Hello garden gals and guys! I hope you are finally enjoying some warm weather wherever you are. Winter has definitely kept a dying grip on us here in Maryland, but today and for the next few days, it’s finally going to feel like spring.
Y’all know that I have a greenhouse and I have only used it to store my seedlings until transplanting time. When we first constructed it, I wanted to have planting beds on one side so that I could try growing plants year-round. Well, roots from a neighbor’s tree made that difficult. I couldn’t dig down deep enough into the soil.
Yesterday, I decided to try some raised beds in the greenhouse. I caught a sale on these raised beds called Patio Pickers. They were normally 29.99, but were reduced to 19.99, so I bought two of them.
I’ll explain how it works in a bit. But first I want to share some before and after photos. So, here’s what my greenhouse looked like before.
And here’s what it looks like after a little rearranging.
I was still able to keep all of my shelves and I’m very happy about that. I thought I would have to remove one permanently.
Ok, now back to how the beds work. First, you put the wheels on the bottom. They just pushed right in. Took all of 45 seconds to do all four.
Then I moved the beds into the greenhouse. Even though they have wheels, I would have had to lift them over the lip of the greenhouse door.
Then you put the pipe into one corner of the raised bed. And you pack moist soil MIX (not potting soil…soil mix is lighter) down into the corners. Packing it down ensures that the soil can wick water from the reservoir.
Then you fill the bed the rest of the way up with the potting mix.
Done! Now, these kits come with a cover you put over the soil and then cut holes into and transfer your plants. But I’m doing something different. The bed next to the watering can now has lettuce seeds in it and the other has basil seeds.
Once winter comes, I’ll see how long I can keep lettuce growing in these. The greenhouse stays warm during the day, but it’s not great at keeping the heat trapped at night like it should.
I probably could have fit one more bed in here, but I want to see how these two do for now.
Now for the next update. My babies are doing pretty well. Here’s a progress photo of them. Peppers:
I was worried about the peppers. At first, only three or four seeds germinated. I love peppers, but they work my nerves. They are very slow germinators. Time on the heat mat and lots of patience and now they’ve all sprouted.
My tomatoes are really going off. I should have a nice crop. Don’t know where I’ll put them all but that’s not the point. 🙂
This last tray is a mix of marigolds, kale, collards, beets, and spinach. The marigolds are faring the best.
So that’s what’s growin’ on here at Fat Earth! I still need to pick up a few cucumber plants and some dwarf bean plants from the store. I didn’t grow them because they don’t really get eaten as much as the tomatoes and peppers do, but two of each plant should be sufficient for our eating needs.
Until next time garden gals and guys…..
Happy farming!
