Just because the days will start getting shorter after the autumnal equinox doesn’t mean gardeners will have to go into hibernation until spring. Utilizing a greenhouse is a great way to continue to stay involved with your gardening efforts, despite the cooler temperatures and shorter days to come.
2016 is right around the bend, and, if you’re like many people, you’ll make some New Year’s resolutions. Earlier this year, Nielsen released its data on the most commonly made resolutions for 2015. According to their research, the most popular promises its respondents made to themselves were: to stay fit and healthy; lose weight; enjoy life to the fullest; spend less, save more; and learn something new or take up a new hobby
Catch the Sunshine and Get Growing….Now that we’re well entrenched in the 21st Century with our advanced level of communication and technology….it’s time we pause and reflect back from where we’ve evolved in the relatively recent past. Just a little over 100 years ago, our principal mode of transportation was a horse or our two legs…although some of us were privileged enough to enjoy the luxury of driving around in our horse and buggy…..or a Model-T Ford automobile.
The Joy of Gardening Friday, March 22, 2013 There are few things in life that equal the rewards realized from growing a prolific garden. if planned well, you’re time and effort spent planting and tending a garden is repaid a thousand-fold.Time slows down to a more relaxed natural pace when you’re turning the soil, shaping rows, planting your favorite varieties of delicious healthy vegetables and beautiful flower
If you have never experienced the wonder of anticipation of picking your own vine-ripened tomato or any number of delicious, nutritious garden vegetables….then you need to consider engaging in this rewarding endeavor. Where ever you live, as long as you have an available location that receives 6 or more hours of sunlight a day, then you have the potential to raise some of your favorite vegetables and herbs.
With today’s demand for increased food production and heightened awareness for the responsible use of our limited resources, ‘Plastic Mulch‘ is proving to be a justifiable addition to the cost of commercial vegetable production around the world. Plastic mulch is extruded from clear polyethylene resin into sheets of film of varying widths and lengths. Generally, the thickness is 1.0 to 1.1 mil (1 mil = 1/1000 inch) although thinner materials are available in high density polyethylene. Because of the inherent physical properties of black and other colored plastic mulches, it modifies the micro-climate around plants, enhancing growth, yield, and quality of horticultural crops. Over many years of experimentation and use since the late 1950’s – plastic mulches have proven to be a boost to agricultural productivity.
If you live where there is little or no open ground for a conventional row or raised bed garden opportunity, then you may want to consider growing in planter boxes or large containers. All you need is a sunny spot that receives 4 – 5 or more hours of sunlight a day and you should be able to grow many of your favorite vegetables and herbs.
Nutritious fresh lettuce can be grown in a greenhouse all year-round. Most lettuce varieties prefers cool weather and may develop spindly growth in conditions with a higher temperature range. The time from planting to harvesting ranges anywhere from 5-6 weeks out to 15 weeks, depending on the variety of lettuce that is grown. Each growing season has particular varieties of lettuces that are better suited to each season. In winter, the varieties are the slowest to grow but tend to be hardy and can survive a light frost. Warmer weather varieties will more than likely require some form of ventilation to keep leaf temperatures cool. Following are some basic steps to help you successfully grow lettuce all year long in a greenhouse. A)Germinate lettuce by sowing the seeds ¼ to ½ inch deep in a fine germination soil mix. Provide sun or artificial light and maintain a cool temperature setting of approx. 60 to 65 degrees to ensure a high percentage rate of germination.
You’re on the right track if you’ve been thinking about starting a garden to grow your own vegetables for family and friends, but lack the yard space and are overwhelmed by bugs and vermin, and by extremes of unpredictable weather conditions. If faced with these challenges, you may want to consider an investment in a quality environmentally controlled Gothic Arch Greenhouse and a hydroponic or aquaponic food production system to ensure a sustainable year around supply of fresh nutritious vegetables and fish.
Successful strawberry production can be easily done using hydroponics (the science of growing plants in soil-less material) in the controlled environment of a Gothic Arch Greenhouse…providing you with berries year-round…protected from birds and other animals. Growing berries with hydroponics can be challenging, yet rewarding as it can be adapted to almost any growing environment. The ideal environment to protect from weather would be inside a quality build Gothic Arch Greenhouse with the use of artificial lighting during the winter months.
