Analogies

I have come to see an analogy between the way people garden and their approach to life.

Some people never plant anything. They expect others to do all the work and they just eat the rewards.

Of course, there are those who are willing to pay for what they consume. So, they do plant but in different forms of fields.

Some people plant only decorative plants. Which is fine when it's for enjoyment. Though some plant decorative plants because that is their only true concern- appearance. 

Some people plant crops only for the purpose of recognition. Think of competitive gardeners, which can be crops or decorative plants. Once again, appearance is their biggest concern and very little genuine enjoyment derives from their planting. 

Still others plant for subsistence. Many of these are hoarders in some way. Or they are fearful. Either one in and of itself indicates fear or greed. 

Then there are those like me. People who plant a combination of crops and decorative plants. I admit the decorative plants are beneficial because they help attract pollinating insects. Not going to say I have not been proud of some past accomplishments but the main issue for all of it is subsistence plus enjoyment. It's something I can put intense thought into when planning and intense work into when doing. 

It is balance, thought, environment, teaching, learning, work, exercise, recycling, food, pride and beauty all rolled into one for me. 

It's a reflection of life. Balance and enjoying the effort are most important. I may fail at times but still plant next year. Possibly a different crop but crops I really enjoy I keep planting. May have eventual success but even if not I enjoy the attempt. 

Getting ready 2015

Getting ready for spring 2015!

Right now is when the solarium is beginning to really come in handy. Ambient temperatures are still often dropping below freezing. However, I have things now growing in the solarium. Carrots, broccoli, spinach, lettuce and lots of cilantro are now growing in the solarium. I planted some garlic but so far only see one bulb sprouting. Cucumber seeds are questionable. Planted some but not seeing anything yet. It does have to remain warm for them to even sprout.

Inside the house, I have a number of tomato seeds started and an increasing number and variety over time. I'm going with a lower number of seeds started but in larger containers this year to prevent transplant shock later. Some I started weeks ago and they're gaining size. Others I started later which are just sprouting. A few more I just started tonight. 

Got a new pair of loppers yesterday. Need to start getting out this week and trimming trees. Plus use some nearly pure acid to spray the surface soil. Then start getting some gypsum and spreading that around. Taking the no till approach this year, try to kill off the seeds and existing weeds and grass this year before planting anything out. 

Finally!

So, it appears that the system I came up with for attaching the solarium sheeting is working. Finally! 

In previous years, when the winds picked up, I would wind up with at least small sections developing holes which had to be repaired. This time there has been a few days of fairly strong winds and no holes have appeared. 

However, this year did involve more planning, work, time and money. Tried to put such into it in previous years but it never quite worked as planned. Then I wound up throwing plastic sheeting up and attaching it however I could. 

Not complaining. I learned from previous attempts, which led to the current configuration. 

I haven't quite figured out what to do with the well pump. Only thing I can think of is building a small extension out to cover it, bringing it into the solarium so it doesn't freeze. And so the dogs have less access to it. It would also make it more attractive. I'll have to get that done in spring, though. It's going to take a lot of work to build access points for water lines and maintenance. Probably have multiple doors but still need to be insulated. Plus I still have the pump sitting on an old picnic table bench, so need to build a dedicated support. Before I can do that I have to fill in the cave the dogs dug around the pipe. And yes, I mean cave, not just a hole. I was considering putting concrete down but if I build the housing the concrete won't be necessary. I just want to be able to use the pump in early spring and have it in winter as an emergency water supply. 

I may start planting tomato seeds this month in the house. Use the old office, where I have shelves by one window. By late Jan to early Feb it will be just warm enough to move the seedlings out to the solarium. Small containers at first and moving to increasingly larger ones. By April or May, they should be quite large enough to move into the garden and have a decent year. If I do things that way, I may be able to coax out tomatoes by late May or early June and a bumper crop by July and onward. 

Improvement

Got the gas space heater up and running in the solarium. That means the night temps have remained above freezing. Unfortunately, not warm enough for the tomato plants. However, warm enough for cool weather plants.

The dogs are not helping the situation. They were pulling at the wire on the outside of the main door to open it. I eventually had to put a hook and eye latch on the inside. So, they started jumping against the door until the latch came loose. Some people would call this smart. Really? No. It's just destructive. Right next to the main door is a very generous size dog door which they only have to push with their noses to enter. They won;t use the dog door. In their minds, they are not opening the latch or the door, they are breaking it. When I latch it again, to them I am fixing it. So they would prefer to try and destroy the door rather than enter through a swinging door which offers little chance for destruction. If they but their heads against it, it just swings open. So I had to add a piece of duct tape to the latch.

Of course, the problem is that the heat is released when they do this. 

These are also the same dogs that will not stay in the solarium in front of the heater. It's probably about 70 degrees right in front of the heater. Instead, they stay outside, huddled together while the temperature is as low as 12 degrees. That is regardless of whether they force the main door open or they have to use the dog door. 

When I can keep the door closed, I'm still seeing gains of about 40 degrees. It reached 99 degrees today and it stays around 40 at night. Measured at an area behind the space heater. 

Started seeds for spinach, purple carrots, cilantro, dill and cucumbers inside the solarium today. I think most of them should grow. Cucumbers are questionable but the rest all grow well in cool conditions. Plus the broccoli is already reaching the point where I can transplant it into larger containers. 

If I make it through December without frost damage the ambient temperature should increase by late January. Then I'll be able to start getting a few long growing crops like tomatoes started from seed again. 

Good and bad

Well, since completing the solarium it has helped the temperature inside the house. Mostly by blocking the wind from the west wall. It has also allowed solar gain during the day. However, temps have been dropping as low as the low teens at night. Since I didn't have a decent auxiliary form of heat for night, the temperature went below freezing inside the solarium. 

As a result of that, the tomato plants went dormant. I don't think they died off. It didn't stay below freezing long enough to damage the roots. I think they'll come back once the temperature remains above freezing in there for a while.

I set up a gas space heater in there last night. More effective and less expensive to keep going than the electric space heater. 

Still, I have some cilantro seeds planted in containers with other plants and started some broccoli seeds last night. Think I'll also start some lettuce seeds. Potatoes are still going in their container. Those things will grow even if the temperature stays below 50. Maybe get some spinach started, also. 

I think what I need to do is add another layer of plastic sheeting to the top, on the inside. That can be less durable than the outside film but would help reduce heat loss at night. It would also reduce light coming in but most cool weather crops don't need that much light. 

Sealed up

Finally got the solarium sealed up. The north wall isn't as I would like it to be in the end but had to conserve finances for now. Have a major expense next week. So, I applied tarps to the north wall on the outside to seal out the wind.

Got on the roof this evening and covered up a small opening where cables run through. It was only about 8" square. Plus a smaller space around a plumbing vent pipe. 

Installed a thermometer this week which records the highest and lowest temps every 24 hours. The ambient high temperature today was 64. The high inside the solarium was 107! Now, that was at about 6' elevation. The apex reaches about 12' high, so the temperature is much higher at the apex. 

I haven't installed the improvised heat pump system yet. That will just be black PVC, flexible vent pipe and an inline fan but I think should seriously recycle the heat. I'm thinking of letting it blow into the crawl space, so it warms the house from the floor up. I already have a thermal switch so it will turn on at 85 degrees and off when the temperature drops below that. 

The tomato plants are loving the warmth. They were fading out until I brought them in. Now they've perked up surprisingly! They had stopped flowering but I found new flowers on it today. That's a nice surprise when the outside temperature at night has been in the 20's. I am keeping a radiant heater pointed at them on low setting at night (several feet away) and have a Mylar blanket behind them, to catch and reflect the heat back. 

Planning on applying more Mylar blankets to the inside of the north wall. Since the sun shines from the south, that will reflect the heat and light coming in back and amplify it inside the solarium. 

Probably going to be a little while before I get the rocket stove built. But until then I think I'll move the cinder blocks for it into the solarium. Just the mass should help absorb more heat during the day. If I direct some of the air flow from the heat pump system toward the cinder blocks, it would increase and extend that effect. Of course, the goal here is to not have to keep the electric heater running but still retain as much heat as possible. 

Little more

Got most of the north side of the solarium closed up this evening. I still have one section and the door to go. Should be able to get those parts done tomorrow. I do still need to install some wood panels as joints between the panels, since I used different kinds of wood that don't meet perfectly.

Pretty sure I'll be done with the entire thing this week. Weather permitting, which seems to be the case. 

The closer it gets to completion, the more the dogs seem to be competing for maximizing their stench inside the solarium. Then they stay outside in the cold and rain. Dumb..as..rocks.

Sigh.. Not sure I have enough lumber. Have to prioritize and probably make a trip to Home Depot after dark one evening this week. Oh, well. I'll work on getting the north wall finished, then anchoring the top. If I run out of time this week, I can finish the bottom section next week using the portable work light. But it is only Monday, so see how fast I can get all this done. 

I started letting the chicken out of the coop today. Drove the dogs insane to see the chicken wandering around. But the chicken was doing an excellent job of eating grasshoppers and other bugs. Kinda wish I had a flock of them! Maybe next year I'll do exactly that, once the dogs are desensitized to chickens being present.

The ramp in front is hardened and I was able to dampen it to help keep it hardening more. Necessary with concrete. But doing so rinsed dust away from the building process, so I was able to see that it looks pretty nice! It will look better once I apply some sealant.   

Slow season

I haven't been writing a lot this year because this has been such an odd and slow growing season. Cold weather ran late. Dogs made it into the garden and destroyed plants. Grasshopper and squash bugs were bad this year. Only now getting a couple of pumpkins on the vines. Not even sure those will gain enough size to be useable for Thanksgiving before the first freeze. 

Had a few potatoes, green beans, couple of watermelon, a few small cantaloupe. 

There were an amazing amount of flowers this year. The bumblebees were really happy and numerous!

Past couple of weeks, I've been working on upgrading the solarium. Installing formal greenhouse film. It's 6 mil, five layers, including light diffraction, UV protection and anti-fog additives. Supposed to last for up to four years. This time I installed it with insulating foam underneath and 1x2's with silicone caulking on one side to prevent slippage. 

I extended the solarium a few more feet. Sank three more upright posts with concrete. Total length is about 30 ft. Reaches to the top of the roof and extends about 16 ft out. So, ground space is about 480 sq ft. I'm moving the picnic table into one end and have the electric dog fence setting boundaries, so the dogs have access to the other end but plants and such will be safe. 

On that note, I should be finishing the whole thing this week. Then I can move the potted tomatoes into the solarium and keep some of them going most or all of the winter. Plus it will give me a better place to get seedlings started before spring. 

From prior incarnations, I know it will also help keep the house warmer in the winter. It serves the purpose of trapping solar heat and insulating the west wall of the house at night. I'm also adding an improvised heat pump, made with back PVC, ducting and a small fan with a thermocouple connection. The thermocouple will turn the fan on at a certain temperature and off below that temperature. 

I am also going to build in what is called a rocket stove mass heater. That's going to take a lot of concrete and masonry work (hence the "mass" part of the name). That's on top of lots of concrete work I have been doing in front of the house, setting a concrete porch and ramp. For that, It will have an estimated weight of 2700 lbs when combining concrete and cinder blocks. In all, it's probably more than that. For the rocket stove, I have to build a concrete base, then cinder block frame, fire brick combustion chamber, stove pipe, sand between the cinder block and pipe for expansion, concrete filling for the cinder block, stucco for the outside and mortar and tile for the top seating area. 

In the spring, I'll have more work ahead of me for the solarium. Have to convert several sections of the top to vents. However, before doing that, I want to try converting the heat pump from a recycling system to a vent system. If the theory works out, pumping the heated air out will allow cooler air to flow in and help cool the house. In any case, I am also going to try adding a sump and recycling pump to cause a swamp cooler effect in addition to a solar chimney effect. The water pump will be solar powered. 

I installed insulation in the ceiling. That was a big job but should really help with controlling the indoor temperature in all seasons. I may have messed up on that one. I'm pretty sure the big living room already had insulation in the ceiling but I don't remember. So, have to drill a test hole to confirm. I know the walls are insulated, so it would make sense that the ceiling is. But making sense doesn't mean anything in Albuquerque. Better to check and confirm. 

So, hoping for a cold winter to kill off lots of insects. Hoping the solarium lets me start things early next year. And that I can control the weeds better next year. Made some good progress this year in bringing some of them under control. 

Grapes

I picked the red grapes last couple of nights. Looks like the birds really like the grapes. That's okay, they could only reach the ones on the outside and there were plenty they couldn't reach. I still left lots of partial bunches on the vine which they can reach. Still came away with about 12 lbs of grapes.

These taste good but too small to make goo table grapes. However, they do make good juice and jelly grapes. 

After picking, ran them through the food processor, strained them using a colander and nylon netting. However, didn't have enough pectin and wanted the low sugar kind. Wound up having to go to three stores to find one that carried it and had it in stock. Finally succeeded. Then I was too tired to complete the process. Didn't feel like sterilizing all the jars and equipment. So, have to finish the jelly tonight. I boiled the juice for a short while last night, the stuck it in the fridge.

Been playing with the giant sunflowers for a few years now, especially the ones that bloom multiple flowers. This is my best one yet. It stands about 15 ft tall and between old blooms, current blooms and unopened buds, has a total of at least 52 flowers on the one plant! Cool!

Daughter and I harvested carrots and had a good harvest this year. About 20 lbs of carrots (not counting foliage). 

After that, I sprayed the mounds with grass killer, then did the fall planting couple of days later. Pie and giant pumpkin, dill, purple carrots and lots and lots of spinach.

Tomatoes are finally producing. Only one ripe so far, a cherry tomato. Quite a few on the vines and more flowers blooming, though. Have a total now of 14 plants, 12 in containers and only 7 producing yet. But I hope to get the solarium enclosed and move many of them inside, so may be able to keep them going for a while. I hope. Otherwise, going to try and grow some cool weather crops in containers in the solarium. 

Going to order some formal greenhouse film as a covering this time. One sheet to cover the whole thing. Cushioned and well anchored. This film has 5 layers and IR/UV and anti-condensation additives. Supposed to last for up to 4 years. I'm hoping!

Lots of cuttings

I have a lot of cuttings in pots, trying to get those to root. Purple Crape Myrtle, blueberry, pomegranate and green seedless grape. Nothing happening yet but it does take some time.

After doing some reading, decided to try honey as a rooting aid. One article I read included very well done scientific experiment which showed processed honey to be more effective than natural honey, aspirin and rooting hormone (also known as "willow water"). It's harmless, inexpensive and well worth the try. 

Cantaloupe and watermelon vines have stretched out and are flowering like crazy! Not seeing fruit yet but keeping an eye out.

Tomato vines are forming some fruit. Not nearly like last couple of years. However, I'm happy to see a few tomatoes on the vines. 

All the rain has still been making weeds run rampant. Spent an hour pulling weeds this evening and still didn't get to some areas. Plus the fact that I've been spraying a whole lot of weed killer. The newer one I was using wasn't very effective, so went back to generic glyphosate. It may be slower but is much more effective.

Grapes are doing awesome! Red grapes remain small but are ripening and taste really good. The green grapes are huge by comparison to previous years and also taste great! 

Plums are ripening and coming off the trees. Going to pick all of them this weekend, while daughter is here. 

Apples are still green, still growing and many are easily twice the size of most Albuquerque apples! 

Getting twice as many zinnias growing this year over last year. 

Fewer sunflowers. Part of that is intentional. Trying to control weeds that grew crazy last year because I couldn't reach them between and behind sunflowers. Rains has toppled some of them. Weed killer overspray killed off some smaller and younger ones. 

Okay, time for some sleep.