The Garden Shedde

When I first got started in greenhouse gardening, I wasn’t sure I wanted to jump in with both feet.  It took me a while to decide if I really wanted to go down this road.  I had always had a spring and summer garden and just never really tried to garden the rest of the year.  However, the idea of have fresh produce pretty much year-round sure sounded good so I bought a small greenhouse and got started.

It was much easier to put up than I had thought it would be and I have moved it several times so it’s definitely portable.  That first year I had to learn a few things about greenhouses such as the proper temperature in both summer and winter.  You can’t let it gat to hot in the summer or to cold in the winter.  You have to learn how to properly vent greenhouses to get your plants the fresh air they need so you need to plan on taking some time to learn about this type of gardening.

I now have a larger greenhouse and continue to use the little one as well throughout the year and having both is working out really well.  I highly recommend you taking the time to learn how to use a home garden greenhouse and you will quickly see that you have an advantage over those who rely only on the grocery store.

It wasn’t very long ago that my kids were giving me a lot of grief about gardening.  They just could not understand why I would want to grow my own food when I could hop in the car, run to the local grocery store and purchase what I needed.  They thought I was crazy because I always had an access and would have to figure out what in the world I was going to do with all of it, which normally meant that I would give it away.  Well time has changed.

They are now calling me and asking me for advice on gardening, freezing, canning and drying herbs.  Though I am not an expert on any one thing, I have done some of all of them.  I have recommended using the library, of which one son was floored when he found out that’s how I learned to can, suggested the internet and to buy a book on processing home grown food.  With a new baby, they have also looked into making organic baby food and to think, it all started with a garden.

If you love gardening, you might find it fun to take on the challenge of planting a winter garden outside or inside a small greenhouse.  If you choose outside, even a novice nature tender will be delighted to see green poking out of an otherwise snow-packed yard.

Starting a winter garden can be a nice ritual close to or right after the summer months.  This is also a great time to plant your winter garden, as it allows your seedlings to strengthen and grow before enduring the harsh weather.  Of course, if you are growing in a hobby greenhouse your plants will have more protection from the bitter winter months.

With a home greenhouse, you’ll be able to grow summertime veggies such as tomatoes or squash.  If you are in the elements, you can still grow salad-type treats like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and carrots, but it’s important to make a cold frame to protect your growing crops.  Items such as kale will endure without protection.  Make sure you add compost and mulch to fertilize.  It’s a challenge with great rewards!

Decorative fencing, such as picket or other usually waist-high border fences, is mostly decorative, with a secondary intent of keeping pets or children within, or out of, a given outdoor space. It is most often used around landscaping at the fronts of homes and other buildings. This fence type often has widely spaced uprights (in picket fencing these are the pickets), to limit physical access but not visual access. It is normally white or light colored, or is ornate wrought iron. Gates are decorative, and easily opened.

Privacy fences are often over six feet in height, are solid (not see through), and are often topped with decorative panels of lattice. Its primary intent is to completely limit visual access, and is often used around back yards and other private spaces. Its secondary intent is as a security fence, to prevent unauthorized entrance. Gates are lockable and functional.

People love to spend time outside in their garden or on their patio’s whether it’s warm or cool.  Some have large spaces outdoors and other’s only a small oasis.  However, with the right kind of furniture, either space can be turned into your paradise.

You work hard at turning your space into a place that is yours and yours alone.  You want others to know, by the furniture you choose, what the space says about you.  Are you an avid gardener looking to meld your garden onto your patio?  A cook who wants to use this space to barbeque and entertain?  The great thing is you can decorate using the usual patio and garden furniture or you can be different and use the unusual object or furniture.

You can stick with the simple plastic furniture that can be easily carried anywhere and can be stacked and put away when not in use.  You can choose the traditional iron furniture or the hand-crafted Adirondack chairs that make your home yours.  Or you can go way outside the box and get old truck front seats or tractor seats and use them for your seating pleasure.  Whatever you want to make of your outdoor space, you can.

There is also some great wicker and cane furniture that blends with so many decors at your fingertips.  You get to choose your outdoor furniture according to your personality and what makes you feel closest to nature.  It improves you life and the look of your outdoor space.

Having and using a greenhouse is the best way to produce veggies when summer is not in session.  They are productive buildings and it may take several years to break even on your investment.  The questions you may want to ask yourself is; is the cost worth the overall benefits of being able to grow your own food pesticide free year round and only you can answer that question. 

Before you begin, there are a couple of things that need to be taken into consideration before setting up a home greenhouse.   You will want to determine what material will be best to cover your greenhouse with as different materials will give you different results.  Glass windows are said to retain as many vitamins as possible in your plants but can be dangerous and requires you to clean it often.  Polyurethane or plastic is shatterproof and withy the advances made every year getting better and better as a green house covering. Bear in mind that the isolated environment of a greenhouse does makes a welcome home for annoying pests so you will want to take measures to combat that situation from the very beginning.  Basic sticky traps placed no higher than your plants should do the trick in nixing these unwelcome visitors.

Lastly, you can prolong your gardening ventures even further by investing in a heater to heat your backyard greenhouse.  This helps you to stabilize the environment to stay around forty-five degrees throughout the winter.  If the air inside falls below that number, it’s to cold for your plants to grow optimally.  Having a heater will cost a little more and you will either have to have electricity or use propane, but you can do so much more with your winter gardening with a home garden greenhouse.

Gardening enthusiasts are always keen to try out new things. However, the novice gardener usually starts with a few flowering or ornamental plants and after getting some success, shifts to other areas like vegetable or herb gardening. You will find growing vegetables and herbs in your garden or raised beds and pots will give you a great deal of pleasure.

There is a variety of herbs you can grow in planters and raised beds.  This allows you to grow your own even if pressed for space.  Some of the best herbs that are sometimes better contained in planters, window boxes or raised beds are mint, coriander and rosemary.  The herbs will thrive and easily satisfy the requirements of the gardener and/or the cook!  You will get so much satisfaction cooking with and eating something you have produced. 

Planters can be fun as well as easy to manage because you can move them wherever there is adequate light and mix and match as you please.  Because planters and raised beds are movable and flexible enough to experiment with and to plant many different varieties of plants, herbs and vegetables, they are a must for any serious gardener and great for the beginner.

Have you ever bought less-than-quality produce from the store?  Have you bought produce only to have to throw it away days after it was bought due to it being prematurely rotten?  That’s what happens with store bought produce more times than we would like to admit.  Maybe it’s time you pondered the concept of starting your own garden. 

Many people brush the idea aside due to the time and effort involved.  That is especially true for winter gardens but winter gardens are entirely doable and have wonderful benefits.  In fact, winter produce grown by you will simply taste better than its store-bought equivalent and typically contains more sugars by being exposed to the colder climate.  That is what makes it taste so much better!  It is also higher in vitamins because of the rate at which it is eaten after production (hopefully right out of the garden) and won’t incur any damage through the labored and long shipping process.

Another huge benefit to winter garden is that you’ll be able to control how your food has been handled and grown – if it’s been doused in pesticides or not.  You won’t be able to get over how enjoyable it is to plant, tend and harvest delicious foods in the midst of the dreary days of winter.

Do you want your home filled with the fragrance of the outside garden?  You can have that by planting your favorite flowers and bulbs in planters.  Planters also help to fill those empty corners and awkward spaces in your home if you know how to use them.

Have you ever heard a Realtor talk about showing a home?  They often tell their client to bake cookies or bread right before someone comes to the showing.  This wonderful fragrance reminds them of home and childhood.  Just like that fragrance, flowers bring the smell of freshness and wonder into your home and it’s so easy to do.

There are species that enjoy shade; cineraria, salvia and hosta’s that can be placed in entry ways or breezeways or anywhere where they improve the interior of your home. You can bring in the fragrant bulbs of freesia or hyacinth when they bloom if you have planted them in planters.  Why you can even makeover a room by placing few planters at suitable locations.

Having plants in the house also improves the air quality in our home through the plants natural processes thus giving us better air to breathe.  This can all be possible by using planters for your plants both inside and out.

Picket fences are a well known style of decorative landscape fencing, meant to enhance a flower garden and small lawn. They are best suited to smaller yards due to their smaller scale, and there are many designs to choose from. Another type, low decorative metal fences, usually set on top of a low masonry base, or strung from footing to footing, are also suited to small residential use.

Solid panel fences are appropriate for any application, depending on their height. Lower ones, sometimes as low as a foot or two, can be used as decorative landscaping borders, waist height ones to define public spaces (such as a front yard or patio), and tall ones are ideal privacy fences.

Chain or other non-decorative metal fencing is most often purely functional, intended as a security fence. It is rarely used in a decorative way due to its simple appearance and strong association with industrial or security purposes. It is unsuited to residential settings for this reason, except for use in pet enclosures inside attractively fenced yards.