Month: December 2011

cold frame building

On a recent visit to the thrift store, where there are often solid wood furniture and country painting bargains, I noticed about 50 double insulated small windows each 2 ft wide and  31" high.  Available for $1 each.  I bought 22.  And have spent a lot of time figuring how to use them effectively in a cold frame. My greens are growing very well under an Agripon row cover - it allows air and rain through, protects against frost, keeps the temperature higher inside than out and allows some Read more [...]

some winter tasks

Vegetable growing in winter I know it is still early days and we may yet have blizzards and really low temperatures, but I am much encouraged with the growth of my greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, collards) and the protection provided by my row covers, so I have been growing more vegetables for transplanting in a few weeks. I googled winter hardy vegetables and bought Rapini Broccoli Raab seeds and Mache Corn Salad seeds - very reasonably priced and very quick delivery from Hirt's Gardens.  They Read more [...]

propagation

Winter is a good time to turn my thoughts to propagating plants.  Although I live in the south (Georgia) some days are really miserably cold, windy and rainy.  What better time to learn up on new propagation techniques. Oaks Oaks do not transplant easily.  Even young oaks seem to have interminably long tap roots.  And it is difficult to tell a small sapling young oak from a 5 or 10 year old sapling old oak since oaks are content to bide their time in the shade of larger trees until the Read more [...]