To the Crappie Gardeners

[saute86]

How are yalls gardens doing. I wanted to share my experimental Cajun green house with yall. My garden is 25ftx40ft with a 5ft fence and an 8ft frame down the center. I took 2 20ftx50ft sheets of 6ml visqueen for the cover. To open I can roll the sides to the center. To vent I can the south side up (see pic). For heat I use a space heater. I was able to keep the air temp in the 40s when we had that hard freeze a while back. At the moment I have 13 20ft rows. I have growing broccoli, 7 varieties of lettuce, turnips, cabbage, mustard greens, spinach, Swiss chard, sugar snap and snow peas. I am currently building 3 2ftx5ft cold frames for planting seedlings. Next months project will be putting a 2ft wide planter around the outside of the fence for green beans and cucumbers. I am going to use recycled cider fence boards to build the planter. I only plant heirloom seeds. I plant by the moon and the almanac. The garden is 100% organic. I use fish heads, manure, compost, and mulch for fertilizer. When I weed I leave clover growing for nitrogen. I keep the garden going year round. Once a row is harvested or finished producing a different vegetable is rotated in. In the past I froze and gave away most of the produce I harvested. This year I am going to start canning. I bought a 16qt Presto canner and a 9qt pressure cooker. My goal next year is to fill the pantry with all natural foods. My first attempt at canning was jellies. If you haven't had satsuma jelly yet you have no idea how good jelly can be.....lol. I tried canning mustard greens the other day. Here is a helpful hint. Make sure you skim all the fat off the pot liquor. Oil can get hotter than water and it will escape the jar during the process. I hope this post gets the gardeners exited about spring being just around the corner.

[RMGeorge]

Good job!

[Cappy]

A fine looking garden and I wouldn't call it crappy at all

[Tracker123]

Very nice! I am ready for Spring.

[PawPaw Gene]

Nice looking garden Saute. I have one question for you. Does the wind give you hell. I've had two small plastic over metal frame greenhouses which were store bought that got tore up by the wind. I finally was able to build one that is solid except for the roof which is greenhouse covering. It's guaranteed for 4 years from sun damage. The walls are made from repurposed windows out of a commercial building. I use a small electric heater with thermostat to keep no lower than 40 degrees because of some tropical plants. I just completed it the day before the first freeze. I will use it for starting plants for spring planting and the propagation of fig trees. I also have a few tomato plants growing in pots and will put in a couple cucumber plants for winter consumption. I plant my fall and winter crop in the garden outside.
"gene"

smashed by the wind


The new one

[shadow]

That is WAY NICER than any garden I have ever had! Thanks for the pictures! And you are right about the satsuma jelly but I do have one question on the jelly, how do you get yours to set good? Mine usually comes out more like a syrup than a jelly.
Thanks

[stormcloud]

A good garden will save tons at the super market. At least it does me.

[saute86]

Nice looking garden Saute. I have one question for you. Does the wind give you hell. I've had two small plastic over metal frame greenhouses which were store bought that got tore up by the wind. I finally was able to build one that is solid except for the roof which is greenhouse covering. It's guaranteed for 4 years from sun damage. The walls are made from repurposed windows out of a commercial building. I use a small electric heater with thermostat to keep no lower than 40 degrees because of some tropical plants. I just completed it the day before the first freeze. I will use it for starting plants for spring planting and the propagation of fig trees. I also have a few tomato plants growing in pots and will put in a couple cucumber plants for winter consumption. I plant my fall and winter crop in the garden outside.
"gene"

smashed by the wind


The new one

Pawpaw you arent playing are you...lol. Now that's a green house. I keep mine staked off with ropes. It allows it to flex with the wind. I keep bricks on the low spots on the roof with small holes for water to drain from the roof. I staple the sheeting to land scape timbers to hold the sides down. Its crude but works. Its a work in progress and next year I will redesign a few things. This spring I am changing the corner t-posts to 4x4s and gate framework.

[saute86]

That is WAY NICER than any garden I have ever had! Thanks for the pictures! And you are right about the satsuma jelly but I do have one question on the jelly, how do you get yours to set good? Mine usually comes out more like a syrup than a jelly.
Thanks

A few tricks I learned is to add the pectin to the juice when cold then boil for one minute. Next add sugar and boil for another minute. I continuously whisk at a high foaming boil in each stage. Do not use the liquid pectin in the foil pack. It doesn't set as well as the powdered pectin. Check the date on the pectin old pectin doesn't set as well either. Are you water bath canning the jars after filling?

[The Fisherman]

That is WAY NICER than any garden I have ever had! Thanks for the pictures! And you are right about the satsuma jelly but I do have one question on the jelly, how do you get yours to set good? Mine usually comes out more like a syrup than a jellyThanks

. Make one recipe at a time measurements need to be exact,sugar is dry measurements. Bring to a rolling boil exactly one minute,remove from fire.Works every time for me.