Gardening ideas, tips and tricks

[Abinadi]

I have some white plastic buckets that I am wanting to cut down and make a new bail handle for. Then I would put rocks in the bottom and fill with dirt. That way the buckets drain out like the garden does and can be moved when ever to wherever.
I was thinking about this this weekend they would be great to put in tomatoes, carrots or whatever into.
I want to plant some flowers in a put them along the house to. I have cememt along the front so this is a solution to the want for flowers in the front of the house.
What are your ideas to make life quicker or easier in the garden this year???

Abinadi

[prairiemom]

Well, I'm about done making my seed tapes. Finished the carrots, working on the parsnips, rutabagas and Swiss chard. It's the only way I can get carrots to grow.

I just finished planting 8 flats today--2 of veggies and 5 of flowers and herbs. I figure the same things would have cost about $280 in the store. I spent about $40 on seeds, so came out ahead.

I usually do 4 flats, but this year I bought a pop-up greenhouse. Now I have room for all those flats. I'm anxious to see how it stands up to the wind.

We still have snow in the yard, but today we reached 50? so spring is around the corner. And we had GEESE! Literally there were over 100 flocks flying overhead, HUGE flocks. The parade lasted for about 20 minutes. It was amazing and makes us glad for spring.

[thor610]

I usually do 4 flats, but this year I bought a pop-up greenhouse. Now I have room for all those flats. I'm anxious to see how it stands up to the wind.


Can you post a photo of your greenhouse and tell where you purchased it and the price? I want a greenhouse but these plastic ones I am afraid just wouldn't do much in cold northern Indiana (zone 5). Tell me advantages and disadvantages of it.

[prairiemom]

Well, this is my first year using it. A friend in our stake said she had one last year and it worked great. She needed to put a small heater in it a couple nights, but otherwise it worked fine. I plan to put a remote thermometer in it to make sure it stays warm enough. We will have freezing temps through this month and can have a freeze as late as Memorial Day. So if it works well here, it should be fine for IN. My biggest concern is the wind.

Here's a picture:
http://common.csnstores.com/common/products/XJ/XJ1016_m.jpg

It cost $159 including shipping and they were fast. I got it from MoreGardenPlanters.com http://www.moregardenplanters.com/Flowerhouse-FHPH155CL-XJ1016.html

[thor610]

How does it stand up to wind? We have had strong winds here lately and I don't relish having it topple full of flats.

[level3Navigator]

Well, I'm about done making my seed tapes. Finished the carrots, working on the parsnips, rutabagas and Swiss chard. It's the only way I can get carrots to grow.

How do you make your seed tapes? By strictly guessing and hoping, I am making some spinach seed tape by cutting single-ply napkins into 1 inch strips and then using some flour / water paste to keep the seeds in place as I go along. But I am just guessing here. What is your process?

[prairiemom]

I pull out 3-4' of TP and cut it into 1/3's so that I have 1-1 1/2" wide strips. I put the seeds on with a dot of flour paste, spray it with a little water and fold it over. It's just moist enough for the TP to stick when I fold it over but dries quickly. When it's all dry, just roll it up and store in a plastic baggie.

[prairiemom]

Well, we got it up yesterday. It took less than 10min for 12yods and I to put it together. Very easy. Here it is:

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/April08024.jpg

We were short two stakes, so could only do two guy-ropes, so I tied the last two corners to the fence that's behind the greenhouse.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/April08028.jpg

The stakes are 16" long with a nice hook on top, so I think if anything can withstand our wind, this will. We'll see. Yesterday it was only about 10mph winds, so it hasn't really been put to the test.

After sundown the temps inside plummeted--only a degree or so above outside temps. I will buy a couple black 5gal buckets to hold water for thermal mass. (You can see in the picture I had a 5gal bucket of water, but it didn't do much, partly because we only had the greenhouse up for 5 hrs before sundown, so I'll be monitoring temps tonight to see if it does better.)

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/April08025.jpg

Also, on the coldest nights I will probably need to put one of those small (like 6"-8" sqare) box heaters, set on a low temp. We're close enough to the garage that I can run an extension cord. You can see a little "trap door" at the bottom, right next to the door, for a cord to go through.

During the day the outdoor temps were mid-low 50's, but inside it was 74-76?. We have a remote thermometer so I could monitor both temps inside and outside the greenhouse.

Right now I just have some low, make-shift shelves, but next week I'll go buy one of those Rubbermaid shelves that stack.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/April08021.jpg

You can see we still have snow on the ground. And the stakes would only go about 10-12" into the ground--still frozen. (You can see the stakes sticking up in the picture.) Today, however I was able to get most of them all the way into the ground. What a difference a day makes!

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/April08027.jpg

Two days ago we had literally thousands of geese fly overhead. 300+ flocks, V's within V's, forming dark clouds of birds. They flew over for probably 15-20 min. A sure sign spring is on its way.

HAPPY SPRING!

[Abinadi]

I went out yesterday and feel in the snow up to my knees and thights out to the henrabbit house. The garden is to deep yet to even think about planting for another 50 years...oh well.
I am thinking of planting in buckets and putting them along the south side of the house and covering them with plastic and bringing them in at night...we are still in the teens and low 20's yet at night.
I liked the little green house, its cute. I would love a greenhouse...there is one here off the house but it needs works and black water barrels to help hold the heat in...its also under a big tree so I am not sure how much sun it will really see...it needs a little work as well.

Abinadi

[thor610]

The thermal mass thing in the plastic green house got me to thinking. I have a 30 gallon drum of emergency water. If I painted that black and put it in the plastic green house, would that help to increase the temp inside?

[bokbadok]

I took a mini class last winter on greenhouse design. It takes a lot of water to provide enough thermal mass to keep a greenhouse warm at night. Additionally, typical plastic greenhouses don't provide enough insulation to keep the heat inside - it just passes right through the plastic. I'll have to look up my materials to see how many gallons of water are needed for a greenhouse the size of prairiemom's.

[Abinadi]

That bottom picture reminds me of my yard by the hen house right now....snowed yesterday so we are gently covered again.
Someday it will be warm enough to plant, I have faith.

Abinadi

[prairiemom]

I took a mini class last winter on greenhouse design. It takes a lot of water to provide enough thermal mass to keep a greenhouse warm at night. Additionally, typical plastic greenhouses don't provide enough insulation to keep the heat inside - it just passes right through the plastic. I'll have to look up my materials to see how many gallons of water are needed for a greenhouse the size of prairiemom's.

Oh this isn't a serious greenhouse by any means, but a very effective season extender. I WISH I could afford a "real" greenhouse. Right now it is 42? outside and 88? in my greenhouse. I've put a little heater in there for nights where it gets below 35?. I also put blankets on top at night to keep the heat in and it's done very well. On nights that the forecast is for 28? or lower, I bring the plants indoors.

We've had two storms now with 30+ mph winds, today is a steady 30-35mph wind and it's stood up beautifully to the wind.

[mirkwood]

I'm going to try the potatos grown in the garbage can idea someone posted (here I think). We are going to expand what we plant too. I want to add carrots and peas.

[prairiemom]

I'm going to try the potatos grown in the garbage can idea someone posted (here I think). We are going to expand what we plant too. I want to add carrots and peas.

I bought the garbage cans a couple wks ago and then read an article (Backwoods Home??? Yes-- I found it: http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanders98.htm (http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/sanders98.html) ) So we'll see how the garbage cans do and then try tires next year and compare. Or maybe do both this year?

We had snow on Fri, only 4". In town they had 8" (that's a novelty--worse in town than out here!) and 85 mi away they had 18"!!! :eek6:

Yesterday the high was 44?, overnight low was 26?, but the greenhouse did great. Daytime temps were 110-114?--I eventually opened the vents. At night I put in a small heater, set at 600V, almost at the lowest heat (a 2 1/2-3 on a 0-9 scale) and it stayed a nice 58-59? all night long.

I re-potted the more mature plants into newspaper pots:
http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g275/prairie_chuck/april2008015.jpg

Since most of the seeds had a 70-80% germination, I have many cells with more than one plant. Not wanting to lose even a single plant, I carefully untangled the roots and re-potted the multiples into separate pots. Most of them appear to have taken the procedure well.

So if all goes well, I should have more than 700 plants. That will be more basil and tomatoes than I can ever use (though I hate to say it, because is there really such a thing as too many tomatoes? or too much basil?) and probably more brassicas than I have room for (I CAN bring myself to limit the number of cabbages and Brussel sprouts, but is there such a thing as too much broccoli? But I fear my garden--and later the freezer--don't have enough room for my tastes.) So I will be happy to share my bounty of seedlings with friends.

I now have about 200 in the newspaper pots. I wish I could find durable trays--not these flimsy black plastic ones sold at the garden center. These just aren't lasting more than 1-2 seasons and are not at all sturdy enough for the newspaper pots. I'm thinking of buy those plastic storage bins and cutting them down to 2 1/2"-3" deep. Lots of work, but moving around the trays is such a hassle with these wimpy trays. If we're going to use all that petroleum let's at least have something that doesn't end up in landfill after a few months. :rolleyes (2):

[thor610]

PrairieMom,
What type of heater are you using in that plastic house?
Also how are you making the newspaper pots?

[prairiemom]

How to make paper pots: http://www.ehow.com/video_1745_create-seed-starting.html As you can see, I need to improve my technique.

It's just a small heater, like 1' wide, 10" deep, blows warm air. I have it sitting on a flagstone so that it doesn't get moisture from the ground. There's a little flap that closes with Velcro that I can put the extension cord through. (You can see it in the very first picture I posted.)

[thor610]

PrairieMom,
Have you thought about using old cookie sheets to hold your plants? Those would be more sturdy than the plastic and can be picked up cheaply at thrift shops or garage sales.

I did actually buy one of these plastic flowerhouses and am using it. It is secured to my deck on the south side of the house.

[prairiemom]

It is secured to my deck on the south side of the house.

How's that working for you? That's what I wanted to do, put it on our cement slab to the side of the house. It would get better sun exposure, more thermal mass to hold heat, more protection from north or west winds (but not south) and be closer to the house, easier to run an extension cord and check on it. But when I set it up, the mildest wind tipped it over. A wind like today (25-30mph steady winds, gusts to 35mph) would have sent it into the next county. It really needed to be well anchored with all the stakes all around the edge.

That's what I have the plastic trays on right now to keep them from splitting or sagging. But they are too shallow to hold enough water for the plants.

[thor610]

It is working just fine. The first day i set it up, I did not secure it. We had a mild wind and it just about went good-bye, so I tied it down to the decking at each of the places that you would secure if you set it up in the yard. We have had some strong winds and storms since then and it held up well. I actually got up in the middle of the night during a storm to see if it was still standing and it held its place, not moving about.

[thor610]

PrairieMom, you mentioned wanting heavy duty seed trays. I found some on page 120 of Fedco Seeds catalog. You can download their untreated vegetable, herb and flower seed catalog at http://www.fedcoseeds.com/

[prairiemom]

It's May 10th and we had snow today! It only stayed on the ground for 2-3 hrs, followed by a cold rain. Enough already!

[jocarte]

What are seed tapes?

[prairiemom]

Here are the commercial ones: http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=seedtape

Here are the homemade ones:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf43604567.tip.html

[Toni]

bump

[Julie]

I found some seed tapes at Lowes that looked good. I'm going to give them a try this year. I got some Burpless cucumbers - 130 seeds for $3.69, Salad Bowl lettuce - 390 Seeds for $3.69, Detroit Dark Red beets - 140 seeds for $3.69, and some Nantes Coreless carrots - 570 seeds for $3.69. These are made by the Ferry-Morse Seed Company.

[Toni]

Do you put your own seeds on the seed tapes, Julie? If so, do you just press them on?

[Julie]

Do you put your own seeds on the seed tapes, Julie? If so, do you just press them on?

I bought the seed tapes already made.

Here is an easy way to make your own. - Julie

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf43604567.tip.html
If you have trouble planting small seeds such as carrots and radishes without having to do lots of thinning of young plants, the perfect answer is seed tapes.

We just planted radishes and carrots in our garden using seed tapes that we made. Start with a piece of toilet tissue. Length is not important, but 5 sheets long is easy to work with. Cut it into strips about an inch wide. Lay the strips on the table, and measure off in 1 inch increments.

Put a tiny spot of Elmer's glue at each inch mark and, using a toothpick with a little glue, place a seed at each mark. You could make a pencil mark for each inch, but what I did was to lay a ruler down and glue a seed at the inch marks lined up with the ruler.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/images/articles23/seedtape1.jpg

As they dry, check them often to make sure they are not sticking to the table. When completely dry, roll them up and store them in an old envelope marking the outside with the kind of seed they are: Danvers Half Long Carrots, French Breakfast Radishes, etc.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/images/articles23/seedtape1a.jpg

When you are ready to plant, make a shallow trench and lay them end to end in the trench; then cover them with soil. Pat the soil down and gently water the row. Cover with cardboard strips to keep them from drying out before they can germinate. Check every few days until the sprouts break through the soil; then uncover them. Keep them watered. When you start to harvest them, take every other plant to make room for the others to grow a little bigger.

http://www.thriftyfun.com/images/articles23/seedtape2.jpg

[Toni]

Thanks, I appreciate the info. The pictures help, too.