Friday, June 3, 2011

Greenhouse Gardening in Miniature

Again this year June has been renamed: Junuary we call it.

The temperature yesterday got UP to 43 with pouring rains off and on. The fog moves in sometimes in the early morning, and below was the scene greeting me from my studio as I drank my coffee and contemplated life and how it is unfolding this month. I'm leaving next Tuesday for nearly the rest of the month and have been concerned about putting out all my starts. The cover blew off the tomatoes twice, so I've set up these Walls 'O Water around each tomato, squash, cucumber and eggplant to keep the frigid temperates at bay for them while I'm gone. They act as miniature greenhouses for plants struggling to maintain their composure in cold, wet climates.
You can see how cozy these Boothby's Blonde Cucumbers are inside the 'Walls'.
I put a small tomato cage inside to keep the 'Walls' from collapsing onto the plants if they should be so inclinde in my absence.


Putting crushed eggshells in the hole before planting tomatoes provides a little extra calcium. And then I sprinkle more eggshells on top of the earth around each plant to prevent slugs from wandering around and nibbling/gobbling up such tender morsels.


Garlic is loving the cool, wet weather!



And the potatoes (Yukon Gold) are emerging and thriving!

Not much else is in or coming up except some volunteer cilantro, some lettuce and herbs.

I pray it will all be thriving when I return home on June 27th and that 'uary' part of June will have absconded with the rain and cold to parts unknown!








3 comments:

Mimi said...

boy, Junuary, isn't that the truth. Where you going? Good luck with your little garden!

Cheesemakin' Mamma said...

You've got more planted than I do! It's been Junuary around here, too. We finally got sun today and I'm about to take advantage of it. I'm tired of planting in the rain!

Have a great trip!

Stacie, A Firefighter's Wife said...

You rock! I love how inventive you are. You really are good at this gardening thing, you know!

Miss you and can't wait to see you. Hope everything survives!