Syphoning water out of the old barrels.
55-gallon drums are bigger, better batteries.
The last two days I have been upgrading my greenhouse - well, me and Beau and Cord of course - who are always helping me do hard stuff. It has been long overdo to switch out two 30 gallon plastic trash cans full of stored water to two 55 gallon steel drums full of stored water - thereby upping my little greenhouse's ability to heat and cool itself - once again.
I used the latest freeze to get busy. In the fall I bring in a bunch of warm weather loving plants - into my cool winter greenhouse to keep them as long as I can. Sometime in December they finally freeze - a few at a time. Another round of tomatoes, basils, nasturtiums and flowers bit the dust with the last deep freeze leaving all my herbs, greens, perennials, and cool loving flowers a little more room. It was time to send them out to the compost to make a contribution there.
Beau helped me carry out the heavy pots and planters, stacking them by the compost bins. After I got all of the plants off of the trash cans, he helped me to syphon the water out into the garden. After valiantly sucking on the hose to get the water flowing, and trying two different length hoses, I decided once again that it would be prudent to ask Cord, who usually knows how to do everything around here. And so I did - and he did. "Fill the hose with water - both of you hold each end up in the air and pour water into it. At the same time, put one end in the barrel and lay the other down - it should work without sucking on it." Good grief - that was easy and it worked so well - it created a little whirlpool and made a sucking noise when it was done. It was easy to lift the almost empty trash barrels out.
After they were out, I removed the board they were sitting on and noticed how crooked one of the bottom barrels had become. It would have to be leveled. But for the moment, I decided the old board needed a chance to dry out so I set it outside in the sun. I waited until today to put the new barrels in as the day was running away from me.
This morning Cord was barely done yawning awake when I sat up and said, "I need your advice in the greenhouse - could you come up there with coffee?" And so we went, in our bathrobes, with coffee in hand and sat amongst the greenery.
Cord made a plan for spacers and surveyed a broken board on one of my beds. Later in the day he came with a level, some boards and spacers, and a screw gun. Before long, it was done, he had even lifted the empty iron drums into place. The board was reinforced and it was up to me to fill the barrels.
I watered the whole place and filled the barrels with the afternoon sun hitting them. I closed it up looking forward to another change in my little greenhouse.
New salad greens are jumping upward, daring me to pluck them and lots of herbs and flowers still abound.
In the days to come I will plant in some leeks, parsley and lots of seed like Bok Choy, Chinese Cabbage, cilantro, lettuces, and root veggies.
I love it in there with snow all around - it's especially warm and moist right now - and smells so good in winter. Soon I will be bringing in some compost to prep the planting beds. More on that soon.
I used the latest freeze to get busy. In the fall I bring in a bunch of warm weather loving plants - into my cool winter greenhouse to keep them as long as I can. Sometime in December they finally freeze - a few at a time. Another round of tomatoes, basils, nasturtiums and flowers bit the dust with the last deep freeze leaving all my herbs, greens, perennials, and cool loving flowers a little more room. It was time to send them out to the compost to make a contribution there.
Beau helped me carry out the heavy pots and planters, stacking them by the compost bins. After I got all of the plants off of the trash cans, he helped me to syphon the water out into the garden. After valiantly sucking on the hose to get the water flowing, and trying two different length hoses, I decided once again that it would be prudent to ask Cord, who usually knows how to do everything around here. And so I did - and he did. "Fill the hose with water - both of you hold each end up in the air and pour water into it. At the same time, put one end in the barrel and lay the other down - it should work without sucking on it." Good grief - that was easy and it worked so well - it created a little whirlpool and made a sucking noise when it was done. It was easy to lift the almost empty trash barrels out.
After they were out, I removed the board they were sitting on and noticed how crooked one of the bottom barrels had become. It would have to be leveled. But for the moment, I decided the old board needed a chance to dry out so I set it outside in the sun. I waited until today to put the new barrels in as the day was running away from me.
This morning Cord was barely done yawning awake when I sat up and said, "I need your advice in the greenhouse - could you come up there with coffee?" And so we went, in our bathrobes, with coffee in hand and sat amongst the greenery.
Cord made a plan for spacers and surveyed a broken board on one of my beds. Later in the day he came with a level, some boards and spacers, and a screw gun. Before long, it was done, he had even lifted the empty iron drums into place. The board was reinforced and it was up to me to fill the barrels.
I watered the whole place and filled the barrels with the afternoon sun hitting them. I closed it up looking forward to another change in my little greenhouse.
New salad greens are jumping upward, daring me to pluck them and lots of herbs and flowers still abound.
In the days to come I will plant in some leeks, parsley and lots of seed like Bok Choy, Chinese Cabbage, cilantro, lettuces, and root veggies.
I love it in there with snow all around - it's especially warm and moist right now - and smells so good in winter. Soon I will be bringing in some compost to prep the planting beds. More on that soon.
Here is the example of old leftover tomatoes with one showing off in the back on the left. All of them in the flat froze - except 3 - this one stood out as the best - Mother Russia! Another variety that survived death all around was Arkansas Traveler - seed from desert seedsman ThunderfooT. There were three Reisenstraubs in a row - two lived, the one in the middle froze. Sometimes I think I keep leftover tomatoes just to see who is the last plant standing.
This is what a newly frozen Nasturtium looks like - the morning after. I see it as compost material for the green layer. This is part of the ebb and flow of a cool winter greenhouse - as some plants phase out, new ones can be planted. Much room has been made for me by nature - to plant again! Yippee!
RSS Feed