All My Friends are Flowers

garden inspiration and design

Winter Crops for Zone 7

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I might be a little late on this one. But I’m hoping a few days of warm temps are enough to get these little guys started. I’m attempting my first round of cover crops. Up until this year I didn’t want to bother. I figured cover cropping was really only for larger farms, not little backyard vegetable gardens like mine. I’ve chosen Austrian snow peas, and here’s why:

  1. Soil Improvement: Austrian snow peas are legumes, which means they fix nitrogen in the soil. This can enhance soil fertility, making it richer and more productive for subsequent crops.
  2. Weed Suppression: Their dense growth habit can effectively crowd out weeds, reducing competition for nutrients and water. This can help you minimize the need for herbicides and manual weeding.
  3. Erosion Control: The root system of snow peas helps bind the soil, reducing erosion, especially on sloped areas.

Here’s a few other cover crops well suited for colder climates.

  • Winter Rye: This hardy grass is great for preventing soil erosion, suppressing weeds, and adding organic matter when tilled into the soil.
  • Hairy Vetch: A legume that fixes nitrogen, hairy vetch grows well in cooler temperatures. It provides excellent ground cover and improves soil fertility.
  • Crimson Clover: This legume not only enriches the soil with nitrogen but also attracts beneficial insects when it flowers in the spring.
  • Oats: Fast-growing and winter-hardy, oats provide excellent biomass and are effective at suppressing weeds. They can also winterkill in harsher climates, making them easy to incorporate into the soil in the spring.

Harbor Freight Greenhouse: How Manage Winter Watering in Zone 7B

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VINGLI RAIN BARREL

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.

How to Transplant Seedlings?

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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!   

Rooting Geranium Cuttings in Water

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For the past three years I’ve tried overwintering my own geraniums. This year they spent the winter in our basement guest bedroom. Honestly, this wasn’t their best year. I decided to give some water cuttings a try and they’ve rooted so quickly! I’ll be potting these up here this week and starting another batch. I usually root my cuttings in whatever jar I’ve got lying around. Recently I purchased this propagator and I love that it looks decorative on my counter top!

3 Things to Do in January that Will Make Your Garden SO Much Better

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I didn’t even try to heat my greenhouse this winter. In years past I’ve attempted to keep plants in there from November on and I think it gave me premature gray hair. The constant monitoring of temperatures, the hauling of water on 10 degree days, it was a lot. But overall it was the incredible cost of heating that has deterred me.

On sunny days, even when outside temperuatures are in the high teens and twenties the greenhouse can get a toasty 60-70. Sunny days have been few and far between this winter. And although I’m super grateful for the snow that’ll allow me to water my garden this summer I’m also grateful for those rare sunny days where the greenhouse becomes a warm escape. Days where I can begin to organize my pots, breathe in the humid, soil heavy air, and dream about the season to come.

This Week in the Greenhouse: Overwintering Geraniums

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January. Finally. I’ve been anxiously anticipating the new year and the progression of the seasons. I have known for a long time how the feeling of potting mix, or the weight of a good pair of pruning shears melts stress and lightens my mood. Between the pandemic, quarantines, restrictions, and politics that have overwhelmed me this year I found escape in my garden. It became a haven for me and my family as we weathered the spring, summer, and fall in our own paradise. I began to feel the absence of garden therapy as the brisk days turned more chilly and even more as the snow fell and icy crystals coated my branches.

So in this new year and new beginning I’m finding a new sense of calm and hope when I walk out to the greenhouse to take a deep breath and check on my plants.

This is the first year we’ve heated the greenhouse all winter {I’ve got a post on heating the greenhouse coming soon}. On cold, sunny days it’s amazing to walk inside and find temperatures over 65 degrees when we are in the 20’s outside.

January felt like a milestone in the greenhouse. Up until now the greenhouse has soley been harboring plants to overwinter, I haven’t been actively growing. Enter the overwintered geraniums.

This fall before our temperatures dipped below freezing I took about half of my geraniums to experiment an overwintering technique. I dug up my geraniums from my hanging baskets and containers, rinsed the soil from their roots, trimmed them so they were about 4-6″ tall and placed them upside down in individual paper bags. I stored the bags in a cool basement closet and waited for the calendar to read 2021.

When I opened the bags this past Saturday I was pleased to find firm, green stems, and even some pale new growth! I soaked the roots in water for a while and then potted them up. I’m hoping the early start will allow me to take and root some additional cuttings.

My First Harbor Freight 10×12 Greenhouse Review + Upgrades

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Update: I have since moved from this house and built a new harbor freight greenhouse with even better upgrades.  I’ll include a post of this newer greenhouse soon! this post may contain affiliate links click here for more info.

Is there anything better than walking into a warm, humid greenhouse? The smell of moist potting soil, plant foliage, and flowers all concentrated together has got to be one of the most therapeutic experiences. Like walking barefoot in the sand or eating some really good chocolate. In high school and college I worked at the most beautiful garden center attached to an enormous greenhouse that doubled as an event center.  When I walked into that greenhouse I would feel weight and worry from the day evaporate as I walked past the ferns and just breathed in the smell of everything living.

I think many garden lovers, especially those in climates with a full four seasons, fantasize about starting tomatoes in February, getting a head start on growing annual patio pots, and overwintering lemon trees. Building a greenhouse was at the top of my yard to do list when we purchased our home three years ago.  It got bumped down the list a bit in favor of things like laying new sod, building a fence, and purchasing plants to serve as the foundation of our landscape.  But last spring we looked at our to do list and found greenhouse construction right up at the top. My first choice, a custom glasshouse imported for England for a mere $17,000 was more than a bit out of reach.  As I researched different companies and kits I found that for my price range, if I wanted something beautiful it would have to be tiny, and if I wanted something with enough space it would be plain and ugly. I decided for the most price friendly greenhouse for its size, the Harbor Frieght 10’ X 12’.

Making the decision to purchase this greenhouse meant factoring in a bunch of greenhouse improvements to our budget. As silly as it may sound, having a greenhouse that was equal in beauty and function was the goal.  I knew my greenhouse would serve as another outdoor room in my garden, and I wanted it to be an escape.

I’d read plenty of negative reviews for this greenhouse.  I was aware that the aluminum frame would need some sturdying up, and that the panels would require some work to keep them from blowing out in windstorms. However I felt that for the price, around $500 after a sale + coupon, I could make it work perfectly for our space.

Major Upgrades We Knew We’d Want

  • electrical
  • ventilation
  • automated watering/humidity control
  • benches and storage for plants
  • potting/work area with a sink

The Eletrical

We were able to add a light fixture and two outlets to the greenhouse. Sometimes I’ll go out in the greenhouse after the girls have gone to bed, flip on the light and do some transplanting. The outlets are a means for us to use the ventilation system we came up with, as well as plug in our seed heating mats or space heaters if we have a chilly night in late spring.  The metal conduit through which we ran wires for our ceiling light help add stability to the aluminum frame.

Ventilation

The greenhouse came with four of the roof panels opening as vents.  Greenhouse ventilation is important because temperatures in the greenhouse far exceed the outside temperatures during the summer months due to the warm air that gets trapped inside. Although having these events open would allow for some air movement, in order to keep the temperature at a more hospitable range we knew we needed a more aggressive approach to air circulation. We invested in outlet  thermostat  that can be set for both a high temperature and low temperature range. We have ours set  so that at 85°, the outlet turns on the ventilation fan And outlet turns off when the temperature gets down to 80°.  This fan pulls warm air from inside the greenhouse outside, it has louvers on the exterior that only open if the fan is running. To allow for fresh air to circulate through the greenhouse we added an opening with louvers across from the ventilation fan, so that when it runs it can pull air from the outside.  During the summer months we will hear the fan turning off and on throughout the day as it works to keep the greenhouse in or acceptable temperature range of about 85°.

The thermostat we have has two outlets, one for the fan and one for a heater.  I don’t heat my greenhouse through the whole winter.  I usually start heating it early to mid March once I have some of my seedlings out there.  With this thermostat my heater will kick on when my greenhouse drops below 45, and turn off when the greenhouse is at 50.

Links:

My 14″ Ventilation Fan

Greenhouse Thermostat

Greenhouse Heater

Automated Watering

We purchased and hooked  up  an automated misting system to ensure that our greenhouse had high enough humidity levels and didn’t simply turn into a desert.  We can tell our Mister how often to turn on and for what duration of time. During the hottest summer months I set my misting system to run every 10 minutes for 30 seconds.  That kept our humidity up and also helped lower the temperature along with our fan.

Misting Timer

Misting System

Benches

I wanted to be able to utilize as much space as possible, so my husband constructed benches to run down each side of the greenhouse, with hardware cloth for the top level, and 1″ x 3″ slats for the bottom level. The benches are 2″ wide leaving plenty of space in the center of the greenhouse for a removable island when we need extra space, or a table and chairs for our girls’ tea parties.

Potting/Work Area with Sink

This might be my favorite part of the greenhouse. Having a solid work area where I could put down seeds and divide plants was really important. I also wanted to be able to rinse my garden tools, wash my hands,  and fill up watering cans.  We found our impossibly deep cast iron sink at our local restore, and we used plywood and 2 x 4’s along with our extra hardware cloth make a mold for a concrete counter top.  The counter top supports an old, mirrored hutch that we found a secondhand store. I love having the two big mirrors reflecting the greenhouse and the rest of my garden.

Extras

One of the things we kept reading about the Harbor Freight greenhouse was that the panels would blow out in strong wind storms. Reviewers said that the clips holding the panels in work very effective, and that purchasing additional clips was a good option. Instead of adding more clips we ended up using self tapping screws  to secure each panel to the frame.

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