Posted on 02/12/2022 6:57:19 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
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If you’re serious about gardening, there are numerous benefits to installing a greenhouse in your yard. By allowing you to control their climate and staying warmer than your average house, greenhouses help to extend your growing season, allowing you to start seeds earlier and keep plants producing for longer. They’re also a great place to keep tropical or subtropical plants, which require a warmer, more humid climate to thrive.
There are many types of greenhouses to choose from, including large walk-in models that are the size of sheds (or larger), as well as small zip-open options that merely hold a few plants. To find the best option for you, think about the number and type of plants you’ll be housing, as well as how much money you’re willing to spend.
With these factors in mind, here are the best greenhouses to buy.
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Comparisons continue at link, below:
Very impressive leaps.
Today is “Weather Whiplash” day ... local mets came up with that one. We should be high 60’s (high yesterday was 70!), then rain coming in by 10 tonight, turning to snow by morning - temp drop of 30+ degrees. It won’t get out of the 30’s tomorrow.
This past week started out with highs in the 50’s, got into the 60’s, then 70 yesterday. It was a great time to get in the garden and I did - got all my beds “turned over”. In the fall, I cleaned out my compost bin to make room for new leaves by just dumping the compost on top of all my beds. After this week, the compost is now mixed (somewhat) with the dirt in the beds. It should break down a lot faster.
The other major project has been cutting damaged cedar limbs - not broken off, but broken enough that they won’t hold the weight of the branch so the branches are sagging. I got the pole saw stuck in one branch which required a ladder & hand saw to resolve. Some of the branches were as big around as my lower leg. All got hauled away, then it was on to pine limbs that my brother sawed up for me a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I spent raking up all the small stuff where the large branches had been. There’s still “trimming” I want to do - anything low enough to swack me in the head while I’m mowing.
Yesterday I noticed an awful lot of feathers around a clump of cedars that looked suspiciously like chicken feathers. I took a trip next door and did a head count .... three chickens when there should have been five. I verified with my SIL that 2 chickens had been killed. I asked what happened (via text) & got no reply so I’m going to guess & say “someone” forgot to shut the coop door at night. I looked at the coop and didn’t see any holes dug under the walls, etc. I am really bummed out ... I get all my eggs from those chickens and now the supply will be greatly reduced.
My little great-nieces got ltheir 4-H lambs yesterday ... “Acorn” & “Persimmon”. I saw a picture of them yesterday & can’t wait to see more “adventures with lambs” pics. They will have the lambs in a 4-H show the end of April. Their mom is a blue ribbon winning sheep handler, so I’m sure the girls will “know their stuff” by show time.
Headed outside to make the most of the great weather today before the snow tomorrow which is how it will go for the next month & a half while we’re on the winter-to-spring roller coaster.
We have a very sunny porch on the southwest side of the house.
The problem is, it isn’t very well insulated so gets pretty chilly in the winter.
However, it gets full sun morning to evening so it where I do my seed starting.
I have everything set up to go as soon as this upcoming cold snap is over, so Wednesday is my target seed day for starting onions and cabbage and some other slow to start and grow plants.
Do you have a garden or have a green thumb, but winter cuts your growing season short? Or perhaps you want to grow things that will not survive in your climate naturally. Adding a hobby greenhouse to your backyard or gardening space may be the answer to this problem.
A backyard greenhouse creates a space where you can grow your favorite plants year round. The environment in a backyard greenhouse is a warm and stable space where you can grow things that you may not have the opportunity to do outside the greenhouse.
A backyard greenhouse may be an outlet of your home, or attached to one of the outside walls of your house for easy access. A greenhouse may also be a freestanding building away from your home, out in the garden or backyard. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these options.
An attached greenhouse uses your home as a weight bearing wall, so the walls on the greenhouse don’t need to hold all of the weight of the structure. These are often the least expensive of the backyard greenhouse options. The one downside to an attached greenhouse is that sunlight will be limited within the greenhouse, given that there will only be three glass greenhouse walls instead of four.
Freestanding greenhouses are an excellent option for a greenhouse structure because they can be built and placed anywhere on the property that can fit them. These greenhouses can potentially provide four sides for sunlight to access the growing space inside if placed in the right location. Freestanding greenhouses tend to cost a bit more to build than the attached versions of greenhouses do, to build as well as to maintain.
https://www.homestratosphere.com/backyard-greenhouses/
I wonder if the crow that flew by said, “Haha, you’ll never make it, dumb cat.”
happy for those who have a greenhouse I'll be a lurker this week.
Wow, some guy just moved in two doors down from my best friend’s house and immediately painted his house just that color. Has the whole neighborhood in an uproar.
1. I have seen bobcats in the wild do some amazing things. Had one grab a squirrel right behind me in the same tree my climbing stand was on above my head; gave me the stink-eye and jumped some 15 feet down and ran off with its dinner. (I did not bag a deer that day, perhaps from laughing my butt off). (when you are camo’d up in a tree, squirrels can be a problem)
2. That is a great photo!
Those tracks are a little suspicious. The ridges don’t look right. Funny photo anyways~
Would you remind me again where you live? You don’t have to give SPECIFICS, like your address or anything, but I can’t remember!
Our weather extremes are never THAT extreme, so I’m curious.
Even with my unheated greenhouse, I don’t start things here (Zone 4/5) until March, and I start them inside, them move them out to the greenhouse. My kitchen calendar for 2022 is already marked with starting dates of various things.
Hurry, Spring! :)
For northern climates, it may be worth looking into earth-sheltered or partially-underground greenhouses. The ground helps keep the temperature steady enough that you can grow all winter, without burning things in the summer, and without fancy temperature-control systems.
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