It’s been awhile since I gave a tour of the greenhouse. I like to do that occasionally to show what’s going on in there for those who are curious, plus I also like to document it for my own use later on. My greenhouse is 8×12 feet, and in it I have small beds on either side plus two benches. I also have shelving around the top that I mostly use to hold flats of plants.
greenhouse in October
Right about now, there’s not a whole lot planted in the beds. I have four parsley plants on one side that I set out in early summer. They will give us parsley throughout the winter months, and on into spring until it starts to bolt.
parsley in greenhouse bed
On the other side I have a few kale plants I plan on overwintering. They are still quite small, and I hope they put on some size before really cold weather gets here. I overwintered kale in the greenhouse last year, and we enjoyed it in both winter and spring. The variety in the below photo is True Siberian, and I also have a few plants of one called Western Front.
True Siberian kale
Last week I started seeds for lettuce, spinach, arugula and cilantro. Those plants will go in both the greenhouse and the cold frame beds. I didn’t get around to planting lettuce in September, so it will be awhile before we have any homegrown lettuce for salads. I do have quite a bit of arugula in one of the cold frame beds and we have been enjoying that.
128 cell plug flat with spinach seedlings
Lately I’ve been experimenting with different size plug flats to start seedlings. I used one that has 128 cells for the spinach, arugula and cilantro, and one with 72 cells for the lettuce. You can see the 128 cell flat in the above photo, and the 72 cell version below. I think they both work well for things that don’t need to be transplanted before setting out. I will thin to one plant per cell once everything has germinated. When it does come time to set out the plants I will work directly from the plug flat, using my widger to get the seedlings out.
72 cell plug flat with lettuce seedlings
In a few weeks the greenhouse and cold frame beds should be full of plants. Hopefully we will have greens to eat shortly thereafter! I hope you have enjoyed this look at the greenhouse here in early October. I’ll be back soon with more happenings from HA.
I noticed that you have used shredded paper. Is this newspaper or what type of paper? Is there any issue concerning the ink?
Our newspaper uses soy based ink, so I’m not concerned about that. There is some junk mail in there but not enough to worry me.
I really enjoy looking inside peoples greenhouses – it’s usually a time to dream about what I would put in there if I had one of my own. Parsley & kale would definitely be included – I doubt I would be able to harvest them all winter, but even if I had to go without during the coldest months of Jan. & Feb., that would still give me 4 or 5 months longer than now.
The parsley and many of the greens are amazingly hardy. The greenhouse freezes up at night, then thaws during the day as the sun heats it up. As long as I wait until things thaw out, I can harvest something out of there most of the winter.
I was wondering how you were getting the seedlings out of the cells, the widger makes sense. I haven’t used cell packs of any size is quite a while, instead I make newspaper pots or sow a bunch of seeds into a 4-inch pots and then pull them apart. Thanks for the tour.
I forgot to mention in my pepper jam post that when I use hot peppers I generally mix them with sweet peppers to dilute the heat. I almost mixed the Aji Amarillos with Giallo di Cuneo yellow bells decided that the jam wouldn’t be spicy enough.
Thanks for the recipe tip! I do have some yellow and orange bells that I could mix with the Ajis, which are pretty spicy on their own.
That is a nice greenhouse and enables you to grow so many nice things. Thanks for the tour. I don’t know what a widget is so will have to google it. Sounds like something I need! Nancy
I’m pretty sure my winters are too cold to attempt anything in the greenhouse but I suppose it’s worth a shot some time. I didn’t make plans this year with new seedlings but maybe I can transplant an herb or something from outside in to see if it works. The challenge would be maintenance – I usually get too much snow to bother maintaining any sort of pathway or even trying to get the door open until spring!
Snow would be a problem for sure. I think kale, arugula and spinach would be hardy for you, but you would need to get in there and water periodically.
Is your greenhouse heated during the winter? I often dream of having a greenhouse, the problem is where to locate it on the property.
I have a small electric space heater I run on the really cold nights, but mostly it is unheated.
I too dream of having a greenhouse or polytunnel… When growing little seedlings in those flats I think having the right compost is crucial. The commercial stuff available over here is mostly rubbish (literally), has few nutrients and dries out far too quickly.
Hi! Wished to know if you made your greenhouse yourself, and if it is double insulated. Also curious if you have voles or mice coming in it in the winter. Thanks!
Hi Mary,
I bought the greenhouse from Sunshine Gardenhouse (http://www.gardenhouse.com/). The panels are twin-wall polycarbonate. I have occasionally had voles come in throughout the year, not just in winter. So far mice have not been a problem.