May, 2019 - Blackberry Wisdom

I just finished my first no till garden and decided to make an instructional video. If you are interested in how to make a no till garden, or want to see how I did it then please go watch the video below.

No Till Garden video

I have made a few raised bed gardens this year, but this one is just a bit different. It really wasn’t that hard, but in retrospect I wish I had more green items to include before I added the papers.

More organic material would make for a more rich environment quicker. I know by adding adding compost in the years to come the ground will be built up, but I wanted to plant cantaloupes this year. We will see how it goes.

My greenhouse has become a favorite place for me to work on most days. From watering, seeding to transplanting there is a lot of activity in the greenhouse.

But I am struggling with keeping my temperatures within an acceptable range.

When it was cold I had to add a heater to keep the temperature above 40. I let the temp drop into the 30s one night and lost the tomato plants I had in the ground. This of course is a manual process and adds the cost of electricity to my gardening efforts.

heater on a metal chair so I don’t burn the place down

When the temperature gets too hot I have another problem. The greenhouse will heat up in a hurry and the extreme temperature will kill off any tender seedings, and even some things in the ground.

I have a window that opens when the temp gets above 75 degrees and will leave the door open for ventilation. I have a small fan in the greenhouse to help with air flow, but it is not really big enough to keep the temps down.

what a great invention – opens and closes around the 70 degree mark

Today I added a shade cloth that is supposed to block 70% of the sun’s rays. Too early to tell if it will be helpful, but got to try something!

10×20 shade cloth covers most of the greenhouse

I also have a thermometer that registers the high and lows. This is helpful as a reactionary tool, and give me some insight as to what is happening in the greenhouse.