May 1, 2024: Premier voyage of the greenhouse! Propagation has been in full swing since January 2024. One little setback delayed my peppers for a month, however I am no longer frantic as I have a greenhouse to extend the season as long as necessary! The crops shown above are my Asclepius groups “Hello Yellow” and Orange tuberosa and the middle Common Milkweed. happy with the progress so far.
Managing the Temperature in the Greenhouse is going to be the challenge this season. I prefer my veggies to be full grown before they are “cooked” with high temps! The Palma Twin greenhouse fan with thermostat has kept a steady heat all winter long allowing my hydrangeas, yucca, kale and parsley to successfully survive. Newly propagated plants have been put in the greenhouse as soon as they showed they were sturdy enough to stand temperature shifts and real sunlight rather than grow lights
Red bush beans are already producing! So far I am very pleased with the color and sturdiness of the plants. I have been supplementing with fish fertilizer, something I have finally understood, that its “OK” to use fertilizer in potted plants. Plants in pots are dependent on us for nutrition, it was something that I was reluctant to try, but now I understand that there just isn’t the same soil dynamic as there is when you have worms and other organisims crawling around.
Cucumbers are doing well. For the past few years I have not been happy with the harvest, we will see how I can change this in 2024. I may just leave some in the greenhouse to compare how they thrive in there vs an outside plot. Every year is a new adventure.
This year we pruned the fruit trees again. Last year they shot up and I would say doubled in size! We need to keep them manageable and on the small side, after all they are dwarf varieties and should not be allowed to get too large. We sprayed horticultural spray application #1 and will continue following sprays to keep the fruit healthy. Last year was very successful as there were no bugs. The apples had spots on their skin due to the leaf-heavy centers, now we know that air circulation is key.
Nature never fails to surprise. After pruning the trees, I had used some heavier branches to support the side of my huglekulture bed. I have notice that it started to grow! Totally unexpected, and not so sure that it is really going to grow, but I am happy to see is sprouting nonetheless !
More to come…
Grafedie in the Library 