Last year the US Department of Agriculture released a new Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which is based on average minimum winter temperatures over the prior 10 years. Most locations were given a somewhat higher categorization on this new map to account for global warming. So, because of ongoing climate change, gardeners may be seeing earlier […]
Many people use a greenhouse to start seeds, but where do you put all the potted-up plants when the greenhouse isn’t large enough for them? An outdoor, raised bed can be an ideal location. Plus, with a few additions, the bed can be easily converted to a polytunnel or even a small, temporary greenhouse. The […]
As you may have read last month, I grow a lot of plants. It’s hard work and a lot of physical exercise, but the results are greatly worth the effort. Here’s a rundown of some of the vegetables I grow each year and how I do it. Plants that grow slowly, such as onions, leeks, […]
I’ve been a gardener since childhood. In England, as I was growing up, I tended the family garden while my dad traveled frequently for work. After I moved to the US, my wife and I bought land in Rhode Island. A Victorian-era house had previously been on the property, but it had long ago been […]
Now that we’re well into fall, growing outdoors is almost impossible unless you have a greenhouse or some other protected enclosure. But how do you keep this environment sufficiently warm to prevent the winter cold from killing your plants, especially at night or on days without sunshine? There are more ways of doing this than […]
A year or so ago, a friend was throwing out a dozen ten-foot-long, one inch-diameter, galvanized pipes. I said I would take them with the thought in mind of building an affordable hoop house. Having filled my 300-square-foot heated greenhouse with more than 200 plants, and with more plants than I intended in my unheated […]
There’s a new Greenhouse in my town. It’s a Hartley, and its owner is Mary Maroney, who invited me to visit. So one lovely summer evening I did just that, enjoying a glass of wine in Mary’s equally lovely Greenhouse. When Mary was a young girl in grade school, she was asked to draw what […]
As fall approaches, it’s time for a thorough cleaning, repainting, and upgrading of my greenhouse. One of the projects on my list this year is automating various systems. Given the large number and variety of plants in my greenhouse, maintaining the optimal environment there can be challenging. Automation can facilitate this process for watering, heating, […]
Many vegetables in the garden are now ready to be picked, most notably garlic and onions. Some of the potato plants are also ready for harvest. If you grow as I do, in four-foot (1.2m) wide beds rather than in rows, removing plants from the garden leaves large open spaces. For example, I planted garlic […]
Light levels inside greenhouses in winter and spring can often be quite low. Mostly because the glass has become dirty. With a ton of plants in my greenhouse it is difficult to reach the 12 ft (3.7M) rooftop glass.to clean it. The sides can easily be cleaned from outside, but inside it is often difficult […]
If you enjoy the taste of fresh vegetables but do not have a garden or if your garden is your greenhouse, patio, sunroom, gazebo, or solarium, growing fresh vegetables and fruit might seem impossible. But there is a way to do it. All you need do, is grow in pots. This has an advantage over […]
Now that it’s spring in New England, it’s time for planting in the garden the vegetables and flowers that I started weeks ago in the greenhouse. But to do this, I have a special concern. Compared with inland temperatures, my garden in spring is significantly cooler due to winds that blow directly across the still […]
