Greenhouses

Well, it's been a little bit since my last post.  Since then we have had the home inspection on "The Farm," and it went incredibly well.  The house is solid as a rock.  So, now it's time to really start thinking about how I'm going to get things accomplished.  To remind you faithful followers, and maybe some of you newcomers, below is a list of the projects, and the expected products, I would like to have on The Farm.  Remember, this is only a 1 acre plot and the house takes up about 1/43 (a little over 1000 ft²) of that.  Also, an acre is about the size of a football field less the end zones and the first five yards from the end zones.  So, there's is quite a bit of land, even for just one acre.  Here's the list projects and their corresponding products I expect to produce:

• Garden - about 10,000 ft² (that's about a 100 ft × 100 ft plot).  This is about 8 times larger than the largest garden I've ever managed, and the reason for this particular post.
• Various vegetables
• Pumpkins/watermelon/squash
• Strawberries
• Chickens - about 15-20
• Meat
• Eggs
• Guinea Fowl - about 5 or so
• Meat
• Goats - 2 to 3 if possible
• Meat
• Milk
• Cheese
• Yogurt
• Bees - 1 hive, possibly expanded to 2-3 over time
• Honey
• Beeswax
• Worms - one 3 ft³ container, with the intention of expanding as time goes by
• Compost
• Orchard - about 3-6 trees (apple, cherry, other); not sure what kind yet.
• Raw fruit
• Preserves
• Wine
• Berry bushes - grapes, blueberry, raspberry
• Raw fruit
• Preserves
• Wine

So, as you may have recognized, I added wine to the list of product.  We'll see how that goes.  That won't be for a while as it is going to take a year or so for at least the berry bushes to produce and up to 5 or 6 years for the fruit trees to produce.

Anyway, back to the point of this article.  A couple of days ago I was attending my monthly SWIMGA master gardeners meeting.  While there, I was, as you can imagine, in the mood to think about gardening and such.  After all, seed starting season is fast approaching, which for many cool crops (spinach, lettuce, broccoli, etc.) begins in the middle or end of February.  While reflecting and anticipating the upcoming seed-starting season, I realized that I have to amp-up my operation eight-fold to accommodate the new plot.  This causes concern, because I start all of my plants from seed.  I do not go to Lowes or Home Depot or Wal-Mart (God forbid!!) and buy plants already growing in the pot.  The reason is I don't know how well, or un-well in many cases, the plants have been cared for.  The only exception I make to this rule is when I'm using plants for landscaping.  Then, I'll buy grasses, bushes, hostas, etc. for the yard.  I'm not against that, because I don't eat them.  Anyway, I currently have a seed-starting system where I have two sets of two light fixtures that hold two fluorescent grow lights each (total of 8 bulbs) hanging from a wooden frame on which the seed starting trays sit and bask in the artificial light.  This can accomodate up to 8 of the 12 × 6 seed starting cell trays (See photo below).  That's enough to start 432 individual plants.

12 × 6 seed starting tray
(www.cozycabinnursery.com)

Now, you might be thinking "432 plants?  Isn't that enough."  Plus, if you think about it, not all of the plants I start are started using my grow light system.  About half of the crops I usually grow are direct-seeded.  That means the seeds are planted directly in the garden.  Green beans, peas, corn, carrots, and some others are examples of seeds that are direct-sown.  However, the problem comes when I have to expand the plants into large pots.  You see, when you start a seed in these small cells, they can grow larger than what the small cell can handle.  When they get to a certain size, you have to transplant them into a larger pot.  I usually go with a 4-inch square pot.  You let them continue to grow in this larger pot until it's time to plant them into the garden.  If you don't do this, and keep them in the small pots, then the plants could become pot-bound.  That means they will adjust down their growth rate so that they can live in a small pot, which is an irreversible process.  This is the science behind bonsai trees.  With bonsai, you typically have an oak, maple, or some other tree that has become pot-bound.  The unfortunate thing about pot-bound plants is that they will not survive very long without constant care, which is why bonsai trees require so much attention.  So, getting back to the point.  My current system can accommodate 432 plants, but when it comes time to expand those plants into larger pots, then the system is overwhelmed.  With my current system, I could probably hold about 60-70 4-inch pots.   While that's been enough room previously, it will not hold what I have planned for The Farm.  I plan to have 10-20 tomato plants, 50-60 broccoli plants, 5 or 6 zuccini plants, 100 green bean plants, etc., whereas I usually have about 3 tomato, 15-20 broccoli, 1 zuccini, and 20 green bean plants.

So, what do I do?  Well, a number of my master gardener friends have greenhouses.  I've been leery of using a greenhouse to start seeds, because I'm not convinced that it will get warm enough and have enough direct light to support seedling growth, especially heat-loving plants like tomatoes and peppers.  To remedy this, I decided to consult one of the more prominent master gardeners there at the meeting and ask her about her experience.  She said that she starts seeds in her garage or basement in the small trays and then transplants them, as I do.  However, when she transplants them into the larger pots, that is when she takes them out to the greenhouse.  During the late winter/early spring she takes them out to the greenhouse in the morning and puts them back into the garage at night with a heat source so they don't freeze at night.  As long as the daytime temperature stays above freezing, then this method is just fine.  Then, as spring rolls in and the nights aren't so cold, you can keep them out in the greenhouse permanently until it is planting time.  This approach makes sense, but I can also see how it could be a pain in the butt fairly quickly.  I'm going to have to get up at least 30 minutes to an hour earlier to give me time to prepare for the workday AND move my plants out into the greenhouse.

Lastly, greenhouses come in many shapes, sizes and qualities.  I'm not going to write about them here, but another option that I am going to explore is the idea of using a hoop-house.  A hoop-house is simply a row of PVC pipes bent into a hoop shape with clear plastic or greenhouse fabric draped over it.  Hoop houses can be very simple or very elaborate.  You've probably seen some out in the country or on the property of your local, quality nursery.

Basic hoop-house
(http://www.veggiecare.com/)

So, in conclusion, I think the answer to my problem lies in building a hoop-house that is easy to get into and out of during the colder times in late March and/or early February.  I guess that means it's time for another appointment with Google SketchUp to draw up some plans.  I'll post pictures of plans and the real thing once it is built.