Tim has begun to work on our greenhouse, which we will use for growing a few things in late fall/early winter, and then in late winter/early spring. We’ll also use it for hardening off seedlings before planting them outside. It faces the south, so gets plenty of light and warmth in the afternoons.
We’re making lots of plans, reading books and finding websites with greenhouse information. I’ve begun starting a few seedlings in the house, which will be planted in large planters in the greenhouse. Lettuce, spinach, endive, kale, beets, kohlrabi, some leeks and scallions are already started, and I’ll be getting some seeds for a few other cold-tolerant items. I’m also planting some of these things in the cold frame. I expect the cold frame things to be used first, then move on to the things that will be in the greenhouse. Then I’ll start another cold frame in the spring. I’m still starting the seedlings in the house under lights, as I have good success with that method using the soil blocks.
Meanwhile, it’s getting pretty cold overnight, so I’m harvesting what I need to before it’s too late. I picked off all near-ripe tomatoes and gave them to a friend on Friday, cut off all basil near the root, washed it up last night and will dry/freeze/make pesto today. The peppers are under the cold frame, and hopefully some of what’s there will still ripen. I will probably pick green tomatoes, too, and do something with those. I need to dig up potatoes one of these days, and discover how well they did. I’m particularly anxious to see if the sweet potatoes grew! I’m not sure our season is long enough for them, and I got them started later than I’d hoped. The slips I started in the house took longer to sprout than expected.