Winter gardening.. I love doing this! You can read about my previous winter gardening at these links:
This is what my garden looked like when we moved in at the end of September:
We gave the old sheds away and I took down the kennel. Mowed the weeds several times, then mowed with a bagger to pick up as much seed as I could. Then I hired a guy with a big tiller and now the soil is workable. I hit the spot for the hoop house with my baby Troy-bilt tiller and raked it. I then laid out the house, using 2-foot rebar pounded in about a foot, to set the hoops on. The hoop house is in the right hand corner.
The bones of my new hoop house.
Most of you know we've moved. I'm so excited about our new place. Much more room for gardening, dogs, bird feeding, habitat, fun, chickens. Not to mention a lake. Did I tell you about the LAKE??
Ahem, sorry. Well. Anyway, here is the new house all finished. It's about 20 feet long by 4 feet wide. I planted three rows, one of spinach, one of mixed Italian greens and one of lettuces, butterhead, mesclun mix, romaines.
I forgot to pick up some wire at Lowes, it's a stiff wire used for hanging ceiling tile framing. Works perfect for an inner hoop to lay floating row cover on. If you put a second cover inside, you definitely gain on temperature.
This house has great southern exposure, I'm pretty excited about it. Planting on October 31st should give the seedlings a good start on growth before temperatures really plummet. We should be eating fresh greens in 60 days or so.
I use big clips to hold the sides open on warmer days. Didn't put them down tonight after planting and watering. With a low of 39 degrees, everything should be fine. I will be able to keep things growing all winter long, only opening the house on warm days to water and harvest food. I can hardly wait!
Oh! I bet it's not too late to plant winter garlic! Now I just gotta find some to plant.
