The Garden Shedde

In my backyard, among my hydrangeas and sunflowers sits my greenhouse. I do not know what I would do without it. It has truly been a lifesaver throughout many years; not only for my plants, but for me as well. It is a small greenhouse, no bigger than your typical gardening shed, but the work it does is huge.

In the winter, I put my plants in there to keep them from the certain death they would incur when the frost hits. It is so handy to have a place specifically for my plants to go that is the perfect environment for them to continue to grow and flourish. Not only is it useful in the winter but also is a great necessity year round.

I use my greenhouse year round, including the summer. My fruits and vegetables thrive in the moist humidity it provides. Can you imagine walking out your back door and picking fresh tomatoes and strawberries? It is really quite a luxury that I enjoy. A greenhouse is a must for a garden enthusiast; I know my life would be quite different if I did not have mine.

Fall is the time to walk around your garden with a clip board.  If you do not have a garden journal, consider starting one now.  Think about successes you want to repeat and failures to remedy.  What projects do you want to conquer next year?  What items need to be repaired or replaced? 

What are some subjects you would like to study over the winter; possibly companion planting, planting by the moon cycles, or how to attract beneficial insects?  Refer back to your list when you visit the library, have extra time to research online, and when the new seed catalogs arrive. 

Another way to help beat the winter blues is to force some bulbs indoors.  Two popular and easy flowers are the Amaryllis and hyacinth.  Both can be purchased at a garden store in the fall.  There are special vases that are used to force hyacinths which can also be found in garden stores.

My backyard is full of fragrant flowers, beautiful bushes and my favorite, a stone bench. My husband purchased it for me on my birthday ten years ago. It has become a staple item and really looks pleasing surrounded by my prized flowers. On the very top of it my husband had it engraved with our names and the names of our children. With each new grandchild, the space is getting smaller and smaller.

For many years, that bench has been a reflecting spot for me. On warm summer nights, I enjoy sitting out there relaxing. I will take a glass of tea or a favorite book and just plop myself down. It is my quiet time that belongs to just me and no one else.

My children no longer knock on the front door, but come directly to the backyard. They already know where their mom is and usually have a good laugh at my expense. It does not bother me. I know one day they will look back fondly on these times. I already do, when I am sitting alone on my bench.

A birdbath is a great item to add to your garden. Not only are they pleasing to the eyes, but also to nature. When I purchased mine, I had not really considered the animal using it, just the beauty of it alone. I am now amazed at how much better it looks with the squirrels climbing up to get a cool drink, and the birds dipping their feet into it.

It is so enjoyable to step out in the morning, coffee in hand, and watch the animals frolicking away in the birdbath. Boy did I get more than I ever expected. In the afternoons, you will find the animals taking a break from their play and wetting their whistles once again. They are never boring to watch.

Just adding the birdbath to our backyard has changed its entire atmosphere. The garden surrounds it, the animals sit on it, and it is quite majestic. Who knew a small bit of concrete could add so much happiness to one woman’s life? I sure didn’t or I would have done it years ago.

If you really want to go green, think about installing a sod roof.  If you would like to try it without committing to the entire house, try it on a garage on shed roof.

You may need to bolster your roof to support the additional weight produced by the dirt needed to grow and maintain the sod.  Three inches of dirt will add about seventeen pounds per square foot so this can be a huge factor in having a sod roof or trying something else.

While you are beefing up for weight, also think about sealing the roof decking with a good water and ice shield.  It’s good to create a barrier between the shield and the dirt with a layer of heavy duty plastic sheeting.  Since this plastic could cause the dirt to easily slide off, put roofing fabric down for a more stable base and use flashing around the edges to help with erosion and to contain the dirt.

This green roof system will give you great insulation from the sun and will help keep your space cool in more ways than one.

For years there has been a lot of money spent developing remedy’s to keep critters like deer, raccoons and rabbits out of your flowers and vegetable garden.  You may have tried several of them throughout the years.

Little did we know that a great solution was right on top of our heads.  Well, most peoples heads.  There are a few of us that are lacking up there so you’ll have to help us on this particular harvest.  It’s called human hair.  Looks like those pesky critters don’t much care for the stuff.

Now that we know what they don’t like all we have to do is out that out in the yard and flowerbeds and gardens to keep them out.  Sounds simple until you find out that you need freshly cut hair.  Don’t know about you but the little I do have doesn’t grow back that fast.  So what’s a thin haired guy to do?

Well, it looks like they don’t like dog hair either so if you see a bunch of badly shaven dogs…

If you throw your newspaper out or recycle it, you may want to save a few days worth to help control weeds in your flowerbeds.  You can use old newspapers to smother the weeds in and around the plants you actually want to grow.

There are several different ways to spread the newspapers.  One is to lay them out over the weeds and growth you don’t want in your flowerbeds and put about 3 to 4 inches of organic material over the newspapers.  It will take about a season for the newspapers to break down and, in the mean time; it rids your flowerbeds from the unwanted growth.

The other way works really well.  You wet the newspaper before you lay it out over the unwanted weeds and grass.  It tends to sty in its place while you lay it out and then cover it with the organic material or mulch.

Either way will work for you and it’s easy and you won’t have to pulls weeds for the rest of the year.  It’s even more exciting when you discover that next year you won’t have to pull them either.

Will it really be the tomatoes next time, the spinach, the peppers?  What will be the next salmonella outbreak and why some people will never be affected?

The answer to the first question is an easy one.  No one knows what food source will be infected with salmonella and potentially transferred to the tables of America.  No one knows because the powers that be from the FDA (Food & Drug Administration), congress and down, we no longer have the protections on our food source that we once had.

At least that’s what you’ve been told.  However, since the fifties more and more families have been giving up their gardens and buying everything from the local grocery store.  It is easy and mindless and is proving to be dangerous, which brings me to the people who will never be affected.

These are the gardeners in your neighborhood, your local farmers and those who purchase from the local farmers.  These people know where their food comes from, when it was picked and what chemicals, if any; have been used on their foods and they’re taking it to the next level.

For the first time you will see greenhouses going up like never before.  The modern greenhouse allows you to grow year-round and with the easy greenhouse kits, anyone can put one up in their backyard.  When you are growing your own, you won’t worry about the next outbreak because you won’t have too.

Most everyone knows the benefits of using newspapers to cover where you would like to place a garden to rid yourself of weeds, etc.  However, it’s also a great way to establish a floor for the spot you would like to place a greenhouse.

The first thing to do is determine where in your yard you have space that is also level.  Most greenhouse kits will need to be built on level ground.  Then determine how big your green house will be; do you prefer an 8 x 8 or maybe a 12 x 16?  You will need to know that in order to measure out the foundation for your home greenhouse.

Drive a stake in the ground at one corner and measure out your foundation from corner to corner (remember the size greenhouse you are getting) and stake the other three corners and pull the string tight revealing the exact size you will need for your foundation.  Always take a tape measure out and double check the measurements.

Lay out the newspaper (about 6 to 7 layers) to cover the entire area.  You can wet it in a bucket or have a water source handy to spray the paper to stay down as you lay it out.  Once you have it laid out it’s up to you what material you would like to have for a quick foundation.  You can choose an organic material such as mulch or a rock or gravel material.

The main things you will need to watch is to make sure the newspaper is totally smothered and can still get moisture.  You can also use newspapers underneath several kinds of flooring to keep your greenhouse floor nice and clear of weeds and unwanted grasses.