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Anyone doing it?

[The Cook]

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 15:35:23 -0500, wrote:

Anyone doing it?

Not many things will grow at 110°F which is what the temperature is in
mine right now (4:45pm). I am planning to start some tomatoes and
basil outside on the deck in the next few days. When it gets cool
enough I will move them into the greenhouse. I live in North
Carolina.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

[[email protected]]

The Cook wrote:

Anyone doing it?

Not many things will grow at 110°F which is what the temperature is in
mine right now (4:45pm). I am planning to start some tomatoes and
basil outside on the deck in the next few days. When it gets cool
enough I will move them into the greenhouse. I live in North
Carolina.

Oops.... I guess I should have worded it better

Can you grow food in the WINTER months in your green
house?

If yes..... how do you grow stuff in the summer? Cant
you open the green house up entirely to keep heat from
building up?

Please bear with dumb questions....as you can tell I
know NOTHING abt growing food. Nor greenhouses

[J.C.[_1_]]

wrote in message
...
The Cook wrote:

Anyone doing it?

Not many things will grow at 110°F which is what the temperature is in
mine right now (4:45pm). I am planning to start some tomatoes and
basil outside on the deck in the next few days. When it gets cool
enough I will move them into the greenhouse. I live in North
Carolina.

Oops.... I guess I should have worded it better

Can you grow food in the WINTER months in your green
house?

If yes..... how do you grow stuff in the summer? Cant
you open the green house up entirely to keep heat from
building up?

Please bear with dumb questions....as you can tell I
know NOTHING abt growing food. Nor greenhouses

That all depends on how elaborate of a greenhouse you want to operate. Some
of them have totally controlled environments. For the most part, trying to
do what I think you want to do, you are going to have to learn to do some
canning, some drying, some dehydrating and just generally acting like the
proverbial squirrel and "gather up nuts for the winter".

Yes, you can grow in a greenhouse year round, but you are going to have to
be selective in what you grow, when. And here is the old boogaboo, the old
"what works for others, doesn't mean it will work for you".

I don't know if you have done this yet, but one thing you really should do,
actually two things, is pick the brain of your NEAREST agricultural
extension agent and get in touch with your local or closest Master Gardner
program.


--
J.C.

[The Cook]

On Thu, 17 Aug 2006 16:19:27 -0500, wrote:

The Cook wrote:

Anyone doing it?

Not many things will grow at 110°F which is what the temperature is in
mine right now (4:45pm). I am planning to start some tomatoes and
basil outside on the deck in the next few days. When it gets cool
enough I will move them into the greenhouse. I live in North
Carolina.

Oops.... I guess I should have worded it better

Can you grow food in the WINTER months in your green
house?

Maybe if you are willing to pay for the heat to keep things from
freezing, especially at night. And I am not sure what I would want
to grow in the winter. Forget most of the summer vegetables because
it is not just the temperature, it is also the amount and kind of
light. I plan to try to keep a few tomato plants and basil going this
winter. Then about February the greenhouse will be full of seedlings
since I start almost all of my plants from seed.

If yes..... how do you grow stuff in the summer? Cant
you open the green house up entirely to keep heat from
building up?

I have the door and vents open all of the time in the summer. I have
enough room outside to grow all the summer fruits and vegetables that
I want (that grow in my climate). And I think that most of the things
do much better outside in the real dirt with sun and rain. We have an
asparagus bed with over 100 plants, and a strawberry bed with over 200
plants. We also have some fruit trees. This spring we grew collards,
broccoli, rapini, potatoes and peas. This summer I am growing
tomatoes, peppers, okra, squash cucumber and 3 varieties of
watermelon. We planted beans but the insects got to them first. There
may be a few things that I have forgotten.

Please bear with dumb questions....as you can tell I
know NOTHING abt growing food. Nor greenhouses

If you are really interested you should find some books on gardening
and greenhouses.

Where do you live?. Does anyone near you grow vegetables? If so, go
talk to them.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

[simy1]

wrote:
Anyone doing it?

I have two gardens, one of which I almost not touch before november 1.
Around Thanksgving i cover the beds with poly tunnels. The tunnels keep
the soil almost unfrozen inside (it might freeze for a few days, but
one sunny day is enough to thaw). The plants are cold-hardy vegetables
planted in late spring to late summer. They are typical of winter
gardens the world over; collard, savoy cabbage, kale, carrots,
radicchio, various mustards. I also have beets and parsnips in the
tunnels. This is SE Michigan and I usually harvest until february and
again second growth starting in March.

You can of grow vegetables through the winter, so long as the
vegetables established themselves the summer before (grow is perhaps
the wrong word, you keep them alive for winter harvest). The light is
more than enough. They grow veggies under cover in France, after all,
which is much farther North than here.

[David Hare-Scott]

"The Cook" wrote in message
Can you grow food in the WINTER months in your green
house?

Maybe if you are willing to pay for the heat to keep things from
freezing, especially at night. And I am not sure what I would want
to grow in the winter. Forget most of the summer vegetables because
it is not just the temperature, it is also the amount and kind of
light.

Are you making assumptions about where the OP lives or do you know?

I plan to try to keep a few tomato plants and basil going this
winter. Then about February the greenhouse will be full of seedlings
since I start almost all of my plants from seed.

If yes..... how do you grow stuff in the summer? Cant
you open the green house up entirely to keep heat from
building up?

I have the door and vents open all of the time in the summer. I have
enough room outside to grow all the summer fruits and vegetables that
I want (that grow in my climate).

Perhaps your experience would help the rest of us more if you said what your
climate is.


David

[Farm1]

"simy1" wrote in message

They grow veggies under cover in France, after all,
which is much farther North than here.

Well vegetable also grow on the Equator and that is much farther North
than here!

[The Cook]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 07:38:41 GMT, "David Hare-Scott"
wrote:


"The Cook" wrote in message
Can you grow food in the WINTER months in your green
house?

Maybe if you are willing to pay for the heat to keep things from
freezing, especially at night. And I am not sure what I would want
to grow in the winter. Forget most of the summer vegetables because
it is not just the temperature, it is also the amount and kind of
light.

Are you making assumptions about where the OP lives or do you know?

No I do not know, but I did ask in the last paragraph of my reply,
which you snipped. A greenhouse cools fairly fast after the sun is
no longer on it. The temperature in the greenhouse is now 64°F and
the current outside temperature is 61°F. The sun us just now reaching
the greenhouse at 7:30am Eastern Daylight Time in the US.

I plan to try to keep a few tomato plants and basil going this
winter. Then about February the greenhouse will be full of seedlings
since I start almost all of my plants from seed.

If yes..... how do you grow stuff in the summer? Cant
you open the green house up entirely to keep heat from
building up?

I have the door and vents open all of the time in the summer. I have
enough room outside to grow all the summer fruits and vegetables that
I want (that grow in my climate).

Perhaps your experience would help the rest of us more if you said what your
climate is.

I did mention in my first response to the OP that I lived in North
Carolina. To be more specific I live in the western part of the state
in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Latitude: 36.26 N,
Longitude: 80.85 W. I can be on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 25 minutes.
The climate is moderate. Average first frost in the spring is May 1
and average last frost in the fall is November 1. We get freezing
temperatures and snow in the winter but not constantly. In the summer
it gets as hot as 100°F on occasion.

Does that give you enough information?
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

[[email protected]]

The Cook wrote:

Where do you live?. Does anyone near you grow vegetables? If so, go
talk to them.

I live in north Missouri

From what I gather here..... it sound like growing a
food garden all year round is just impossible without a
significant investment in infrastructure

I guess I better move to Big Island Hawaii and do it
there! g

[The Ranger]

wrote in message
...
From what I gather here..... it sound like growing a
food garden all year round is just impossible without a
significant investment in infrastructure

I guess I better move to Big Island Hawaii and do it
there! g

There's the "Pay me now or pay me later" axiom. Moving to -- and then
living in -- Hawaii would take that infrastructure investment, and then
some. G

The Ranger
--
Greeks like me have a basic flaw - we tend to build watches when people
only want the time.
-- Dimitri, ACC Aug. '05

[The Cook]

On Fri, 18 Aug 2006 11:47:36 -0500, wrote:

The Cook wrote:

Where do you live?. Does anyone near you grow vegetables? If so, go
talk to them.

I live in north Missouri

From what I gather here..... it sound like growing a
food garden all year round is just impossible without a
significant investment in infrastructure

I guess I better move to Big Island Hawaii and do it
there! g

You can possibly grow a garden year around, but not tomatoes in
January or broccoli in July without a major investment. You need to
do some serious research on gardening and your climate. You can grow
some things in hoop houses during the winter. There are books
available on extending the harvest. Find you county extension agent
and see what information is available there.

Since you said you knew nothing about gardening or greenhouses, you
should start by setting out a few plants and see what grows. That is
if you are really interested in year around gardening, or gardening at
all.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974

[gonzo]

Wow. If you are not familiar with winter gardening, do indeed check
out extending the harvest. Then do a little reading up on the works of
Eliot Coleman:

Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year
Long

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/189...712600?ie=UTF8

Brief summary: covers shift your garden 1 zone south for each layer
(unheated hoophouse, floating row cover)

I'm in zone 5 and when outdoor temps are 0-10, it can be as high as 40
in the hoophouse. When the sun really comes out, it can get as high as
50 (temps always lower at night though). I have 3 months in the dead
of winter when life is tough for the plants, and 3-4 weeks either end
of the season when plants are just fine under cover.

Bottom line: hoophouses are great for beginners, not a huge investment
in time, material or infrastructure. If you really want to get into
winter gardening but want to start small, I suggest a couple cold
frames to get you going.

[David Hare-Scott]

"The Cook" wrote in message Perhaps your
experience would help the rest of us more if you said what your
climate is.

I did mention in my first response to the OP that I lived in North
Carolina. To be more specific I live in the western part of the state
in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Latitude: 36.26 N,
Longitude: 80.85 W. I can be on the Blue Ridge Parkway in 25 minutes.
The climate is moderate. Average first frost in the spring is May 1
and average last frost in the fall is November 1. We get freezing
temperatures and snow in the winter but not constantly. In the summer
it gets as hot as 100°F on occasion.

Does that give you enough information?
--
Susan N.


Yes thank you.

David

[simy1]

wrote:
The Cook wrote:

Where do you live?. Does anyone near you grow vegetables? If so, go
talk to them.

I live in north Missouri

From what I gather here..... it sound like growing a
food garden all year round is just impossible without a
significant investment in infrastructure

I guess I better move to Big Island Hawaii and do it
there! g

Huh? A PVC pipe for each hoop costs $1.60. 100 feet of 12 ft poly costs
$27. The clamps will cost you another $20, and you have to have some
bricks to hold down the poly on windy days (concrete chunks will do as
well). If treated well, the poly lasts three years and the clamps and
hoops last forever. You are looking at $15 per winter harvest.