early for many annual seeds to be sown; timing is everything and we want our plants just right for transplanting. Many of the perennial and other slow growing seeds were started in the fall, giving them plenty of time to fill out their pots before spring planting. Seeds are being planted this time of year, but the spring rush has not started yet.
The New Year is represented by a diapered baby, the greenhouse New Year looks more like a seedling, lots of seedlings, with more to follow. Outside the ground is frozen and the wind cuts to the bone; here in the greenhouse it is easy to daydream of the time when the world will green up and will be warm again. Being stuck inside allows us the time to plan the next spring garden. A little time spent planning will pay huge dividends as a well ordered garden will produce herbs, flowers, and veggies all summer long.
The new year always starts slow in a greenhouse. But as winter wears itself out, and spring approaches, the level of activity steadily increases, until finally the plants must be moved to outside beds to reach their potential. It is hard to describe winter as a gardening season; but it is the planning and “thinking about it” season; pencil gardening, where mistakes are easy to fix. Spend this time well, dream your ideal garden this winter, then you will know what to plant come spring.
