Greenhouse Improvements

I'm having a hard time keeping up with my blogifying but here is some of what Susan and I have been doing in the greenhouse.

I am slowly getting the seed cabinet where I want, here is the new shelf and grow lights.

Right now we have some 72 cell flats on the shelf for germinating larger seeds like peas and what have you that are too big for the 3/4" soil blocks. The shelf is going to work out good when we get to the stage we are really starting a lot of seeds in soil blocks, 3-5 days on the mat till everything germinates then move that group up on the shelf for another week under the bright lights to get some true leaves going while another group goes directly on the heat mat to germinate.

You could start a crazy amount of seedlings in a little box like this - +/- 1800 a week every week!


 Here are what we have out in the sun, those are all 72 cell "plug" flats; everything from tomatoes to beans - 850 plants would have been 300 or so more if I hadn't accidentally left the heating mat in the seed cabinet unplugged on a 14* night – Doh!

BTW, I made the benches and parts of the seed cabinet from an old deck I tore down and the slats are the recycled lath from plaster we took down in the house.

Greenhouse is a Go!

I'm getting antsy to start planting! If the difficulty I had ordering from Johnnyseeds.com was any indication so are a lot of other folks.

I've made a deal to sell starts at the local feed store this year. We decided to compete with our little greenhouse in town and the big stores 20 miles away by only selling "heirloom" plants mostly. Along with that we are expanding our garden out to market size - maybe an acre this year. Plus putting in some brambles...

Anyway, the GH project is to a place we can at least get started. Here is the south side with the recycled storm windows finally installed:

I only have one layer of good 6mil UV resistant poly on so far (the only thing here store bought) but will get on another layer on before the seedlings come out of the cabinet.

Speaking of the seed cabinet, here it is with the front and top hinged up. You can see the vinyl sheet on the bottom under which is the heat mat with the thermostat on the cabinet and the thermocouple ready to stick in a bread pan of soil to control the temp.

I'm going to build a shelf and hang a grow light inside for plants to get a little bigger before they re potted out. BTW the cabinet is 5' wide, 2' deep and 2' tall and if I were to fill it up with 3/4" soil blocks it would sprout 1,800 seeds at once!

Finally, here are some of the benches, 2'x8' (2 are pushed together in the foreground). I'm set up for standard 1020 trays, you can see 72 cell plug flats closer and six-packs beyond. 

Theoretically we can get 3,400 plug cells or about 300 6-packs on the benches without getting too cramped so we'll start everything in plug trays they move them on to 6-packs as it gets closer to march(?) and stick them outside under some heavy row covers.

That's the plan anyway. This year is going to be all about balancing what hope to sell as starts and what we'll plant ourselves.

I always knew I'd be doing this eventually, I just wish I'd gotten around to it sooner!

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Today's Farm News
Ag Touristas

Farm O' the Day
www.rareseeds.com I've linked here before but I like 'em!


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More on living on the edge of the rich world

It really is amazing how rich we are, we replace possessions from simple boredom. Out in the country old timers are pretty frugal but (along with dairies) your exurbanite neighbors can be a goldmine - and I mean that in a nice way!

One neighbor bought an old farm like ours and with his town jobs is slowly fixing the place up. Along the way I've brought home such castoffs as dozens of sheets of corrugated metal (in various stages of decomposition) more than enough to build a dozen calf hutches and a loafing shed and there is still enough for a new hen house.

He had the 20(?) year old windows replaced on the farmhouse and I snagged those and the storms too. The storm windows made the new wall on the greenhouse and the window sash are in storage waiting to be installed in the sunroom on our farmhouse (when I get it built). Bt the way I'll post up pics of the newly refurbished greenhouse soon.

I've hauled home a mostly working cook stove, sink and water heater for our summer kitchen. Salvaged half rusted tractor implements from fencerows and barn-corners; a brush hog, disk, carry-all, 3 pt. scoop, piles of pallets, all sorts of scrap lumber and even a wooden, belt driven winnower and a kerosene heated incubator.

Remember:

Use it up, wear it out.
Make do or do without!

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Todays Farm News
Sustainable ag in the Farm Bill?

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