spruceup

Well today is below zero for the first time this fall, December 9th, 2011.
The greenhouse is heated with a wood air tight furnace with forced air draft, temperature of water at 110 , shuts off the blower until the temp drops 5 degrees.

The water circulates into the greenhouse, first through a heat exchanger to heat the potting room, then into the finpipe under the potted plants.

A temperature probe in a pot of soil, regulates the opening and closing of a valve, so the plants don't get too hot. Soil temp never gets up to 60 in the winter. Plants like it cool, I get chilled as the air temp is much cooler.
Today is forecast for sunny and warming up. I can then work out there keeping the plants happy.
The barrel is growing a potatoe or two and last week I put Leeks in there. They should like the cool weather and produce some edible plants in a few weeks.

Meanwhile I anticipate more veggies from the cool realms of the winter greenhouse.
My favorite at this time is Swiss Chard which is 2 seasons old. I continue to harvest when I need some greens. I expect it to bolt one day, but so far so good. These plants are from the seed mix called Bright Lights.

One more picture before I finish today, (I am making up for 2 years of neglecting this blog)

This is 2 parsley plants growing in the ground bed. there's enough here to keep my Spaghetti sauce flavored and my breath fresh for a year. I nibble it fresh, just like a rabbit.

Potatoes in a Barrel

This is a clean peeled New Potato. I rubbed the skins off with my fingers.
New in more ways than one. I grew this potato from seed. The seeds that form in the fruit on the vine, the little fruit that looks like a tiny green tomato. It is therefore genetically unique. It took 3 years to get this eating size potato. The first year 2007, only marble size tubers formed before the vines died back. I saved the largest and grew them in the garden summer of 2008. That time I got some nice roundish very smooth russet colored potatoes. Most of them are in storage, but a few in the barrel were left to sprout last fall in the barrel in the greenhouse. Today as I looked at this vine, I wondered if there might be tubers forming. Sure enough, this fine shiny potato is the first harvested from the plant you see below. It is a new variety. I dug it today On February 11th in Northern Minnesota. Didn't even have to dig really, I felt it with my finger tips and slipped it out of the peat soil under the vine. You see the plant here in a 50 gallon barrel.
Ok, but it's not cheating. It's just taking advantage of a good situation. High humidity and just right temperatures for growing. Inside a greenhouse that is. Not much else to do outdoors this time of year.

What is this then?

A sweet Potato? Wow eeeee
A whole barrel of them. I just regret I didn't take a photo of all the vines.

As you can see the tubers aren't all so large. The heat in the summer really helps the plants put on vines. the next time I will leave the vines on into the winter and let the tubers all mature as the one above.

Hey, I discovered a great way to grow potatoes and Sweet potatoes. I think you can do it, too.
Garlic did great in the barrel last year. I have some garlic started again this year along with the potatoes. We'll see how they develop..

Maybe this will work for you. Using a light peat and compost soil keeps it relatively light, but full of vines and spuds you won't want to move it. So set your barrel in a sunny location where it will really warm up quick and plant as early as you can. good luck and happy eating.

Barn's of McCrea Township

When my neighbor Mark Sinn said he wanted to see pictures of our barn before it was lowered, I had so much to say about it, I decided to start a blog on it.
So today, I will start by showing the barn in question and will try to add pictures each day of different views of the barn and the lowering of it.
This barn is located on the Morkassel farm section 28, McCrea Township, Marshall County, MN.
We think it was built in about 1910. this photo is of two ladies we don't know for sure, but may be Myrtle and Caroline, daughters of Gulick Morkassel who built the barn.
This photo contains the same barn. Helen is wife of Andy, son of Gulick who built the barn and the three children are their's. Paul, the baby is my husband.

New Post to Diana's Blog

Here I am Blogging away on Diana's BLOG. Now If I can only figure out a way to get her back in here.

Great Blue Heron

Today I saw a Great Blue Heron land in a tree.
They have always been a species we see frequently every summer. Usually they are flying up from the river; this is the first time i saw one land in a tree, so I turned around and went to the house for the camera. It isn't a perfect picture, but I still want to share it.
a beautiful fallday today with a strong south wind and 85 to 90 degrees. Leaves litter the roof and apron on the North side of the house. Next we'll have to clean the rain gutters. Captured this photo from our house looking west.

Labels: fall

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