What's growing in winter?

December in the garden includes onions, leeks, garlic, swiss chard (of course), my new bed of potatoes and my full long bed of sweet and chili peppers.  I never got broccoli or other brassicas planted in fall (of course I was out of the country much of the time).

Sometime near the end of November I went out with a huge basket and harvested all the basil late at night before we were to get a hard freeze. I also harvest lots of my beautiful red peppers that cold dark night. Fresh pesto in winter is very special. We had a lot of pesto/pepper pasta dinners around that time.

The most amazing thing is that it is December 30th and I have plants full of peppers. Unbelievable, especially because we had a streak of cold weather that we don't see very often in Sacramento California. We also have had quite a lot of rain in the last two months. Of course the rain (and snow in the mountains) is really really good since we just came out of a couple dry years.

Very soon now, it will be time to set up my seed trays and start seed for early spring planting. The solar panels on the greenhouse will generate the energy to run the heat pad and the grow lights. Now that Christmas is over, it is the time to lay out my garden plan and decide what seeds to start. My freezer has two very large jars filled with seeds waiting to be chosen this year. Living on a city lot, there are limits to the space I have available for planting. Of course I use almost every patch of ground to grow something. So, within the next couple weeks our spring seed choices will be posted.

August greenhouse construction

So, the solar panels are up on the roof. They are generating electricity. Two panels go to batteries and an inverter changes to AC power. Now the "snap" fan is installed too. 

The roof vent was framed too.

So the polycarbonate installation began. The first piece was the south side which is the widest side.

And here is another shot of the south panels when they are first being fitted. You can see where the framed "snap fan" is installed on the left side.

A lot of work has been done by this picture. The sides are all in place, the roof is installed and some of the trim has been applied. What a difference a few days make. Thanks to my creative and skilled husband, who designed and is building the greenhouse.

This is a good picture of the "snap fan" installed. This fan runs off the variable DC power from one panel. We do need to put a regulator/controller on this fan to slow it down much of the time because it feels like a wind tunnel in the greenhouse.

This is one of the two temperature regulated cool intake vents. So, the greenhouse is coming along really nicely.

July Greenhouse and Garden update

Well my garden is growing, late as it is. Usually at this time of year I have produce coming out of my ears, but not this year. The garden is so behind because it was planted two months late. This was because of the extended cold weather and also because I was so busy with my college class. Way too busy! Obsessed!

But back to the garden. There has been drastic pruning going on for access to the exterior of the greenhouse and also to insure the new solar panels are not shaded too much. So the huge Eureka lemon and huge Vitex tree have been drastically cut back. The Vitex tree has taken the worst beating (cut to a 5th or 6th of the normal width and height of the tree).  The trees in this picture are my Elder tree on the right and just a couple branches of the Vitex on the left with the large seed bunches on the very ends, and behind the roof on the left is the Eureka lemon and grapefruit tree on the right.

The panels are to power the fan for the greenhouse (DC) and the full spectrum lights, the seedling heat pad and timers.  This will all be very exciting. I have had an extension cord out there for the lights and heat pad for the past couple years. But finally the polycarbonate siding is going to be put up and it will be an all "new" greenhouse.

Working on the Greenhouse

Over a year ago we made our decision as to the covering for our redwood framed greenhouse. In this photo it is shown covered in 6 mil plastic which pretty much destructs after a year in our Sacramento sun. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to replace it now. Too many! So we chose Sundance Supply to purchase triple walled polycarbonate panels, which are sitting in their very heavy packing box on our patio.

Never in a hundred years would I have imagined that no one would know where to purchase exhaust fans and intake vents for a greenhouse that would close when not in use, so that all the heat built-up passively during the day would not be exhausted during the cold months and run on DC power from solar panels and batteries.

Well, a year later we have learned a lot about what is available and what is not. It was a long road with many dead ends. We finally found a fan for the greenhouse that is DC (generated by solar panels) run. It is called a Snap fan. In fact it runs straight off the solar panel and doesn't go to a battery. We still have to choose the shutters that will close to block unwanted cold in the winter. The Snap fan will be placed low on the south side (under the shade of my large Vitex tree).  We found our fan at Real Goods Solar Living Center in Hopland CA.

We have a pretty large window in the roof that will open with a Gigavent (automatically opens by temperature). We got it at Peaceful Valley Farm Supply in Grass Valley CA.

Here is a picture of a panel like one of ours. I took it at the Real Goods Solar Living Center. Of course ours will not be set-up on a portable frame like this one in the  picture. They will be on the roof of the studio which is attached to the greenhouse.

Ours are not up on the roof yet, but it will be exciting to see when they do get up there.