Growing forward

A few weekends ago, with the help of some very knowledgeable folks, I made a decision on the location of my greenhouse. Thanks Scott and Chelsea!  I appreciate your helping me with this, and look forward to the design and construction of a workable, efficient, and cost-effective 10' x 12' greenhouse in a few months! Scott and Chelsea are wanting to have a greenhouse of their own someday soon, and we will experiment with mine first.  Great idea, huh?!  They are part of the Naca Valley Vineyard that is being cultivated just north of my farm in Nacogdoches County.  My friend, Wanda and her hubby, Buzz Mouton, are the driving forces behind it, working hard towards fulfilling their dream of operating their own winery on family land. You can visit their site for more info here:  https://www.facebook.com/nacavalley.winery  It is quite an exciting adventure!  

Scott and Chelsea are in the foreground, Buzz in the back.  To the right are some of
the rows of grapevines planted.  This photo was taken in very early spring, I believe.

As for my little greenhouse, we chose a nice, fairly level spot in Jagger's old pasture beyond my backyard fence .... in the same general area where I made the new raised bed for the asparagus beans and am also growing the squash, eggplants, and melons in pots.  The greenhouse will be to the east of that planting area. The location is south of my home structure and away from the large pine in the southeast part of my back yard that would have blocked some of the winter sun that I will need to fall on the greenhouse.  It will be out of the way of the north/south wind tunnel directly behind my parking pad, and far enough away from any shade trees in the pasture and near the house to allow for plenty of sun in the spring and summer.  A bit of shade at that time of the growing season will be fine.

Greenhouse location!  I have already removed one section of the
fence separating my immediate back yard and this former pasture.

It will be built out of pressure treated wood and either fiberglass or the new type of plastic panel now available.  I need to go check both out face to face at Lowe's soon, and decide which I like best visually as well as which will hold up better in the long run for me.  I have gotten quite a bit of information from this website:   www.littlegreenhouse.com     The site sells greenhouse kits and equipment, and offers some tips for construction of the foundation and such.  I was particularly excited about a lever that will raise a roof panel for ventilation and it is powered by the outside temperature .... no electricity and no batteries needed! I think that is way cool!  Sort of like solar energy, but not exactly!

I have decided that the floor will be made of this great recycled rubber mulch I found at Lowe's and have tried out in between two of my raised beds this year.  First I hoed all the weeds out of the pathway, then lay down 6 layers of newspaper (not any of the shiny sections like the ads/flyers) over the bare ground.  Then I thoroughly soaked the newspaper before laying down about 4" of the mulch.

This is the recycled rubber mulch I used.  It costs about $10/bag, 
but will last much longer than the usual bark type, and doesn't soak
up water or attract termites and bugs.

As you can see, it has worked very well keeping out weeds, which
had been a major battle for me for years. And it looks nice, too!

I have tried numerous things over the past few years and this stuff is the best for my needs.  It comes in two other colors, I think, and I chose the brown.  For a person who loves to be barefoot, however, I have had to remember to wear my clogs into the garden when I need to go down this path.  The rubber really heats up in the sun!  Like asphalt!  This may be one reason why it does a good job as a mulch .... the weeds can't stand the heat!  I do get a few brave weedlings here and there, but they are easily removed, and not anything like what I have battled before!

Because of the heating up factor,  I plan to use it as the floor of my greenhouse!  In the winter, with the sun shining through the roof, this rubber mulch should heat up and hold its heat to keep the inside of the greenhouse nice and toasty, and, hopefully, I will not have to install a heater that uses electricity.  

Meanwhile, I have pretty much given up on my Brussels sprout plant and the fava beans this year. (sigh)  I need to move on.  I pulled them all up this weekend, and, of course, added them to my compost bin.  I need to do more research on the cultivation of the B.sprouts and other members of the brasica family because I really enjoy eating them and they are a wonderful source of good things for your health.

As for the fava beans, I have enjoyed watching them grow and bloom, but the weather here doesn't seem to be conducive to them, or at least the weather we have had this year.  It has taken FOREVER to have any pods large enough to harvest, and the winds have beaten them down numerous times, snapping their stalks in half or bending them low to the ground where they have ended up rather moldy and muddy.  This is even though they were caged with wire fencing for support.  The plants themselves are stalks that do not form tendrils for clinging, nor do they bush out for strength at their base.  In fact, they tended to be quite top heavy, especially in the rain.

This is one of my typical weekly harvests of fava beans from about

20 plants.  Fairly scant, wouldn't you say?!  This is after shelling them

from the pods, but before blanching them to remove the outer casings.

Here, on the left, we have a bowl of those same fava beans with the
outer layer removed after blanching, and, on the right, is the outer layer

casings.  That is right!  You have to shell them twice!!! And all I got for
all that trouble was what's in the bowl on the left!  They were good, tho.

I won't say that I am not interested in them enough to try again, because so far what little I have harvested were really quite tasty, with a buttery, nutty flavor. But, I think that I will stick to growing the more common types of peas and beans next spring, instead. Gardening should be a fun adventure, not a frustrating one. Don't you agree?!

The vegetable plants are doing very well, especially after a recent week of heavy, soaking rains.  Ben and I added an arbor over the path between two of the raised beds so that the cucumbers on both sides of the path could grow up and over it!  I love the way it looks!  In my mind, there will be a race to see which side reaches the top first!  Which type of cuke will win?  I'll keep you posted .....

The cucumber arch with slicing cucumbers on the 
left and the lemon cucumbers on the right.

Tomatoes and marigolds.

Asparagus beans beginning to climb their trellis!

Bed mates and cousins, okra on the left and cotton
on the right.

Squash plants doing very well in the plastic raised
bed containers.  Once a week I add water to each

through the watering tube that leads to the bottom

of the container.

Beefsteak tomatoes ... can't wait for a tomato and onion and fresh
basil sandwich on multi-grain bread!

Cute little baby patty pan (button) squash.

And, just as cute, a baby acorn squash!

My gardenia bushes bloomed profusely this week,  more so than in recent year!.  They must have really enjoyed all that rain we had. I have two bushes next to the parking pad, so when I drove up after work each night,  I was greeted with their wonderful fragrance that I love. It always reminds me of the beginning of summer and school being out for the summer!  I am thinking of trying to root some in my greenhouse, so that I can plant a few outside my bedroom window.  I usually still have my windows open in the house during their bloom time. Can you imagine how wonderful it would be to fall asleep with the fragrance of gardenias on an early summer night?!

Mmmm! Deep breath! Can't you smell them!

Life is so very good here on HeartSong Farm!