We are expanding.
My dad built me a hoop house for the most awesome Christmas gift EVER. After some leveling and laying some sort of foundation, we can install it in our backyard. It was assembled in my dad's garage in Northern Minnesota, disassembled after I saw it during Christmas, and is now stored in my dad's garage until he trailers it down here to install it. I'm hoping we'll get it installed sometime before July 1st. That is the perfect time to start some winter vegetables, which I'll be able to try for the first time this winter! I'm excited. :)
Even before I knew he was building me a greenhouse, we had planned to expand.
Our current gardens:
- (4) 46" square raised beds (15" tall)
- (2) 4' x 12' rectangular raised beds (8" tall)
- (3) cedar planters with one blueberry bush each
- (2) 24" square raised beds (4" tall) for strawberries
Our expansion plans:
- (2) additional 46" square raised beds
- (4) raised cold frames - approximately 2' x 5' (you might remember from a previous post that we purchased windows for this purpose in 2009 - we are finally getting to it!)
- (1) raised mound bed (raised soil, but no lumber supporting it) - 7' x 12'
- (1) raised mound bed - 4' x 32'
- (1) raised mound bed - 4' x 6'
- (1) bramble patch - approximately 12' x 12'
- (1) pole support system - for beans, peas, anything else that vines
- (1) trellis system for grapes
- (1) trellis system for hardy kiwi
Plus of course... the greenhouse.
You may wonder why we are doing all of this... It's a great question. Why in the world would someone want to do this while attempting to enjoy the lakes of Minnesota over the summer, renovating a house, taking care of two dogs, and owning her own business ... especially with the availability of fresh food year round at our lovely local co-op.
The answer to that question coming up in my next post!
How is it going for you in the garden? I'm starting new this year after several years off. We put two raised cedar beds and have employed the square foot method with the soil recipe Mel recommends. Things are taking longer to sprout than I anticipated. At this writing, it's been two weeks since planting cool weather veggies including radishes, beets, spinach, onions, and lettuce. The radishes are up slightly and I can almost see the beets. I suppose maybe the weather hasn't been so cooperative, but again these are cool weather items. Your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteHi Susie,
ReplyDeleteIt always seems like it takes forever for things to sprout in the Spring! This years feels especially long - probably because I'm so anxious after such a long winter!
My germination times never seem to match the books or the seed catalogs - Don't give up! Keep those little guys moist and they will eventually do their thing. I had all but given up on some pepper seeds - it was three weeks and I hadn't seen any. I decided to water them *one more time* and sure enough, they started sprouting the very next day.
So many things affect germination... moisture, soil temp (big one!), light factors, etc. With this weird weather we've been having, they are probably hiding out for their own safety! :)
Hang in there and keep me posted on the progress.
And thanks so much for your comment - it's my first!