Got time to post a few pics of what we do in the summer. Still need snow shoes to get around the yard.. Seems like we're always building new raised beds.. Heres part of our open to the public part of our greenhouse business. Water, water, water. Every evening befor supper. Built the first greenhouse about 10 years, just to grow things for us and the rest is history. ....................................Dennis
Great photos. I am really getting spring fever now. How early do you get thing in the ground around Seward? We typically start getting things out on the first of june, but things don't really get in the ground until the end of the month. Usually the earth is still frozen about a foot down come June. We're expanding our cultivated ground to close to 3/4 of an acre this year and will hopefully be putting up a real green house this year. How do your tomatoes and onions do down there? I grew 6 ripe tomatoes last year and I not yet had success with onions. Plenty of pototoes, carrots and greens though.
Hi Guy: We try to get the starts out of the basement and into the heated greenhouse by April 1, but I dont know this year. Tomatoes, we usually get so busy with filling all the orders for flowers the tomatoes get forgoten about. Or will sell the plants to someone who will give them a nice home. Ma's going to be running out of room in the basement soon, 64 flats down there now and alot of those are starters and have to be transplanted to 4 and 6 cell packs. Will post some pics of the grow racks in the basement and the inside ofour heated greenhouse......Later .....Dennis.......
Well let me see, Some areas the ground never warms up, other areas 100 kt. winds are common, others with more rainy days than clear ones. Western Berring Coast and hundreds of miles inland nothing but tundra 6 ft. deep and perma-frost under that. Thousands of sq. miles of glaciers and ice fields. Any questions.?
Hay Freein: Here a couple of pics of of steps to get the little green babys outside. These are a couple of our light racks, total will hold 96 flats. This didn't start out being a picture of the racks, but the water on the floor. Here's our little heated greenhouse, notice the reliable Toyostove in the center..A little plug, I'm the Toyo dealer here in Seward... ..............Later...........Dennis.......
Man, those are some great pictures. I have a question about the very first one. It looks like some sort of black plastic on the ground both in and out of the new bed you're making. What exactly is it? Is it there for weed barrier, or to keep the cold out or the water in? Do you poke drainage holes in it? Is the bed sitting on the plastic or are there stakes going into the ground to hold it in place? And, hell, as long as I'm asking, what is the wood you're using? Peace, poor_old_dad
P_ O_ P : The stuff is a fabric weed blocker. We buy wholesale, but I found I can pick it up at Costco in the spring cheaper than my wholesale price. I just cut the corners back about four inches for drainage, seems to work OK. The wood is just 2x6's . To make a 12'x4' bed you need, 4-12 footers and 2- 8 footers. I marry up , with glue and lamenating vices, to make them 2''x12" The brown paint is "behr 10 yr latex stain". Any other questions MP me..............Dennis PS. The reason the fabric outside of the bed is, I was building another bed a couple of feet away and put gravel between them so I wouldn't have to run the mower through the tight space.
Hi there Alaskan! Wonderful and marvellous..... I wish I had the space you do. Ree needs space to play on still so we can't turn the whole of the back garden into growing area - and the garden is quite small. I would dearly love more space but I am happy with what I have which has to be more than some people do. I know what you mean about weather. While ours on the West Coast of Scotland is not so extreme it does get wild, and I dont have the space for a tunnel - even a small one. We don't have pics to post yet - but we will do later in the year. Wishing you a good growing season....
