Search results for: 'green'

Greenhouses come in all shapes and sizes.  A small container with seed starting mix and a clear plastic top serves as the simplest of "greenhouses" for seedlings because it provides shelter for plants.  A step up from that is a temporary greenhouse that can be assembled and disassembled each year, and sits on a deck or on a patio next to the house. It consists of a lightweight metal frame with shelves covered in clear plastic with a zippered window for entry. You can put seedlings in there during the day ...

[caption id="attachment_295" align="alignleft" width="220"] Mom's Greenhouse[/caption] Our greenhouse is moving along slowly, thank you very much. In the meantime, I have noticed that greenhouses come in all shapes and sizes.  For instance, my mother has a "greenhouse" of the type I would put in quotation marks. She lives 35 miles north of me in Sharon, CT.  This morning we visited a couple of garden centers in her neighborhood and presented the Womanswork line of garden gloves, then we went to her h...

  When Sarah Green and her husband Richard moved into their home 20 years ago, she brought roses from her previous garden 10 minutes away.  Roses are notoriously uncomfortable with being transplanted, but the ‘Queen of Denmark’ and other old fashioned varieties Sarah had received as a wedding gift from her uncle held sentimental value. “I rushed them over,” she recalls, “and planted them in the new garden where they are still going strong.” An enthusiastic gardener and plant person, ...

The Early Spring issue of Country Gardens with a feature story on our greenhouse also has an interesting story about growing microgreens. Here's a link to the Country Gardens website with How To information on growing microgreens. I started 3 crops myself, using 3 handmade plates by the talented Vermont potter Amanda Ann Palmer. Because microgreens are harvested a couple of weeks after the seeds are sown, a shallow dish with no holes for drainage is perfectly acceptable. [caption id="attachment_2...

[caption id="attachment_76" align="alignleft" width="201" caption="This Norway spruce is in danger of losing a few branches"][/caption] Having taken a walk around our neighborhood today after the first snowfall of the season, it is pitiful to see how some evergreens take such a beating with wet heavy snow. One's instinct is to bash the snow off as soon as you can, but beating on an already stressed branch from above is trouble. Always brush snow off gently from below with a broom so that it falls away fr...

[caption id="attachment_246" align="alignleft" width="150"] Ruth's Greenhouse[/caption] Welcome to my 10' x 9' greenhouse.  It faces south with a sliding door from the living room. When spring comes I can walk through it onto the deck where I pot up lots of fun combinations in planters. Many of the plants I use have been overwintered and propagated in my greenhouse.  My nitrile garden gloves live there too where they are close to hand. At the moment several varieties of velvety-leaved aromatic Cu...

[caption id="attachment_196" align="alignleft" width="300"] Delivering cement blocks for greenhouse foundation[/caption] What’s that noise?” my husband Tom asked.  “Oh that?  It’s just the cement truck backing up in the yard,” I answered.  Last week it was the jack hammer digging the hole in our yard. When I said I wanted to build a greenhouse I did not mean the kind you pick out of a greenhouse catalog and construct in a weekend if you are a “handy do it yourselfer.” I meant the kind...

Remember the adage that good things come in small packages?  Let’s start with microgreens. Scientists and nutritionists say that microgreens provide a denser source of nutrition than their mature selves.  A study referenced on WebMD.com concluded that because they’re harvested right after germination, they still contain all the nutrients they need to grow. The flavor packs an outsize punch too, and they are great sprinkled on salads, in sandwiches or as a garnish for soups. Microgreens are no...

When my husband Tom asked me why I wanted a greenhouse I said that I wanted to be able to can and pickle and preserve vegetables and fruits. He replied that those are not exactly things you do in a greenhouse. He has a point. I realized at that moment that I had constructed in my mind an elaborate fantasy that involved growing things from seed to transplant to harvest to preserving.  I pictured a factory production line in my kitchen, with canning jars being boiled and cute little labels being printed o...