cold frames are a wish list thing for me. I have like one window but want a few more to build them with, I have plenty of pallet wood just not the time
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Once this weather finally gets warm I plan on planting my melon and squash starts in the front yard as well. This looks sooo good!
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Are you building a greenhouse (first two pics)? And in the last pic: is that a water barrel with holes in it? So many questions!
Love the creative use of every bit of space here
I hadnāt considered using old windows yet! Has anyone done this over existing garden beds?
Also, someone on Instagram showed making mini greenhouses out of gallon jugs. She cut the top half almost off, fillled with soil, seeded and flipped the top back on so it looks like a complete jug, left them outside to germinate. This looked to be done in snow, which makes sense for flowers needing cold stratification, but has anyone tried this for vegetables?
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I do this. My eggplant seedlings are in one right now, but inside my little greenhouse. I also use the bottoms of milk jugs, and put holes in them, to plant seeds in the winter time, since this plastic is a) food grade and b) can still go in recycling when I am done with them. I try not to buy plastic anything if I can help it and if there is an acceptable alternative.
Microplastics everywhere!
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They work wonderfully!! Donāt move them and they will last a few years at least!
They are fine until you try to move them after that amount of time in the sun.
No warping either.
I actually bought some spray for outdoor plastic sun protection but totally forgot to use it. No telling how they would hold up with that. I was just going to spray the outside of the bins.
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I got way too excited at the idea of a roof pond.
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There are plans and then there are things that must be immediately executed. (Order 66!)
I keep hoping to see snakes and frogs, but no such luck thus far.
I have a fake snake I move around my garden though.
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thatās winter sowing and I do it for flowers, perennials and native plants mostly. veggie seeds will usual rot in the cold and damp soil though. Iāve used the jug tops to keep things warm once or twice. rose champion and poppies and sages do really well this way here. these rose campion were started that was then split up, āforest of seedlingsā or pulling chunks out in the spring
I like the clamshells for this too. I learned that only the deeper ones will work though
I cut the bottom off completely, then tuck the top into the bottom as firmly as possible.
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Does that work? I have some in my Amazon shopping cart and have been holding off on buying it for fear it will just be another piece of trash.
Having frogs does create some additional considerations. When I mow, I mow slowly and if I see them hopping away I switch direction, ro, if need bem rescue them from running into the road. I also cut all the grass around allllll edges by hand, so as not to hurt them. In return, they eat nasty mosquitoes and whatever is around squash, as they like to hang under the leaves in the shade.
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@resonanteye
My neighbor was having their windows replaced so I got some from her and then the window company dropped some off after they asked if I wanted more.
Iāve tried the clamshells and milk jugs with varying success as well.
@xendula
Do you mean the fake snake or something else? No idea if the snake works to scare anything but its kinda fun.
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Yes I meant the snake. I am pretty sure I have mice in my yard. There was a cute but destructive chipmunk there that I stupidly rehomed into a beautiful, lush forest. Then mice moved in. I rehomed two, I am sure there are now 100 in the chipmunkās burrow. What a dumb idea.
The thing is, that burrow is by my veggie raised bed, soā¦
Check out spire/columnar apple trees. Most are 8-10ā tall and 2-3ā wide at maturity.
I donāt know a lot about him other than they exist and also maybe there are other fruit trees of this style out there.
You should be able to cram more in if you grow vertically as well and I know thereās books on growing vertical and things like the freyer system to tie up plants. Iām going to try zucchini plants vertically this year, to see if I can get them to grow up rather than out.
I have four zucchini plants for this trial, one black beauty, one caserta, one bush, zucchini, and one dark green.
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My closest neighbor has 3 acres of grass with a serious dip in the middle. I have been fantasizing about him dying and leaving the place to me instead of his kids and I dig a big old pond and plant assorted walnut relatives around it, away from my apples. I even fantasize about tearing his house and shed out and putting in a fruit stand. 
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I was hoping it would deter squirrels, and now that I think about it, it may have! In the main veg garden at least, I havenāt seen squirrel holes.
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I tried to do vertical zucchini last year but I thought about it too late, so the plant was likeā¦ āwut?ā
Anyways it kinda worked but you really have to start them off like that, not try half way through!
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Was it bush or vine style and what did you use for vertical support? I am wanting to try tomato cages.
Honestly not sure on the habit, but the variety was Costata Romanesco.
I used a tomato cage with twist ties and that worked fine!
I tried the winter sowing in jugs. It worked for greens, peppers and artichoke. I got red currants cuttings to root in them as well.
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Great to know, thank you both!
What is this spray??
Iāve always been really conscious of microplastics and such. Having all these plants in containers makes me a tad nervous, but thereās really no alternative. I want to get big rectangular storage bins for along my last bit of fence, but Iām worried about how they will hold up.
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