Garden Thread 2023!

[Woodsplitter67]

The sand is actually wet. Once it dried, it turned a very light gray. It is not a "beach sand".

I don't want to use a company that has never put together a Riga greenhouse. It is very different from most greenhouse. It all locks together, but it has to be done right.

I did get an email from the greenhouse assembler I contacted who has Riga experience. He must not have wanted the job and figured he would float a high price, and if I bit, I bit. Here is his email back to me.

"Hi Jim. I currently live in Lansdale pa. So that would be a bit of a hike. We would have to stay in a hotel. Cost to assemble the greenhouse would be $6,500.00 3 to 4 days to assemble and im available in about a month."

Holy Smollies! Lansdale is about 60 or so miles from here. The greenhouse is buildable in two days.

My response:

"I appreciate you taking the time to respond, but that price is a bit rich for my blood."

For that fee, we'll do it ourselves and then treat ourselves to something else! Looks like we will be building it ourselves.

You got this.. take your time.. youtube is a help

 

[clancey]

Yea like WS said "you got this" but just be careful with those ribs...What a crock that answer was to you and really trying to sock it to you on price and I never figured that kind of price--wow--terrible...Just take your time and do you own thing and maybe try to get a little helper of some kind to make it easier on you...It's going to be really nice...clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

Thanks guys! I know we can do it ourselves; I was just trying to take another job off my list.

We got the sand spread and screeded on the greenhouse floor and even put down 5 rows.

 

[clancey]

I even called my carpenter to see if he was headed your way--he travels a lot with sport activities and he is broke down in Louisiana (motor home)--engine problems so he is "stuck there"..Terrible time people are having...But your foundation and flooring looks wonderful..clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

Seedlings are starting to emerge. My broccoli seeds began sprouting in 3 days. Now, my tomato and cabbage seeds are sprouting.

We had two large deliveries to get ready for tomorrow, so we didn't get outside until about 1pm. It was already 85 degrees.

We watered everything in the FF. So happy we are supposed to have storms Saturday, Sunday, and Monday afternoons. Everything is so dry for this early in the season.

Got another 5 rows done in the new greenhouse foundation before the heat made me feel sick, so I had to stop.

 

[Dan Freeman]

A real hot one today at 87. I think we either tied or just broke the record.

I put down another 6 rows today until I just folded under the sun and high temperature. I'm up to 16 rows. From my measurements, it should be a total of 29 rows.



We also got some of the Comfrey moved out of raised beds and closer to individual trees/bushes to be used as fertilizer for the trees/bushes.

Almost forgot, the nursery delivered another 6 cubic yards of our 50/50 garden mix.

Some days I wonder if I am enjoying this or am I driven. Perhaps a little of both! LOL!

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Those pavers are looking nice, @Dan Freeman. You’ve been hotter this week than we’ve been, though I’m sure that will soon change.

I pruned lower leaves and small suckers off the bottom portions of my tomatoes this week. I can see where some are beginning to form buds. Some of my peppers are thinking about flowering, but they’re just thinking about it at this point, not acting on it.

I did have one pumpkin (?) flower this week. It was a volunteer plant from some compost we spread earlier in the spring. I got a number of sprouts with very large seed leaves, and my guess is that they were from pumpkin seeds from the Halloween jack-o-lanterns. I pulled up most but left two for fun. The larger was starting to crowd the area where I had planted Red Noodle Yardlong Beans, and I didn’t want it trying to climb the trellis, so I transplanted it on Monday to the bed where I’ve been planning to have squash and pumpkins but don’t have much in yet. It withstood the transplanting pretty well for such a big plant, and it was really fun to see a big yellow blossom a day or two ago.

 

[begreen]

Some days I wonder if I am enjoying this or am I driven. Perhaps a little of both! LOL!

I know how you feel. This is today's work, 28 cu yds of dirt later. The new area is now filled, compacted, and ready for cover, then the new raised beds go in. We have some extra blocks and are still playing around with their placement on the ends.

 

[Dan Freeman]

That is really beautiful begreen!

DG, you are pruning tomatoes and my seeds are just coming up!

With the talk of severe thunderstorms this afternoon, we went out earlier than normal and finished the rest of the pavers...13 rows! Getting darker out there. We're in a severe thunderstorm warning right now. I can hear the thunder in the distance.

Here's the completed pad right after I sprayed it down. Tomorrow morning, I'll pick up the sand to sweep into the cracks to lock everything in.

 

[begreen]

Here's the completed pad right after I sprayed it down. Tomorrow morning, I'll pick up the sand to sweep into the cracks to lock everything in.

It's off to a nice start. Were you able to find someone to erect the greenhouse?

I started a few tomatoes in the iDoo. They are now in pots indoors under the LED lights along with some cucumbers. Most of our plant starts this year are 2-3 weeks behind due to our cold wet spring this year.

 

[Dan Freeman]

It's off to a nice start. Were you able to find someone to erect the greenhouse?

I started a few tomatoes in the iDoo. They are now in pots indoors under the LED lights along with some cucumbers. Most of our plant starts this year are 2-3 weeks behind due to our cold wet spring this year.

I found someone, but I don't think he really wanted the job. He only lives 60 miles away. He said he would need a hotel room for 3-4 nights and it would cost $6500. I told him it was a "bit rich" for my blood. There are people/companies that I could use, but none of them have ever assembled a RIGA. If I am going to have someone do it, I want them to have experience, otherwise, I'll do it myself and keep the money.

 

[begreen]

Maybe just hire a helper that is smart, competent, and can follow instructions.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Decoy Strawberries

I saw a video online that if you paint some rocks red and place them in your strawberry bed before you get real strawberries, the birds will come and peck on them, and they don't like to peck hard things that give them no return. This way, once your strawberries start to ripen, the birds leave them alone. I am going to try this and see what happens on one small bed that I will leave uncovered. Bet it doesn't discourage the chipmunks!



Seems very unlikely to discourage varmints like mice, chipmunks, squirrels, and raccoons. Maybe coat them with a sticky layer of cayenne?

 

[clancey]

Poor birdies --give them some strawberries...clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

Poor birdies --give them some strawberries...clancey

I would if they would only take some, but they want them all.

 

[begreen]

I would if they would only take some, but they want them all.

You've got that right. We have double netting over our strawberries and blueberries. Without it, we would get nothing. We have a 30 yr old Stella cherry tree that produces hundreds of Bing cherries every year. It's too big to cover with a net. The birds raid it about a week before the cherries are fully ripened and we get none.

 

[Dan Freeman]

You've got that right. We have double netting over our strawberries and blueberries. Without it, we would get nothing. We have a 30 yr old Stella cherry tree that produces hundreds of Bing cherries every year. It's too big to cover with a net. The birds raid it about a week before the cherries are fully ripened and we get none.

We usually cover all of our strawberries, but we just moved a bunch of crowns to 2 more raised beds. I am going to cover one and experiment with the red rocks in the other one. I still have to make "cages" for my blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, honey berries, black raspberries, and boysenberries. I plan to use the redwood from the old greenhouse. I also have a ton of tulle I can use to cover them. I may also use some of the tree nets I bought our first year. I bought them then because I knew I would use them eventually, they were on sale, and the prices have only risen.

I have 3 sizes:
6.6'
9.8'
13.1'

I bought 25 in all for about $1000. Probably pay about twice that much now.

 

[begreen]

I have to mix cayenne in with the bird seed in one feeder. Otherwise the chipmunks just shovel it out on the ground as they hunt for the sunflower seeds

 

[DuaeGuttae]

@ Dan Freeman, my neighbor tried the red rock trick when she tried strawberries. I don’t think the strawberries did well, though, so I can’t say how the red rocks did. She also hangs red balls on her tomatoes, and I tried it with some red, green, and gold Christmas ornaments at one point, and it did seem to help a bit. For my blueberries, I cover a framed cube with bird netting. I don’t have enough to share. My daughter and I harvested the few peaches we had yesterday because we saw that squirrels had started taking bites out of them. We brought the rest in to ripen fully in the protection of my kitchen.

I had the first flower open on a Madera tomato today and a Beaver Dam Pepper. I also had more flowers on both my volunteer pumpkins. It was a fun milestone, so to speak.

 

[Dan Freeman]

I'm not too hopeful about the red rocks, but I saw this done by James Prigioni on The Gardening Channel, so I thought I would have some fun with one bed and try it. I do keep most of my strawberries covered with a cage of hardware cloth, so I'm sure to get plenty.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Well, I couldn’t get the photo I wanted today of my first pepper flower. Apparently I left both garden gates open yesterday by accident (we had workers at the house, and I must have gotten distracted and forgotten that the gates were open). Thankfully one garden was untouched (the one with mostly lettuce, brassicas, and red noodle yardlong beans). The other garden area had browsing, but it was definitely not as bad as it could have been. The peppers appear to have been the favorite, though there was munching also on rhubarb leaves, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and, I think, one asparagus spear. The cucumbers, radishes, and bush beans were untouched, I believe. Thankfully nothing was entirely uprooted, and I think there is enough left of all the plants that they’ll regrow, but they’ll be set back. Interesting the crimson clover did not appear to be eaten. I wonder if it becomes unpalatable when all in bloom. I made sure to close the gates when I left the gardens today.

 

[Dan Freeman]

We've gotten so much done the past two afternoons, but I didn't take any pictures and won't bore you with the details. I am finally feeling like we are catching up to just about where we need to be with the gardens and food forest.

I am waiting on a 100' x 5" role of EPDM rubber with adhesive backing to come in so I can tape the top of the greenhouse foundation. The EPDM will act both as a barrier between the anodized aluminum base frame and the pressure treated wood to keep unwanted chemical reactions from occurring. It will also serve as a water seal between the frame and the wood. I am also going to put a drip edge on the outside of the foundation and install inground trench drains since the Riga doesn't have gutters (and they can't be installed), the trench drains will take in any rain that runs down the sides of the 14 x 20 greenhouse, and any ground water as well in a heavy storm. The trench drains are about 5" x 3" and will be installed on the long sides with underground piping to take the water away and down the hill. Big job, but it will take care of any water problems in that area as far as we can figure.

 

[Dan Freeman]

Project Strawberry has been employed on two small strawberry gardens. Let's see if the birds take the bait!





I planted 108 cells today with nasturtium, marigolds, and zinnias.



Tomatoes and peppers doing well.



Cantaloupe and rhubarb are off to a great start. Celery is so small, you can't see it in this picture. Disappointed with cabbage and broccoli germination and they seem a bit leggy even though I have them under good grow lights.

 

[clancey]

They look like real strawberries and your plants look really good as well. Hope your major job of the greenhouse is finished soon so that you can get it "off your mind" and start some other projects like organizing your plantings in the new green house. Your drainage sounds interesting...clancey

 

[Dan Freeman]

The other day we picked up 3 Water Lettuce Plants and 3 Water Hyacinths. (I hope I didn't tell this already??? ) I put them in the pond in the Food Forest. They should multiply 20-30 fold as the season warms up and help shade the pond from the hot summer sun.



These plants help shade the pond from getting too warm and growing to much algae.

There were a few things I wanted to change about the pond, but I wasn't planning to start it just yet. Before I knew it, I began moving rocks.

I moved the waterfalls from a northern facing direction to a western facing direction which gives it better exposure to the house and the afternoon sun...the time we usually sit on the deck.

I moved the rock border back at the "beach" area to make it more "gradual". I have the beach for the frog's easy entry and exit, and birds to be able to walk down for a drink, and as an "escape" for anything that might fall in and can't climb out.

I also "narrowed" the surrounding rock perimeter from about 3 feet to 1-1.5 feet which makes the pond look more natural without the large "border" and makes it easier for me to kneel when I have to do something near the edge.

Today, I filled in all around with wood chips, but I forgot to take pics!

I also moved some cattails from our other pond and have 14 bunches of hornwort coming in later this week that I ordered online.

I'll take some pics tomorrow.