What I Did During My Summer Vacation!

When my fellow Master Gardener and new friend Ann asked me to contribute my experiences as a new greenhouse owner,my answer was yes! I've learned so much my first season and I'm excited to share.

I completed the Master Gardener program this past winter. What a great experience! I learned a ton, met some great people and made new friends. My husband and I have talked about putting in a greenhouse for a while now and upon my completion of the class, this seemed like the perfect time.

I've enjoyed having a small garden in my yard for years and have faced the same challenge every year...slugs and deer! They both are relentless and frustrating.

My amazing hubby, Rick, built me a beautiful greenhouse. It is something I will appreciate every single year.

I was asked what I planned on putting in the greenhouse and I answered, everything! I pretty much did just that. I must say I was overzealous and definitely over planted. In the past I always planted more as not everything came up. Not so in the new house!

I planted the usual..peas,beans,carrots,radish,cucs,lettuce. I've had fairly good success with these before and they grew even better inside. I had never started vegetables rrom seed and decided to see if I could get them to come up. In fact I was so successful that I ended up 113 bigger boy and cherry tomato plants. A big thanks to fellow Master Gardener Kristi for taking the majority of them off my hands. She passed them around and most of Lincoln county now has my toms.

I planted potatoes and zucchini for the first time. What I was most excited about growing tho was corn and cantaloupe. I haven't harvested either as of yet but the corn will be ready in the next couple of weeks and the cantaloupe are the size of small oranges.

I've recently replanted peas,beans,carrots,lettuce and potatoes to see how they do into fall/winter. My neighbor brought overwintering vegetables to try as well...cabbage,broccoli and cauliflower. I've never even heard of winter veges,so this will be a fun experiment.

I've learned a few things:

1. Even if you think your plants are safe from bugs and disease being inside, they are not! I've had to dispose of a few grasshoppers and some ants discovered my strawberries.

2. Not every plant likes the intense sun and heat. Mainly the beans. I found they liked the heat,but the sun became a bit much.

3. I learned to embrace natural remedies such as cinnamon to deal with the ants and soap water for ants,mildew and pretty much everything! I haven't touched the bottle of roundup or weed b gone all summer, which is saying a lot for me!

Overall this first season was a success and I look forward to next growing season and am already thinking ahead to make it even better!