The ?? Greenhouse ???

Does a Canadian Tire instant garage bought on sale know ( or care ) that it has just become the closest thing to green house on the property, and that it has to double as the straw storage unit as well.

Do I care............NO....I'm tickled pick, just waiting to get this thing filled up with dirt, compost and plants.

 Meanwhile, those shelves ( yes,I know they are old doors, one bedroom and one bathroom to be exact...... held up by what's left of the old interlock bricks from the previous patio/deck) holding 5 trays of strawberry starts and a tray of onions with questionable results need water, so I say to the Builder that I need to buy a watering can..........well next day, look...........there's water in the building. I love the way that happens, wish it would work when I say " I need a Porsche "

and yes those are old bathtubs, we own them and we may as well use them, biggest damn flower pot you will ever find, so they will be the raised beds, just waiting for me to fill them. This is a truly reuse, recycle, repurpose building. Pretty it's NOT, but it works for me and there is no chance of giving anyone "greenhouse envy" .

And there's the straw storage in the back. Need more of that.

And last but not least, it's also become the new home for Helen, her safe haven, dust bath spa, my greenhouse helper, companion, apprentice, bug catcher, manure maker and grounds cultivator. As long as we keep that food dish to the left of the water dish

.......it's all good.

Tomato plants, year one experiments in starting from seed.

Judge for yourself..............but your going to have a hard time convincing me now that this is not the ticket for strong tomato plants!!!!

A little bit of moistened compost in a clear cup with 2-3 tomato seeds.

Place in a clamshell container or cover with plastic wrap. Then do nothing till the seeds germinate.

When they are this tall, add more compost about half way up the stem. Do not cover them at this point, keep moist but not wet.

Keep filling the cup so that more and more stem is buried, this will force root growth along the entire length of the stem

When you start to see the roots filling the cup, it's time to move them to a larger cup or pot.

These red cups are perfect for getting more soil up the lenghth of the stem. Add drainage holes to these ones with a drill.

Having the plants go just a little bit root bound ( but not too much ) makes it easy to move the entire root system to it's new larger home.

Tomato plant happily growing strong in it's new home

After a few weeks of being in the larger cups, and set out in front of the window, as the grow stand is now being used for other things, these plants were getting so tall that I was worried about them making it to the garden without having to replant them again. So this being the experimental gardening year for me, I've decided to follow the advice of others and have cut them back, just above the 4th leaf, and taken the tops and put them into plain water to hopefully root, and give me another whole plant.

These were started on Feb 7th, 2012. They are the very doubtful Pear Tomato seeds and I guess I was just getting anxiuos to start using the grow stand, and I also just wanted to see if they would germinate, obviously they did.

 I'd say this isn't too shabby for my first year growing from seed, . BUT.....lesson learnt here............I don't need to start tomatos quite so early next time. I have 8 other varieties of tomatoes started in early March, and they are looking to be a bit more manageable, size wise. I mean, really, I do not need to have all these plants going to full grown size in the house.

HugleKulture

Hey, I'd never heard of it either, even with a German background and being the direct decendant of a man that forever picked up every dropped branch and leaf on this property and piled it, in a hole, on a hill, or wherever he thought that the ground needed to change shape. But he never once thought to plant anything in it.

I found out about it in a local newspaper article run on a young couple that were being very successful at sustainable agriculture and where doing a CSA basket program with their bounty as well as supplying a couple of local restaurants.

Now this newspaper article definetly got them noticed, not just by people wanting to eat local and/or participate in the CSA program, but it also served to bring out every Wingnut in the area ( namely me ) and have them drop by for a visit to see just what was going on here.

So what is it, well I'm no expert, that's for sure, since I've just gotten my first two built and have yet to plant them. But the principle is this....you take organic matter, branches, leaves, compost, anything that you can find, and you layer them into a mound. It really makes sense to put the bigger stuff on the bottom btw. The natural process of composting will take place and produce heat, which will be beneficial to the growth of whatever crop you've planted on top of the "Hugel" ( which btw means bump, or lump, in German )

So having now found out about this, as usual, I jump on the Internet and Google it, and I come across something else............terrace gardening!! Well, now this is all just calling my name isn't it. I have a lifetime supply of piled up organic matter, the hill from hell, a German heritage that just says I HAVE to try something called HugelKulture, and the desire to grow more, preserve more, freeze more, etc. and maybe be the winner in a 2 generation battle against this hill.

So I'm combining the 2 theories and hoping that in the end, I will have a leisurely switch back path, up that hill, that leads me from one bed of goodness to the next. At worst, I will have a hill full of bumps that is still a bugger to get up, in which case we will resort back to the quick and easy way of making it dissappear........throw a bag of sunflower seeds down there, let it grow and enjoy them and the birds that it brings. I mean really, sunflowers are like fireworks and rainbows... if they don't make you smile, you need to check your pulse to see if it's still there.

the $12.00 Tomato project

Welcome to my little spot on the web where I get to tell you how to grow a $12.00 tomato, along with other things I've learnt along the way.

Now if you are so inclined to grow a $ 12.00 tomato, here's how you do it...

First you buy yourself a 2.5 acre bush lot,

Then you start to build the house that can't be built ( according to some so called experts )

Then you get completely sidetracked from the building operation at hand, your new habitat btw, that should be priority, because, hey this is Canada, and winters coming....and you get over ambitious about the up coming growing season, because, you have designed this house with a totally amazing pantry space and you want to fill it.

So you take time off from being the general contractor and go dig yourself a garden plot, in the forest, add compost and go buy $12.00 worth of seedling tomato plants.

Now I have no idea if this works with $10.00 worth of plants or $14.00 worth, so you are on your own with that idea, but it does work with $12.00 worth, trust me on that.

So you take these plants and put them in the newly composted area, in the forest, and water regularly, special care needed during dry periods.

And in the end, Voila...............ONE tomato, not the biggest tomato you've ever seen, and pink does sorta count as ripe...........but there you go, you are now the proud owner of a compost pile, in the forest, shaded by not just trees, but a half built house and winter is still coming whether you like it or not, and you have a $12.00 tomato to do with what you like. Maybe stew it and put it in that awesome new pantry, there's an idea.

As it was, mine went mouldy, I think everyone was to afraid to actually cut into something that expensive.

Now of course, that was a long time ago and I have learnt that unless you are willing to cut down a good portion of the forest and heat your house with it, and there by create an at least semi-sunny spot............you need to just stick with Hostas and Perriwinkle.

In the 20 odd years that have followed, I have managed to grow bumper crops of tomatoes, and numerous other veggies, but I'm always up for trying something new, and hope that it works out. Peppers are still an issue, but I'm not giving up ( yet ) and some things like carrots, well I try them every so often, but they are seriously on the "are they worth the real estate" list. Top of that list is green peas, and they will never, ever come off that list. But Snow Peas do get planted every year even though I have never gotten a big yeild from them either, but I think that has more to do with Bob the Builders munching than anything else.

This year I'm trying a big assortment of new things, some of which will end up on my new HugelKultur beds.

And, just because I can be a bugger for punishment, I'm going to try Mushrooms...........not "Shrooms"..... just plain sauteable, tasty mushrooms.

So stay tuned and I'll let you know how things work out.