Archive for May 17, 2015
Grow Your Own: It’s The Time Of The Season…
by John Weckerle
Planting season continues here at New Mexico Central headquarters, and with a couple of tweaks and a bit of mulching to go, Bed 5 is essentially up and running. Having saved a few spots for succession planting, we now have the following (including those mentioned in our last gardening post):
- Tomatoes: Brandywine, Big Brandy (a first generation hybrid), Grandma’s Pick, and Rio Grande
- Summer Squash – Zucchini and Yellow
- Cauliflower
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Chiles (New Mexico 6-4 [mild] and Sandia [hot]
- Bell Peppers (red, yellow, green)
- Cucumbers (2)
- Shallots (2 rows)
- Leeks (2 rows)
- Wax beans (from seed; 20 planted)
- Green beans (from seed; Blue Lake [10], Top Crop [10])
- Eggplant (Dusky; 2)
- Jalapeno (1)
- Lettuce
The kale has been removed; sadly, it was covered with aphids, and these have already spread to the broccoli. We’ll be fighting them off with water and a pyrethrin-based (pyrethrins are a chrysanthemum extract) spray in the early season only; pyrethrins can be bad for bees and we don’t want to cause trouble there once things start flowering – we’d rather lose the broccoli, although that doesn’t seem likely. We’ll try bringing in ladybugs, also, but we have not had time to get the very important next-door flower beds started, so they’ll probably fly the coop. The relocated Bed 1 awaits repurposing for this, but probably not until next season.
We’ve “buttoned up” the greenhouse on Bed 5, and have added some critterproofing in the form of poultry netting along the roll-up sides. So far, there’s no evidence of unwanted entrants, although a determined squirrel could get in fairly easily; we’re prepared to go further if needed.
As to the greenhouse itself, a ShelterLogic product, we have some thoughts. Obviously, we were adapting this to a situation other than its designed purpose, and some adjustments were necessary. However, we would note that assembling this structure was far and away more difficult than it should have been, and this seemed a function of manufacturing issues. Parts were extraordinarily difficult to fit together (this appeared, in our opinion, to be associated with outward dimpling on bolt holes, odd “flanging” on certain parts, and perhaps not taking the thickness of coating into account), and in some cases holes through which bolts had to fit did not line up. This was a three-weekend project at least, and while the resulting product appears very sturdy, we caution readers considering it to allow ample time to complete the project.
Bed 5, with greenhouse sides rolled up.
Bed 5 interior, facing north.
Bed 5 interior facing south.