Harbor Freight Greenhouse: How Manage Winter Watering in Zone 7B
I woke up to snow in the mountains this past week, frost on my lawn this morning. The lovely crisp days of autumn are chilling to the icy mornings of early winter. When nighttime temperatures dip below freezing it’s time to winterize my outdoor water. The threat of freezing pipes hastens me to release my grip on the garden and follow the example of my plants, settling into a season of rest.
The greenhouse is a little haven, sheltering some autumn sown lettuce and carrots. In sunnier times the greenhouse boasts a water spigot & hose, a misting propagation system, and a lovely deep cast iron sink. But because these are connected to the exterior water they turn off with the sprinklers and other exterior spouts.
I’ve hauled water the 25 yards distance from the house. Slipping in freezing temperatures with the milk jugs full of water was not my ideal so I came to a different solution. My VINGLI rain barrel has been my saving grace. It comes in a few sizes, but the 100 gallon is my preference. I’ll fill it in the late autumn and again in early spring when I’ve a warm enough day to turn on the water and turn it off again before nightfall and more freezing digits. I love that its collapsible, making it easy to store away in the summer. There’s a spigot on the side for easy watering can filling and the top zips up nice and secure which helps keep my kids out of trouble. It’s a must have for anyone with a greenhouse in freezing temperatures.
Large rain barrels are also great for thermal mass heat in backyard greenhouses. The idea is that the water absorbs heat in the toasty greenhouse during the day and releases it slowly at night. My greenhouse is pretty large so the water alone won’t keep my plants happy in here, but it might work in a smaller greenhouse! When I have plants out her in the winter it requires supplemental heat during the night.
As much as it makes me a bit sad to say goodbye to fall, filling my rain barrel is one of those items that feels good checking off my seasonal garden to do list. I’m looking forward to sauntering out to my greenhouse in February to water seedlings, arms free from water jugs, ready for the rush of warm air, heavy with humidity and the lovely smell of potting soil and plants.
DIY Landscape Design: Creating a Base Plan
Lacey Draper <laceyaltadraper@gmail.com> | Tue, Apr 4, 9:29 PM (13 hours ago) | ||
to me |
Base plans are the very foundation for a landscape design and thanks to apple pencils and google earth they have become sooooo easy!
I use a drawing/art app called Procreate (not at all sponsored I just LOVE it). It is a one time purchase app and I just really appreciate not having to pay a yearly fee. I prefer this to a drafting/autocad program because I still get to add the artistic elements of a hand drawn design.
You dont need this program, any art program where you can work in layers is just fine.
First, begin with a grid paper background and decide your scale. Mine is usually a 1square=2ft. Then drop in an aerial image in a new layer so you can delete it later. You aerial image can be from building plans, a plot map, or from google earth!
Next, find a known measurement. I like to measure a walkway or other hardscape structure. Once I have this measurement I create little marks so I can enlarge or shrink the dropped in aerial image until its the proper size. Because the image enlarges uniformly, the entire image will be to scale.
Then I simply create a new layer labeled “Base Plan” and begin drawing over all the elements I’m going to keep. Like walkways, the house, garages and things like that.
Finally, I delete the aerial image and I’m left with a to-scale base plan ready for my design work.
And if you have any questions just let me know in the comments!
How to Transplant Seedlings?
Watch for a seedling’s true leaves, they’ll look different from the first sprouts. More like what you’d expect mature leaves to look like. You can see my true leaves here have a definite lettuce look. Once these leaves develop it’s time to give seedlings more space by transplanting.
First, soak your seedling containers. Happy, we’ll watered plants will transplant better.
Next, gently separate plants. Don’t weed them out of the container. Instead, gently tease the roots apart.
Move the seedlings to larger pots or seeding trays. Make sure the holes are deep enough to accommodate the roots and a bit of stem. I like to use a chop stick to gently poke the roots in.
Make sure to pat down the soil around the stem to remove big air pockets and help support the stem.
Keep an eye on soil moisture while they transition. The seedlings will flourish with their newfound space!