Gardening Progress

Hrm, forgotten that I had set aside this blog.  My apologies, then, for not writing in it at all.

Since moving in, I've made no progress on getting a greenhouse.  However, I have done some gardening in and around the house, so I thought I'd write an update here when I saw the blog.

I've put in grape vines.  Four different grape cuttings were planted by our deck, which has vertical trellises at least 10 feet from the ground.  The plants have a southern exposure and are to the west portion of the property, so see the sun pretty much all day from sun-up.  The western part of our property doesn't see the setting sun due to the tall trees of Prince William Forest Park, so, exposure is about an hour less than full in the evening.  After planting the four, three of them grew quite quickly, taking off the very first year and climbing the trellis.  One of them was a dud, so was replaced with a more mature grape vine that I bought at the local nursery, Dumfries Nursery.  It, too, took off quite well.  I interspersed two different grape types, 2 dark concord grapes with 2 seeded green grapes (forget the type now).  I hear that cross-pollination is good for developing the fruit.  The vines are about 5' apart, and I planted them our first spring on the property, in 2012.  This spring (2013) saw fruit on all four plants, although the birds got to them before I did for much of the harvest.

That first spring we also planted two above-ground 4x4 planters with cucumbers, hot peppers and lettuce.  All came up, although the lettuce bolted fairly quickly.  I need to start those plants earlier inside and have them ready as soon as the last frost is out, if we want to get edible leaves.  Some of the mesclun the first year grew just right and we had greens for a while, but the bok choy bolted right away, and didn't give us anything edible.

The second year, I hadn't planted seeds early enough indoors and wasn't all that motivated, but after planting some seeds later, my wife transplanted what grew to outside.  This second year, it was the watermelon plants that took off and took over both planters (and some yard footage to boot!).  We probably got 11 or 12 good watermelons from the vines before all was said and done.  Trying to figure out which watermelons were ripe and ready to be picked was a bit of a challenge, though.  Looking at the opposing vine growth and looking for those that had shriveled up and started going brown was a fairly good indicator, but it was difficult to know just when was perfect to get the sweetest fruit.

We're thinking of planting fruit trees next spring - plum and persimmons trees.

The Greenhouse Plan

I'm moving into a new house in September.  The house doesn't have an HOA and I have about a third of an acre.  One thing I've always wanted is my very own greenhouse; to study, to plant, to learn and to grow - even in the winter.  This blog will trace my trials and travails.  From those that I learn, I will link.  To those who wish to learn, I will teach.  Together, we will grow.  This is 'The Greenhouse Plan'.