A Greenhouse Adventure



I was lucky enough to be gifted a greenhouse this past Christmas.  All winter I waited somewhat patiently to set her up and stock her full of goodies.   Unfortunately, this was not the adventure I hoped it would be.

From the get go, the OGrow greenhouse was missing a piece and had a damaged piece. 





No big deal. The company quickly replaced the broken and missing pieces, so I was sure I was on my way to great growing. I read many of the online reviews and a common problem seemed to be that the greenhouse was easily blown over. I kept that in mind while setting her up. She was easy to put together and in about an hour she was up and secured with garden staples and bags of stone. 







I was still getting the hang of how much water the plants needed while being in there and just growing in there in general. Excited for this learning experience, I started some seeds. 



What happened next was a complete bummer.  I arrived home eager to check on my seedlings and plants and found that the greenhouse collapsed! Most everything inside survived, but still how did this happen with only a light breeze? 





While I do believe that this is repairable, I think that the greenhouse is poorly designed and just too lightweight.  I took it apart and am now brainstorming on how to redesign it myself to add more weight.  

Little portable greenhouses are a great idea, and this is not meant to deter anyone from getting one.  As with every growing season, it’s a learning experience. Happy Planting!

Medicinal Gardening

This is me.

This is me.

I’m not too good at sharing personal insight into my life, so here goes.  Almost 3 years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, an invisible chronic pain condition.   I like to tell myself it’s not a big deal, and anything I put my mind to I can accomplish with or without this condition.  For the most part that statement is true.  I thought a lot about why I wanted to share this about me, what it has to do with gardening, and what I hope that this post accomplishes. Continue reading

Let’s call them baby carrots…

Just harvested some early carrots While a couple of them were an okay size, many were small or nonexistent. I mean don’t get me wrong, the small ones are still delicious, but where did I go wrong?

You see I have a problem with thinning seedlings. I know I do, and this carrot half-fail made it super apparent. For those of you who don’t know, thinning refers to pulling out unwanted seedlings to make more growable space for those seedlings left behind.

I just can’t bring myself do it properly. Mainly because it feels wrong to rip out perfectly good plants that could amount to something delicious.

I thinned these carrots earlier this season, but sadly not enough. I still have Yellowstone and Cosmic Purple carrots growing. I’m not sure if it’s too late to thin those more, but I’m thinking its worth a shot.

So without further ado, here’s what 90 days in the ground yields.

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Spuds or Duds?

Potato Harvest 2014

Potato Harvest 2014

This year’s garden has been all about trying new techniques, veggie varieties, and not being discouraged by your typical gardening fails.  With that said, I embarked on the adventure of growing potatoes…in containers.  After much internal debate, and scouring the web for directions on “How to grow potatoes?,” I figured I’d take my chances and try growing them in containers. Continue reading