How Green Is Your Greenhouse?

For years, many people have trusted greenhouses as a great way to grow quality healthy fruits and vegetables all year round.  And recently, growing your own sustainable and organic gardens has become more and more popular.  So it comes as no surprise that many people are now building eco-friendly greenhouses to help grow great produce in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Greenhouse Plants (Photo credit: azmichelle)

While many people don’t think about it, growing your own vegetables is a great way to reduce your energy consumption.  Your food doesn’t magically appear at the grocery store; it has to be shipped there, usually by truck, and sometimes from very far away.  And that can take a lot of energy, which you save by growing your own food at home.  So why waste all the good you’re doing by using tons of energy in your greenhouse?  It’s not only bad for the environment, it also costs you more in utility bills.

If you use a heated greenhouse, you can invest in lower energy light bulbs and increased insulation in the winter.  Even adding a layer of bubble wrap at night can cut down your energy by letting the heat in during the day and sealing it in at night. If you follow Eliot Coleman's method of unheated greenhouses, you don't have that expense, and you can use floating row covers inside the greenhouse to provide extra protection for the plants without heating. In some greenhouses, saving energy is as easy as opening the vents during the hot part of the day, and closing them during night-time cooling.

Another great way to make any garden more eco-friendly is to reduce your use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.  While a greenhouse can protect your plants, you still may have pest or disease issues. But if you're an organic gardener, you'll want to protect your family from these potentially harmful substances by using natural means of dealing with garden problems. (See http://www.newholisticliving.com/sustainablegardening.html for some helpful tips and resources.)

Did you know that certain areas of the United States will run out of fresh usable water before there’s ever a noticeable effect of global climate change?  That’s because certain areas are using water at an alarming rate, which is why it’s a great idea to cut back water usage in your eco-greenhouse.

Rain barrel (Photo credit: roger_mommaerts)

Because they don’t get rain water, greenhouse plants need to be watered, but what water you use makes a difference.  The easiest solution is simply to collect rainwater and use that to water the plants.  A simple gutter system can be rigged that runs right to where you need it, and rain barrels are now readily available and fairly inexpensive.  You can also manually apply collected rainwater to the plants, or rig a rump system.  Just remember that pumps are not only expensive, they’re going to use energy as well. (Also remember that plants will need less water in the winter when the ground is cold - so don't overwater - it's not only wasteful but bad for the plants!)

Another great water solution is to reuse grey water from other areas of your house.  Water leftover from baths, boiling food, or even water that runs when you’re waiting for the sink water to warm up can be collected and used for watering plants.  Just remember to pay attention to what chemicals may be in your leftover water.

Making small adjustments to your greenhouse can actually make it a lot greener, and provide you with even safer and healthier food.

Video - Crop Rotation Planning Tool

This video shows how to design your own crop rotation plan using a simple piece of free computer software. If you're a "techie" gardener, you'll love this!  If not, no worries - you can do the same sort of thing on a piece of notebook paper. If using the paper method, you'll want to have a garden notebook to keep track of which crops are planted where each year, so that you have the proper number of years between certain kinds of crops.

This video is also helpful in showing the different vegetable families, and which should follow which in the rotation. (Eliot Coleman's excellent book, The 4-Season Harvest also has great information in the vegetables section about what to grow before and after a particular crop.)

Check out this cool video, and start planning out your crop rotation for the season!
How to rotate your vegetable crops! Crop rotation HD
IMPORTANT: TURN ON ANNOTATIONS!!! This is a Sketch on how to make your own crop rotation. It is the tool for organic gardeners, to prevent harmful pests attacking your plants. It is the cornerstone in any natural pest control. for organic pest contro...

A Few Tips On What to Plant In A Fall Garden

Well, I spotted a few yellow leaves this week.... Sad as it may be, it seems this summer is already drawing to a close (wow - that was fast!). But that doesn't mean gardening is already over! As autumn arrives and you look out the window into the yard, you may be thinking that that's pretty much it for your garden. All the vegetables have been harvested, the annuals have run their course, and it's time to wind things up. Dig up and toss the annuals, prepare the soil and some of the plants for next year, and then leave the garden alone for the next several months. All done.

Fall Planting in Progress (Photo credit: EatandLiveGreen)

However, that isn't necessarily the case. Your garden may, in fact, be far from done, and you can give it life for a few more weeks. It may come as a surprise, especially if you're a novice gardener, but there are actually some things you can plant in the autumn rather than in the spring, and some things that might even keep growing through the first frosts. Far from winding down all your garden activities, you can still be out there, planting, watering, and pruning to your heart's content.

Some flowers, like pansies, for example, actually prefer cooler weather. So in a way, you can bracket your entire growing year with pansies and the related violas, starting them early in the cool spring, and then planting more in the cool autumn. Certain types of impatiens plants also seem to do quite well as the hot summer gives way to cooler autumn temperatures. It's long been known, too, that ornamental (and edible!) kales and cabbages last long into the autumn, and mums are another very hardy flowering plant that you can use to brighten up the garden.

Root Vegetables (Photo credit: frank3.0)

Certain vegetables can also still be growing in the autumn, though they would have been planted a bit earlier in the season. In Zone 5 and further south, for example, you can plant root vegetables in August, to bring in a harvest before the first frost. This would include things like beets and turnips, and possibly green onions and shallots as well. So you can extend your harvest into the fall, even if you planted earlier than that.

You can also check for seed packets in early August, looking for vegetables that can be planted even later. You can ask the advice of the local garden center to be sure which ones work best for your Zone, but look for the ones that list the shortest growing season on the packet. For these vegetables, you would prepare the garden beds all over again, removing all dead and finished vegetation and spreading fresh mulch and compost so that some nutrients are restored to the soil. Some vegetables (including root vegetables like beets and carrots, and leafy greens like lettuce, mustard, collards, and kale) can even grow through the first early frosts and yield a harvest for you - some will even taste sweeter, as the cool weather brings out the sugars in the plants.

As you put some parts of your garden to bed for the autumn and winter, other parts can still be vital and growing, while still others can be planted afresh and begin a new growing season entirely. If you enjoy your gardening and really don't want to let it go yet, there are ways to extend the pleasure just a little longer. Bring in some mums and pansies and plant some root vegetables and greens, and let the gardening continue for several more weeks - or maybe even months!  (And if you want to try gardening year-round - which I am trying this year for the first time myself - see Eliot Coleman's excellent book, The Four-Season Harvest.)