Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, December 11, 2009
On the left is a Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage. On the right is a Cabbage Offenham. I ordered the Offenham seeds from Moles Seeds in England. Robert is a great guy to do business with.
The Offenhams are very cold tolerant, so they say. I guess we shall see. They are outside in my garden under about 6 inches of snow. The Early Jersey Wakefields are out there too. In a cold frame. I really like the Offenhams flavor and texture. The Wakefields are really good too. So I really don't care which overwinters and goes to seed, as long as one does. I want to produce my own cabbage seed. Cabbage is good food in tough times. I'll let you know how they come out this next summer.
I don't want to eat. I don't want to take a bath. I don't want to go to town. I don't want to do anything but garden. Every time I'm out there, I get this hairbrained idea that this city lot can and will feed me and my sweetie pie. I have so much "stuff" packed in my back yard that I may have to start stacking stuff next. It's not junk mind you. Other people have junk in their yards. I have important gardening stuff. Rakes, hoes, shovels, cold frames, wood to make cold frames, windows from yard sales for the cold frames, rototiller, chipper-shredder, raised beds, chicken wire trellises, wood posts, metal posts, chiken wire nailed to every fence, potting table, tool shed, and my most prized possession, my greenhouse I built myself.
After years of playing with the "normal greenhouse," I decided it was time to tear them down, stop trying to heat and cool them, and just get it right this time. Did I get it right this time? Well, so far, things are looking pretty good. It'd been near freezing every night since I planted lettuce, kale, spinach and other assorted cool weather greens, and they are growing like wild fire. I guess we will see this winter when the world as we know it here in Idaho, once again freezes over.
As you can see from the pictures, The north, east, and west walls are 2x4 and insulated and plywood sheeted. The south glass wall is 4 each 36'' x 6'4", double pain windows I picked up at a huge yard sale. I got a whole pickup load of assorted windows like these, for $100.00 Bucks. The greenhouse is 8' by 12'.
The windows are attached with three hinges each. They will raise up in the summer. I have yet to design a system that will hold them up and anchor them from wind. The two smaller top windows are set but floating. (Not fastened at the top or sides for settling) There is a small door on the east side that I built quite small. You have to crouch to get in. Less release of warm air I hope. The black strips are 1/8th inch thick rubber to seal off the window joints and the tops of the large window. It is air and water tight.
Gardening is a really great thing. Fresh food. Crispy carrots really get my motor running! Fresh cabbage makes me flip my lid man! And we all know the difference between garden tomatos and store bought tomatos. If not, your tasters are on vacation.Yes, gardening is GREAT! But, if you don't save your own seed, you are only doing it half way. Anyone can save tomato, pepper, bean and other easily aquired seed. But what about perennials? Cabbage, carrots, kale, beets, turnips and such? Takes two years to get these seeds. They need a vernalization period (COLD WEATHER) to produce seed the second year.If it is too cold, many perennials will not survive the winter. We can use heavy mulch, cold frames, greenhouses and the like. That's a lot of work though. The pay off is worth it, in my opinion.Now you can call me paranoid or just plain kookie but, I believe there is evil afoot. Mean, greedy, evil people that would love to sell you seed every year, rather than you grow your own seed and be self sufficient. They have targeted the larger farmers for that end. They have also targeted our Senators and Congress people with large "campaign donations," to get them in lock step with that agenda.So what happens if all their evil dreams come true and they end up controlling all of the seed stock in the world?That's easy to answer: Their dream is your nightmare.Will it be GM strictly? I think so.Up here in Idaho, it gets pretty chilly. I think I can bring most any vegetable thru the winter and harvest seed the next year. That is my goal. That is what I am doing here on this planet. My job is to foil the mean, evil, greedy multinational seed producers and become completely self sustaining with really good, clean, fresh food. Bags and bags of good, viable seed is my aim.Folks in the south and south west really don't have to worry much. Everything will over winter down there. Up here, it is more of a challenge. I think it is a challenge worth taking on. It's worth taking on because afterall, mean, evil, greedy people are worried about you and your children and your nutrition and overall health. R-I-G-H-T-!
After years of playing with the "normal greenhouse," I decided it was time to tear them down, stop trying to heat and cool them, and just get it right this time. Did I get it right this time? Well, so far, things are looking pretty good. It'd been near freezing every night since I planted lettuce, kale, spinach and other assorted cool weather greens, and they are growing like wild fire. I guess we will see this winter when the world as we know it here in Idaho, once again freezes over.
As you can see from the pictures, The north, east, and west walls are 2x4 and insulated and plywood sheeted. The south glass wall is 4 each 36'' x 6'4", double pain windows I picked up at a huge yard sale. I got a whole pickup load of assorted windows like these, for $100.00 Bucks. The greenhouse is 8' by 12'.
The windows are attached with three hinges each. They will raise up in the summer. I have yet to design a system that will hold them up and anchor them from wind. The two smaller top windows are set but floating. (Not fastened at the top or sides for settling) There is a small door on the east side that I built quite small. You have to crouch to get in. Less release of warm air I hope. The black strips are 1/8th inch thick rubber to seal off the window joints and the tops of the large window. It is air and water tight.
Gardening is a really great thing. Fresh food. Crispy carrots really get my motor running! Fresh cabbage makes me flip my lid man! And we all know the difference between garden tomatos and store bought tomatos. If not, your tasters are on vacation.Yes, gardening is GREAT! But, if you don't save your own seed, you are only doing it half way. Anyone can save tomato, pepper, bean and other easily aquired seed. But what about perennials? Cabbage, carrots, kale, beets, turnips and such? Takes two years to get these seeds. They need a vernalization period (COLD WEATHER) to produce seed the second year.If it is too cold, many perennials will not survive the winter. We can use heavy mulch, cold frames, greenhouses and the like. That's a lot of work though. The pay off is worth it, in my opinion.Now you can call me paranoid or just plain kookie but, I believe there is evil afoot. Mean, greedy, evil people that would love to sell you seed every year, rather than you grow your own seed and be self sufficient. They have targeted the larger farmers for that end. They have also targeted our Senators and Congress people with large "campaign donations," to get them in lock step with that agenda.So what happens if all their evil dreams come true and they end up controlling all of the seed stock in the world?That's easy to answer: Their dream is your nightmare.Will it be GM strictly? I think so.Up here in Idaho, it gets pretty chilly. I think I can bring most any vegetable thru the winter and harvest seed the next year. That is my goal. That is what I am doing here on this planet. My job is to foil the mean, evil, greedy multinational seed producers and become completely self sustaining with really good, clean, fresh food. Bags and bags of good, viable seed is my aim.Folks in the south and south west really don't have to worry much. Everything will over winter down there. Up here, it is more of a challenge. I think it is a challenge worth taking on. It's worth taking on because afterall, mean, evil, greedy people are worried about you and your children and your nutrition and overall health. R-I-G-H-T-!
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