Greenhouse Transition

Our little greenhouse is a hard-working element at Red Bucket Farm. In March we began raising seedlings inside the greenhouse. We started with hardy herbs (rosemary, chives, lavender) and cool season veggies like peas, carrots, beets, and Brussels sprouts. In mid-April we added warm-weather veggies including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and basil. The shelving units were loaded with containers and flats of seedling pots. We used a water thermal inside to moderate cold night temperatures as well as a fan to keep the air circulating.

This week we transitioned the greenhouse from spring nursery to summer growth. I removed the water thermal and three of the four shelving units. We hung shade cloth over the southern exposure to limit the sunshine, which gets overpowering in the summer. One shelving unit remains for ongoing seedling projects.

I potted the eggplant and peppers into their summer containers and gave them each a tomato cage for support. Although the space appears relatively empty now, it will soon be crowded with foliage and veggies. A tall tower-style fan remains in one corner of the greenhouse all year.

Greenhouse Shadecloth

In my life as a Wisconsin gardener, much of my thought process is about how to get bushes, vines, trees, chickens and bees to survive the bitter cold winter. But this year, I'm learning how to get those same bushes, vines, trees, chickens and bees to survive an extraordinarily blistering summer. And although it's been hot outside, it's been even hotter in the greenhouse.

Daytime temperatures in the greenhouse are frequently more than 100 degrees. Inside, we're growing eggplant and peppers in large containers. These two veggies theoretically love the heat, and I thought they would enjoy the protection of the greenhouse. I was surprised to discover that the leaves of the eggplant bushes were bleaching and dropping. Once it dawned on me that it was just too sunny in there, I draped an old sheet over the top of the greenhouse. Within a couple days, the leaves began to turn green again.

We ordered a "shadecloth kit" and installed it inside the greenhouse. It's not perfect, but it certainly makes the greenhouse more tolerable in the heat. The eggplants are recovering and shooting out more blossoms and fruit. I imagine that I'll remove the shade cloth in a few weeks and store it until next year. I've also added a fan to the greenhouse. It's important to keep the air moving, which seems to keep the whiteflies under control.

Whether it's too hot or too cold, we always enjoy eating whatever fresh food we manage to grow.

Roasting Peppers

My pepper plants this year have been disappointing. They struggled with tiny white bugs for several weeks, finally recovering at the end of July. The plants still look a little stressed, but they are producing some fruit. In spite of all the struggles, yesterday I was able to harvest about a dozen peppers. This is a fraction of last year's harvest, but I'll take what I can get.

Here is how I prepare the peppers for freezing. Pour a couple tablespoons olive oil on a baking sheet. Place the whole peppers on the pan along with a quartered onion and a few garlic cloves. Roast at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cut the stem end, slice the peppers open and scrape out the seeds. Lay the sections of pepper flat on the baking sheet and flash freeze for an hour or so. Use a spatula to remove from the frozen pan, and zip them into a freezer bag. Now you have peppers ready to use all winter in soups and stews. Yummy!

Enjoying the Fruits/Veggies of our Labor

It's the last day of February and my urban farm is covered in a blanket of snow. Fortunately, I'm still enjoying the veggies of last year's efforts.

Last April I planted a few peat pots of pepper seeds---three pots of Carmen Hybrid, a sweet pepper with long, six-inch horn-shaped fruits; and three pots of "Yummy," a petite 2-inch sweet snack pepper. I nursed these seedling indoors for several weeks, then moved them outdoors into large containers. They remained container plants all season, and I could move them into sunshine and away from the squirrels and chipmunks, who help themselves a little too often.

By August, we were indeed snacking on yummy peppers, slicing them open and filling them with cream cheese. Our crops were prodigious, far more than we could eat, so we began roasting them with olive oil and garlic for 20 minutes, then freezing them on cookie sheets for an hour or two before packing them in freezer bags. It's lovely to pull out a bag and add them to stews, sauces, lasagne, savory pies and gratins.

Since last year's crop was so succcessful, I've started Carmen and Yummy again this spring. The peat pots are currently under lights in the chicken brooder (which is without chickens, of course). When the new chicks arrive in a month, I'll transfer the peppers to the greenhouse, which I hope will remain above freezing. I'm planning to keep the peppers in containers again this year. Why mess with a good thing?