Hoop houses and falling temps, make GREAT greens...

Tuesday's Harvest

Today, I will make only a quick post...

The last few nights have had temperatures, again, plunging quite low—into the lower teens. Today the temperature is supposed to go into the low 40s in the afternoon, so I'm going to try to water the vegetables to give them some moisture because it's been many, many days since they've had a drink. Then I'll get them tucked in again in the hoop house to protect them from the cold and wind of night.

Yesterday I wanted some broccoli raab for dinner. I picked not only the broccoli, but also as much as my aluminum 13x9 pan would hold—even heaping it up until the leaves were tumbling off to the ground. After bringing it into the house and washing it off, I took a photo of yesterday's harvest to share with you...

Don't they look awesomely healthy? 

We consumed the broccoli raab (the stack in the lower right corner) with dinner last night. Yum! I sauteed it with olive oil, fresh garlic, and grated ginger. It made a great accompaniment to the rest of the dinner of baked potatoes with butter and chili beans.  Look how many greens we have left to consume until my next venture out to check on the hoop house veggies!

Bon appetit! Stay warm and healthy out there!

How did the garden do with temps in the teens and winds in the 40's

Anyone living in this region knows just how cold it's been this last week and into today. This morning I woke to a temperature of 16 degrees, but it felt like 7 degrees. Darn cold, if I do say so. Last evening I had guests over and they both talked of the cold winds and immediately put on my throw blankets upon sitting down on the couch to get warm. The flickering candles did warm us up a bit and created a nice ambiance.

The arctic winds have been whipping through this area with gusts up to 50 mph. Those of you who got dumped with snow know just how cold this blast of weather has been. We didn't get the snow, just the cold temperatures and the wind. I haven't peeked inside the hoop house at all through these past few days. I did notice a couple of days ago that the condensation was still accumulating on the top of the hoop house, so I felt there was enough moisture to sustain the plants, because as I discussed previously, it's not so much the cold as it is the wind that saps the moisture from the plants causing them to become desiccated.

I decided to be brave and find out just how warm or cold the hoop house kept the plants, when it was a mere 16 degrees outside this morning, rather than waiting until the heat of the sun warmed up the outside temp to its expected high of 30 degrees later this afternoon.

Uh-oh... approaching the hoop house I noticed one end of the visqueen was NOT tucked in under the board; some of the beets had been beaten by the wind! They didn't look too good.



I wonder what the rest of the beets and the other vegetables looked like... I was a bit nervous... would they be destroyed completely? Would they be salvageable? My hovercraft parenting instincts were taking over...



First, pull up the visqueen where the thermometer is... ahhh.... it's 32 degrees! Can you imagine that?! Is so darn, frickin cold outside, yet the hoop house has been able to maintain the inside temperature at 32 degrees. Temp check: Good

OK, but what about the wind sucking the moisture from the plants?  How are they really going to survive?



Looks like the arugula is toast! They are pretty much all drooped over. I don't know if they'll last much beyond today. One person commented, oh well, they were my least favorite green anyway--too strong. OK, if we have to lose a veggie, I guess it's alright if it's the arugula... (sigh*)



Next up... the Swiss Chard. It is a bit droopy, but it doesn't look totally done in. I think it'll make it, and gosh darn it, I do like the Swiss Chard. I don't care what anybody says!



The Micro Greens have been a little tentative for several showings already. I think they are like lettuce--early to produce and early to be finished. Some of the lacy purple ones still look good. I can use those. The other ones--not so much...



The Broccoli Raab is a bit wilted, but I don't think it is beyond repair. I'm hoping that the next watering will revive it enough to keep it going. I've really been enjoying getting to know and eat these little baby broccoli stalks.



And the prize for Best of the Bunch goes to--Spinach! It sure is a hardy vegetable and it's so good for you!

When I was tucking the plastic of the hoop house down and securing it, I made sure to really have the visqueen edges down flush with the ground so the wind couldn't get it there and do more damage until it was warm enough to water. Keep your fingers crossed with this beloved experiment. The fresh vegetables certainly have been great to eat; and it's been illuminating to know that you really can squeeze out another growing season in a one season environment.

Be well; eat healthy; and make good choices!

Permalink: blog.learnyourtruth.com/2010/12/13/arctic-wind-blasts-the-hoop-house.aspx

short but sweet growing and surviving what's to come...

Survival, now or never.

December 8, 2010 by admin  (Edit)
Filed under Everything You Should Know, Green Living Information, Green Living Tips, Solar Panels, Wind Power

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I know that with today’s announcement of a compromise on giving an extension for the unemployed-another year or so.  And the millionaires up got TWO years of tax cuts.  Click the following link if you are interested in making energy at home.

click here


This is a short and sweet note and will help many if you follow up on this simple plan.
Start with an escape plan-where are you going to go to when all hell breaks loose?
How are you going to get there? Drive time and the amount of gasoline needed might limit this distance.
Is cash going to be any good? Do you have survival gear and do you know how to use it!  The second might be more important than the first.
Do you have food and water? Or a way to make water, or use less than pure water.
Going alone, taking others. Share the burden and everyone learn different skills.  And then stay together-become a real team of survivors.
Anyone got any more ideas?  Leave them here under the comments and we’ll try to get them posted up for all to read. be well; peace… dan

Tags: Food, gasoline, going alone, shared abilities, skillls, survival, tools, travel, Water

Did Freezing Temps Wreak Havoc on the Greens?!

Last week from November 23 through the 27th, the temperature took a nosedive into freezing weather... brrrr! With the lows being 30 degrees Farenheit down to 21 degrees Farenheit. Anticipating this, due to the forecast, we buttoned up the hoop house for the duration. The other point I've learned is that it's not really the freezing temperatures that do in the vegetables, but the wind that dries out the plant and desiccates them. The winds on some days went up to 30 mph with gusts up to 37 mph. Fortunately, the hoop house visqueen stayed tucked in place. Once I did have to go out and tuck in one of the end pieces, but other than that, it worked very well.

Today, we decided to put a thermometer inside the hoop house to see how warm it actually was in there around noon time. With outside temperature at about 41 degrees, I was happy to see that inside the hoop house it was 60 degrees! I haven't read the thermometer when the outside temperature was below freezing to see what the difference would be then, but I'll have to do that sometime soon and let you know.

Anyway... today's pictures were fun to take because we had the five days of freezing weather and the plants hadn't been watered since last Tuesday. I noticed yesterday that condensation was still dripping down the sides of the visqueen so I knew they had plenty of moisture to keep them strong.

Take a peek at the veggies...

60 degrees by the spinach leaves...

Here's a long shot of the whole bed... (Notice the micro green that's bolted into a flower.)

The arugula really needs to be picked! There's so much of it. I might have start giving it away or preserving it in bags in the freezer after blanching it.

The broccoli raab, by the way, is forming the little broccoli heads. I ate one at lunch today! yum!

Doesn't that spinach look sumptuous?

And here are the beet greens and the kale...

Hope  your turkey day was grand...

I'm thinking I'll make some vegetarian lasagna soon with all these greens. Doesn't that sound delectable?!

Bon appetit!

A cold spell is going to bring information to our garden experiment

Last night it got down to about 25 or so.  The hoophouse was left open to allow the freeze to get to the plants and it looks like they did get hit.

We talked to a nurseryman the other day and he concurred with the thinking that it isn't the cold in the winter it is the wind-desiccation, or the drying out of the water in the plant.  He had several plants that had overwintered in some extreme cold temps but were fine because of the shelter from the wind.


The next project is to water the garden in and try to get thru the next week of rapidly cooling temperatures.

We'll see how this works.

be well; peace...
dan

Leave it to Beaver, the lost episode

Leave it to Beaver, the Lost Episode.

I just saw a documentary about this 'lost' episode, never broadcast owing to the censors in the '60s.

Ward Cleaver comes home from a visit to the doctor for a checkup. The doctor has given him a new medicine to try, Viagra.

1st night, Ward takes the pill and is after June like a sailor at sea for years.

2nd night, more of the same, even teenagers aren't as active. 3rd night, again, banging away all night long. The next morning at breakfast, after June had fresh squeezed the orange juice to go with Ward's bacon and eggs, June looked at Ward and asked the fateful question, "Ward, do you think you are being too hard on the beaver  ?"

I guess I should have warned all you...But I thought about the range of notes I have gotten over the years and thought, "I might be the least sexual, dirty minded one here!" hahahahahahahaha

Sometimes I hurt myself laughing at the jokes. Lots going on in my head but then isn't it always that way.   The blog is continuing to crank on green stuff, try it at http://blog.learnyourtruth.com  and the site http://learnyourtruth.biz.   If you haven't been there lately give em a try...
I love ya all and of course
be well; peace...
dan

<< : I am supposed to add good gardening and frugal stu

This is from our other blog...

Yesterday was a busy, yet productive day. Since it's mid-October and we're not sure when the first frost will hit, we decided to build a hoop house to protect the fall plantings so they can continue to grow (and be harvested) into the winter months. Hoop housing has been something that we've thought of doing for a long time, but today was the first time we actually took on the task. After going to the big box shop to gather supplies, such as five 3/8" rebar pins, eight 1/2" x 10' PVC pipe, one 3/4" x 10' PVC pipe, ten 1/2" Tee PVC pipes, 10'x25' 6 Mil Plastic Visqueen sheeting, and a bag of 12-12-12 fertilizer, we came back to begin the construction project.

I've took photos along the way to show you exactly what is needed and to show you how we did it:

First, using the angle grinder, the rebar was cut in half, and then hammered into the ground half way down (one on each side of the bed) to look like this:

After removing 2' from the 1/2" PVC pipe, they were inserted onto the first side of the rebar stakes. The rebar stakes were spaced about 4' apart.  Then the PVC pipes were bent over to the rebar stakes on the other side of the bed to create the hoop.

 

Clips were created from the 3/4" PVC pipe by using the PVC pipe cutter and creating small rings. About half an inch of each ring was cut out to make it into a clip, rather than remaining a circle. These clips could then be slipped over the visqueen once it was laid over the hoops to ensure that the plastic would be clamped securely onto the hoops. The visqueen was then unrolled and laid over the hoops, clamping it 3-4 times onto the hoops to secure the visqueen.

 

Once all the clips securely held the plastic down, it was time to take a long shot to show you what the hoop house looks like! Ta Da!

Gosh, that was a lot of work and it was time to make some lunch... Think I'll fry up a batch of today's pickings... since I had to thin some of the plants anyway and the micro greens were turning into macro greens... Boy, did we get a hefty batch today!

After washing them in de-chlorinated 7.0 pH water from our Kangen water machine Click here for Kangen water information , I then fried them in a pan with oil, onion, grated fresh ginger, chopped zucchini, and some black beans... Doesn't that look good?! I also had a pot of basmati rice simmering in a pan beside it.

See how bright green it is, which is a good indicator of its nutrient richness. Tasty it was and I felt energetic and great all afternoon.

When the wind came up in the late afternoon, it was decided that the clips weren't enough. Back to the big box store to get more rebar and 1/2" pvc piping. Seven more rebar stakes and five more pvc pipes since we had two left over from the first run. Cut the rebar stakes in two again. This time on the end hoops, we hammered in a stake on each side of the end hoops and on the interior hoops only one additional set of stakes were needed. By adding the additional hoops to secure the plastic sheeting, we could remove the clips. It stabilized the plastic so it could withstand the winds. The ends were secured by 4x4 pressure-treated wood posts by just laying them over the ends that overlapped the ground. This made for a tight little nest by which the plants would be protected.

All Tucked In

Pretty good, eh?!

The next morning, it was time to roll back the plastic to see how the plantings faired and to let them get some light and heat of the day. Wow, they looked so strong and healthy and I swear the spinach grew two inches over night!  Check out these snaps!

It's time for another great growing day! Feel free to ask questions and provide us with feedback and your great frugal gardening tips.

For more information on how to recession-proof your life, click here.

http://blog.learnyourtruth.com/ 

isn't the fall wonderful?

I mean here it is the first week of October and the weather is still terrific. In fact I saw today that it was in the 90's in Minnesota last week.  How can that be?  Beating the old record high by 10 degrees.  I think something is going on in Denmark...

I put up a few new blog sites. Mainly just sales but it sure was quick and easy.  There is also the ability to purchase any of Amazon's items from the Amazon store attached to the "green blog".  If you buy the day you are there and not wait several days, or go back thru the blog then I will get a small percentage.  I am trying to make this an income that I can live off, in a fully creative, and conscience way.  That word is easier to put into action than spell.

Many of you know my friend Polly from New Zealand.  She is a wonderful artist and a nice Baha'i to boot.  Well her dad ran out of time on this planet and transitioned a couple days ago.  Now I think that no matter how some this transition is for the goer it always leaves a hole behind for us.  Please keep Polly in your prayers and thoughts and let goodness and peace flow over her days....Thank you for all the help.

Be well; Peace...
dan

Just a lazy, lazy Sunday

Sleep in, because the weather was very, very, cool.  A nice breeze and open windows...

I then exercised on the bike, sat in the sauna and SSS'd... A bit of a nap and then final yard work for the fall-scaring a bunny half to death, and some household maintenance. Got a bit of a trim this afternoon and then did lessons for all three classes.  A quiz-50 points, I got less than than, and I thought they gave me 25 minutes to do the 50 questions but I finished in less than 9.  Then when I turned it in to be graded I find I had an hour and 45 minutes to do the quiz.

Most of the questions that I missed I did from ignorance, but a couple were from outdated materials.  I haven't bought the book yet so many of the questions are just based on my own knowledge.  Guess I don't know much about liver functions and villi and mulivilli in the small intestine either....I missed most of my questions in these two areas.  

Two other questions I missed had to do with exercise/stretching and the current thinking is to warm up, then stretch and then exercise, then stretch and cool down....they don't have this knowledge yet...
The other thinking was from the early 2000's or earlier.  Whether the Surgeon General of the US think cigarettes are the most hazardous item in US health concerns.  Now a days it is Obesity/overweight and the medical/health concerns this brings up.  Seems 2/3ds of our country is overweight-and I am among them.  I feel very heavy-even though I have been exercising and moving around in good time-I am still not strong enough to carry the weight I am now at....

Better dietary habits are helping, changing some of the fat tissue into air and putting in some muscles.   Not enough yet but working towards a goal...

BTW, has anyone seem the dramatic change in Drew Carey? He has lost about 80 lbs and looks so very healthy.  He is going to lose a bit more by the end of October and now is enjoying the benefits of good health, rather than suffer the costs of ill health.   This is a bit of a steal from Zig Ziglar.  A motivational speaker of the highest order-Thanks Zig for all you have done in this area and in me in particular.

That might be all for tonite-hope to see you all in the future...

be well; peace...
dan

the days are getting shorter and the nights-man oh man, these nights....

I love the fall-throw open the windows and breathe in the freshness of the air.  I am not bothered by any allergies to the fall pollens and all so this is a wonderful time for me.  When I lived in Raleigh, NC I remember thinking that the fall was about a month longer than Michigan's and that the harshest months of winter, or maybe a month and a half's worth was nowhere to be found.  

I slept with the windows open and woke to birds every morning.  I am doing that again, several years later.   I am usually up quite early so I can't remember the last time I had to be woken to an 'alarm' clock!  I wake to natural sounds so much better.  I also have an alarm clock of sorts in my head and when I would like to get up at 5.15 in the morning I can do so within a few minutes.  I still haven't figured that one out yet but it still works. 

I am still working on the websites and blogs that will be filled with frugal options, green options and more.  I am working on a fall garden, getting the car ready for winter and of course-school work.  I am down to three classes, two on nutrition science and one on Business.  All of them are taking much too much of my time.  I will get thru this period and then into the next level of learning.

Especially interesting was a short talk in the sauna with some young Christians who are doing an internship here.  I told them about working with Habitat for Humanity, the Fuller Center for Housing and then about Wilma building her own house when she was 70 years old.  and a fine house she did build.

be well; peace...
dan

Exercise might be better than health insurance...

but then what do I know? 


This all seems good; exercising with weights, riding bikes, playing racquetball and in general keeping moving. But do you know how hard it is getting to just get moving in the morning?  I still seem to have blown out my heels, right more than left.  They have sharp pains in them and I am using padded insoles in one set of shoes and those ortho insoles in another.  I am just thankful to have shoes!

Many of our society don't. How am I going to be able to get all this done this semester and still get my Life Adjustment Center up and running?  I want to have a multifaceted approach to the homeless and nearly homeless.  I would also like to deal with those who are having difficulties staying in some sort of lifestyle balance if they have lost their employment or suffered from some catastrophic incident that has left them in a vulnerable position in regards to housing, food and the basics.

After all, this is still one of the richest nations in the world.  We might not be buying all the junk that we were and we certainly aren't paying the same prices, however...

Let's all take a look in the mirror. Do you like the person looking back? Is that person smiling? Why or why not???

be well; peace....
dan

I am looking for information on winter gardening-in Zone 6 and 6A...

The 'thumb' of Michigan is zone 6 or now 6A.  I would like some ideas as to what I can plant at this date and still get some type of harvest for overwintered 'greens'. 

I am just starting to work up new beds-raised and would like some further ideas as to what to do with them.  I have one about 4 feet wide with an effective planting width of 3 feet. This is 35 or so feet long and will be used for flowers and small shrub starter beds...

The other bed is about the same size and will be used for veggies and fruits...I could use some help on this one also...

Thanks in advance for all the help.


Be well; peace....
dan

I under stand this is a bit dated but I wanted to get it going-again...

I hope that you will all forgive me. I have been negligent in getting this up and running...I promise to do better in the future...