Cucumbers!

Enjoying the first cukes of the season out of the greenhouse. They're growing like crazy! I haven't even planted seeds in the outdoor garden yet!

Also found this baby giant walking stick in there.

Strawberry Towers update

It's been slightly over a year since I installed the strawberry towers in the greenhouse. The plants have been producing like crazy. Each time I walk into the GH, I am greeted by the wonderful aroma of fresh fruit.

There isn't a huge amount to pick since there are only about 50 plants, but we are picking berries long before any of the local farms are producing. However, there is a cost to being the early bird. Because the plants are kept in a greenhouse there is a constant battle with aphids, white flies, and powdery mildew. Plus the added cost of keeping the GH slightly heated during the winter so the plants and fish can overwinter properly.

I'm loosing about 25% of my berries to the mildew. It's heartbreaking to see a perfectly good berry one day, and the next it's covered in mildew. The high humidity caused by the aquaponics setup is a factor, along with trying to push the growing season by keeping the vents closed to conserve heat.

I'm carefully logging thy quantity, weight, and volume! After coring, and discarding the bad ones, I was left with about 50 berries (2 cups & 8.55oz). I'm picking roughly every 3 days and am at around the peak right now and expect it to taper off soon.

Is it a viable solution for a commercial grower inside a greenhouse?....probably not. There is a tremendous amount of labor dealing with the insect and disease control. Every day, I go out and examine all the plants for diseased leaves and berries. Plus since it is so early in the season, there are no bees to pollinate the flowers - I go out each morning and "buzz" the flowers with an electric toothbrush. Works great!


NOTE: You can click on the images for a larger view!

Indoors Aquaponic System

This is my new indoor system. I built it to replace the charcoal filter for my 45 gallon fish tank. I was spending about $5/week on these filters and would take about an hour to replace the filters and change out the water. This new system has been running for around 3 months and I haven't had to change the water. As an added bonus, we get some tasty lettuce!

NY Times Article

I'm quite excited to say that my Aquaponics greenhouse was featured in an article in the NY Times!

Click here to view article

Things we do to pass the time in winter

There isn't a lot of gardening to do in this time of year when the highs are in the low 20's....

In the backyard, we like to set up a 45x80' skating rink each year. I made up this Zamboni ice resurfacing machine to keep the rink nice and smooth.

I've also included a link to a video of it in action!

Click here to view

Another winter update....

Made a quick video of our greenhouse in the winter...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_3o9EbtvX8

Enjoy!

Winter Update

It's been awhile since I've posted any updates about the greenhouse. We're now in the blistering cold of winter. This is the first year I've heated the greenhouse.....it may be a costly mistake. Here's a little scientific data to ponder:

From Misc

1) 2:30pm: Sun starts to set (yellow) and the greenhouse has no solar gain and the temperature starts to drop (Orange & green lines)

2) 3:45pm: Temperature goes below 40F (4.5C). Heater is able to turn on/off as it maintains the temp at 40F. Ceiling temp (light green) jumps a bit as the heat rises....

3) 9:15pm: Outside temperature (Red) goes below 20F (-6/7C) and the heater no longer can keep up with the demamd. Temperature slowly declines to around 38F (3.3C). The outside temp is 13.3F (-10.4C)

4) 9:15am: Heater turns off once the sun comes out the next morning. Total run time is roughly 17 hours.

There are 2 electric heaters totaling 2400 watts. After all the fees and taxes, we pay $0.20 per kilowatt:
2400watts & 17 hours = 40.8 kilowatts
40.8kW * 20 cents = $8.16 to keep it heated for the night!

Since we are getting so little sun and it's cold, the lettuce is growing very slowly. There's one tomato plant that I started in the fall still doing OK but needs a lot more light. I had a few cukes growing, but the consistent cold has killed them. I am not generating $8 worth of veggies/day. Perhaps it's time to invest in a propane heater to lessen the heating costs....or just shut it down for the winter..... Jan & Feb will be even colder!