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-   -   Growing fruits and veggies in a greenhouse? (https://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/whole-foods-lifestyle/265363-growing-fruits-veggies-greenhouse.html)

thewalrus0 08-29-2012 02:30 PM

Growing fruits and veggies in a greenhouse?
 
I have been thinking about working with my dad to build a greenhouse. Even when I move out I'm willing to bet they'll let me come by and use it for plants.

I'm particularly interested in strawberries and pumpkins. Mostly pumpkins. I love pumpkin! I buy it in cans but if I could grow a few medium sized pumpkins to make my own puree that would be awesome.

Does anyone here grow their own fruits or veggies? I might start small this winter and grow some kind of sprout indoors for sandwiches.

:carrot::broc::carrot::broc:

drixnot 08-29-2012 03:19 PM

I am a serial plant killer... but I keep trying. (mwahaha ... I plan to kill again ... mwahaha)

I have actually considered doing the same thing with an old collection of mops/brooms in our garage combined with duct tape and plastic wrap. Maybe I will call it Frankenstein's greenhouse and grow weird plants.

tommy 08-29-2012 11:16 PM

Pumpkins take up a lot of space -do not seem greenhouse suited. Perhaps to start them and then plant out during your short but long light growing season - I recall Alaska as producing monster size vegetables. Sprouts are a great idea and can be done in a simple jar with a mesh screen. Just google jars for sprouting and you can rig up your own. Herbs indoors make great additions to dishes.

TripSwitch 08-29-2012 11:34 PM

We've grown a lot of different herbs and really nice tomatoes... I've always wanted a greenhouse here at our country place... Maybe someday... When I lived in Italy we were able to just go out in the back yard and pick lemons when we needed them and that was pretty amazing... I have friends who have really spectacular gardens not just for fruits and vegetables, but for absolutely gorgeous flowers as well... I'm always a little bit secretly jealous when I'm over visiting... and thinking to myself that I would love to really get into gardening someday when I have more time... It is a lot of work, but with the little bit that I've done... I've found it really rewarding...

rtmama 08-30-2012 09:51 AM

I'm from New England, and I plan on growing under little cold frames this season. Some Asian greens, beets, perhaps lettuce, spinach. I considered a greenhouse, but the expense is high to build and to maintain (electricity) so I dont' think it's worth it for us at this time.

Good luck with whatever you try!

mnemosyne 08-30-2012 02:35 PM

I grow veggies but have never grown in a greenhouse. I do agree that pumpkins take up loads of space and probably wouldn't be suited to a greenhouse, but if your folks have a big yard you could start a little pumpkin patch.

I am growing cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, musk melon, and sugar baby watermelons in my yard, and herbs. Sprouts and herbs might be the best way to start out slowly, especially in winter, but you could plant some cold weather plants outdoors right now - lettuce, spinach, broccoli. I know there are others, but I've never really grown the cold weather plants myself since I am ready for mums and pansies in the fall, and nothing else!

It is pretty rewarding, even when there are misses. Like my watermelons: sugar babies take up loads of space, are tiny, have ridiculous numbers of seeds. And I have a very difficult time figuring out when they are ripe, so I usually get about 1 watermelon of 'my own' per season that is actually ripe red in the middle and tasty. (They do not keep ripening off the vine.) Still, it's fun and it still seems like a miracle to me when I plant things and they grow. Like the first zucchini I ever grew: I had no idea they grew so QUICKLY. One day they were small, a few days later, I looked under the leaves and they were weird and monstrous, smooth green skin under these huge leaves, like some prehistoric reptile hiding out, wallowing in the hot sun in my back garden. I have a bit of an imagination, but there we go.

I would say the best use of a greenhouse would not be so much to raise hothouse plants with fuel in the winter (unless your folks have a gas well on their property and therefore get 'free' natural gas from it), but to start and nuture seedings or extend the winter season for cold weather crops, the same way cold frames do.

Whatever you choose, good luck! Fresh herbs in the dead of winter are divine, though the only thing I can bring inside is rosemary, as my cats will eat everything else.

rtmama 08-31-2012 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mnemosyne (Post 4453200)
It is pretty rewarding, even when there are misses. Like my watermelons: sugar babies take up loads of space, are tiny, have ridiculous numbers of seeds. And I have a very difficult time figuring out when they are ripe, so I usually get about 1 watermelon of 'my own' per season that is actually ripe red in the middle and tasty. (They do not keep ripening off the vine.) Still, it's fun and it still seems like a miracle to me when I plant things and they grow.

Haha, we tried to grow sugar babies too this year, first time! They were the only thing in the garden that my hubby was interested in this year! They were exactly as you described. Lots of seeds, and I didn't really know when they were ripe enough! We just picked off the last couple from the yard last night but haven't dug into them yet. We had one that was picked too early and one that was decent but not perfect.

I dont' know if we will grow them again.

but you are right when you describe gardening as a miracle. IT IS! I find it so relaxing to weed, prune, and harvest. I love it! :)


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