The Overnight Greenhouse Test

My plants did really well overall to my test last night. It was there first night out in my new greenhouse that I set up yesterday and I would say average overnight temperature is currently ranging from about 30-35 degrees.I did place a greenhouse heater inside on high and did not adjust the temperature after that. Overall, the flowers and most vegetables did very well. There were some issues with my jalapeno plants. They appeared wilted and I believe that just became too hot. Today I turned off the heat and the greenhouse stayed fairly warm, probably 70-75 degrees but has been gradually declining as the sun is now going down. I did turn the heater back on to the low setting. I am hoping to maintain roughly 70 degrees tonight.

As I have said this is my first greenhouse and this is definitely a learning process for me.

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My First Greenhouse Has Arrived!

Today it finally came! My Grow It! Greenhouse that I ordered from amazon arrived around one this afternoon and it is already up, standing, and in use.

It took about a total of 30 minutes to assemble and then Tom added the anchoring for me. There were no tools required either! As of today it seems very sturdy and I am super pleased by it so far. I think it will hold up really well as a temporary greenhouse or for a renter like myself. As soon as I put it up, I placed a greenhouse heater in and it is kicking up humidity really well. If you do not have a heater, however, there is a difference in air temperature just with it standing without the heat. I transferred my plants that were taking over my kitchen today and I will give a report tomorrow after they have spent a night outside in the greenhouse.

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Spring has arrived 2013

It is officially spring here in southern Iowa, yet it is still hard to tell. The ground is covered with snow yet again and sunshine has been nil. 2013 will be my second year at gardening. Last year I was blessed with a large yard and was able to grow a bountiful amount of goods for harvesting. This year... eh.. not so much. We have moved across town and our yard is basically not much at all. I had a light bulb go off this year, however. I decided to research small space gardening, greenhouses, and urban gardening. I ordered a temporary greenhouse last week and am looking forwarding to installing it next week if the snow disappears.

Among other decisions I have made to take over my small space for gardening this year, I have done some indoor gardening which I started in late January. As of right now my plants are doing well. I started small with a couple of tomatoes and peppers (our favorites) and they are taking right off.

 I was a little bummed at first thinking about such small space I have, how much I love to garden, and that I may not be able to grow my food this year. I did a lot of online, magazine, and book research and was actually really inspired by Growing Your Greens. I realized that I can do a lot in a little bit of space and I have been planning and planting a lot more. I encourage everyone to try growing at least a few plants that are edible. It is very enjoyable and doable for anyone.

I have went from starting with my tomatoes and peppers to venturing many more plants now. Currently I have cabbage, lettuce, three varieties of tomatoes, three varieties of cucumbers, two varieties of squash, two varieties of peas, four varieties of peppers, okra, collard greens, and a mix of other things and flowers just growing in my kitchen while I patiently await the arrival of my greenhouse and the snow to stop so that we can start converting our yard into some raised beds.

I have enjoyed my journey so far this year. I am growing a lot more already and looking forward to a beautiful season. What are you growing?

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