My Summer 2011 Garden

[cgantt]

cgnatt, I am with you on the little hot houses. I own one, but mine is more sturdier white plastic canvas and they do very very well. I bought one with a "defect" which we could never figure out what the defect was and I have used it for 3 yrs and will be buying another one this year. They are worth the money for a couple years of good growing.

Mad Hatter, I have mine anchored to 8x8x12 pressed and sealed planks. They do just fine. In the winter, I take the top off, as it has side walls, and clean and put it away until a little before the spring.

Mine kind of looks like this:
https://www.teakwickerandmore.com/King-Canopy-GH1010-VY1116.html
But mine is better quality and I didn't spend 400 on it.

Mine came today, the plastic is pretty thick. I would say its as thick if not thicker than 12 mil and is clear with a green fiber molded in for some shading. The frame is a little smaller than I would like, but it is powder coated inside and out. The plastic frame joints are nice and thick, and they have UV Resistant on them. There is no doubt that it is not as nice as I would like it to be, nor as large as I would like, but for this year and maybe next, it will serve its purpose just fine. I am going to build the benches for it tomorrow and hopefully have it up and running by Sunday.

[greenstubbs]

Wait a minute! You say that the HOA says "that anything that grows taller than the fence height has to be cut down." Riddle me this, what about trees, or tall shrubs? For the life of me I can't see why anybody wants to live in a area that has any rules, I.e. a HOA! I would rather live in a communist country that to have to deal with the crappy rules of a HOA! Good Luck

The only reason I am living here is because I inherited it when my grandfather passed away. He was a home builder and this was the last home he built. I took the small builders loan over on it and got a very nice home for less than 6 digits. That was 6 years ago and now I am hoping to sell the home and build me my dream place out on my land. But yes the HOA here is very strict and I am simi ok with it because it keeps my property value high. I do not agree with all of their rules, the "nothing over fence height" being one of them. Trees and approved shrubs are ok if taller though. On my land I will be the only person for 40+ acres though so out there I can grow what I please. I have plans for a nice 40x100 hoop house one day.

Well then, that changes the whole ball of wax, sorry about your Grandfather. Good Luck with the sale of the house and your 40+ acres and all. I'm still dreaming and waiting for the day I can have a good plot of land.

[cgantt]

Well looks like I may end up starting my Squash over along with my lettuce. I got the greenhouse up yesterday morning and began building the benches for it. I dropped a nail and bent over to pick it up and disaster struck. My back made a loud popping sound and I was unable to bring myself back upright. So I simi crawled / walked inside and phoned my mother. We got to the HP and after 5 x-rays and 3 hours of waiting I was diagnosed with "acute back pain" and was referred to an Orthopedic specialist if the pain does not go away within 12 days....... So I have been laying in bed for the last 15 hours. My squash is sitting in my kitchen continuing to stretch to the window because I am unable to take them outside.

[rainbowgardener]

Oh wow! So sorry to hear that. Amazing, just from bending over to pick something up?!! Take care of yourself and worry about the plants later!

[cgantt]

Yea, I just bent over and when coming back up there was a loud pop and immense searing pain. The x-rays they took showed my spine to be in perfect condition, so the doc said it could be a torn muscle, pinched nerve or both.

I am so bored its not funny lol. I want to go and finish my greenhouse and get some stuff in the ground.

Anyone know of a good gardening blog I could read while I am trapped in this bed?

[applestar]

Aouch! Hope you are better soon!

When I suffered a severe shoulder pain with non apparent damage, I resorted to a series of acupuncture with excellent results. The bonus was that the acupuncturist took care of my severe sinus infection and I had the best allergy-free spring that year.

[cgantt]

Well this morning I have about 70% movement back. Walking still hurts a little bit and when standing up from sitting down, there is still some pain when my back gets close to being straight again. The good news is that I can sit in a chair just fine so that means I can transplant those squash to larger containers and maybe get them in the green house on some temp benches. I really need to up pot my tomatoes as well.

[The Mad Hatter]

Wow. That's rough. Hope you get to feeling better. Be careful though and don't over do things.

T.M.H.

[cgantt]

Thanks T.M.H. I will be taking it very careful.

[cgantt]

Well I must say that I am pleased with the portable greenhouse. I spent most of yesterday up potting my tomatoes and then finished up the benches for the inside of the greenhouse. I wanted to build my benches with wire tops for drainage but after thinking it over, I built them out of some old custom concrete forms I had left over from a past job. They are basically 4'x8' 3/4" marine grade plywood with one side boxed in with 2x4s and a 2x4 brace every 16 inches. They have been sitting out by our shop for over a year now and would most likely rot there. So I ripped one in half, boxed in the open end and added some 32" 2x4 legs. They will last me this year and maybe next year I will build a PVC hoop house that's much larger.

I am noticing some of my tomatoes dieing. It's like the cotyledon leaves are pinching themselves off then the stalk is shriveling up. It has only happen on 3 of the seedlings so far. I have about 15 more of each variety than I will plant so if I lose a few it is no big deal.

One thing that has me worried is ants and yellow jackets. I noticed that my benches were crawling with ants and at the peak of the greenhouse tiny yellow jackets were buzzing around. Is there anything I can do to get rid of them that is plant friendly at the same time?

[greenstubbs]

Yea, I just bent over and when coming back up there was a loud pop and immense searing pain. The x-rays they took showed my spine to be in perfect condition, so the doc said it could be a torn muscle, pinched nerve or both.

I am so bored its not funny lol. I want to go and finish my greenhouse and get some stuff in the ground.

Anyone know of a good gardening blog I could read while I am trapped in this bed?

Sounds like your back is getting better. Please take this advice from someone with a low back condition, I.e. all my discs are buldged in my lumbar region. it will help tons!!!
1. Enjoy the drugs for as little as possibile.
2. Search you-tube and/or the web for "low back and core exercises" and do a handfull of the ones that you feel help the best. Do them 2x a day religiously everyday! If you have a gut, try as loose it and strenghten the abs, but Don't do sit ups!
3. Stretching is always good for the back, do it with the exercieses. You should feel better and range of motion will be greatly inproved within a week or two. Good Luck and take care of the back.

[rainbowgardener]

Type ant control into the Search the Forum keyword box and find a whole bunch written here about them. Here's some info about dealing with wasps:

https://eartheasy.com/live_natwasp_control.htm

but I'd want to be looking around for where all the critters are getting into the greenhouse and what is attracting them. Follow them back to where they are getting in and seal up the entry ways. And look around for what is attracting them in to your greenhouse. It wouldn't be live plants. For the ants, it might be dead/dying plants. For both of them either protein sources or sugar sources would be attractive. Watch them for awhile, see what they are feeding on.

How are you watering your seedlings? Commonest source of problems in young seedlings is too much water/moisture.