Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Yeah, Yeah I know....

Haven't posted in a while, the Greenwood Lake Garden center is in full swing, tons of great plants, fresh produce, and all sorts of fun stuff....gwlgardencenter.com ....and I think we're on facebook, not quite sure

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Well I am quite sorry...

I have not posted in over a month, but I have been extremely busy. Not only is my wife pregnant with our first child....coming around Thanksgiving.....but we are also opening the Greenwood Lake Garden Center LLC.

We will be open on Sat June 11th, the same day as the Greenwood Lake Street Fair.  We are located at 96 Windermere Ave.  Website and phone # soon...I'll post details, but we have lots of plants ready and itching to come home with you....well chat soon

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Well interesting news.....

If you have read my blog, you know I have been interested in opening a nursery/garden center in my home town.  I have had no luck getting a property to locate it on......well over the weekend I may have gotten a lead...a real good lead.....stay tuned...

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Word Up!

So I've been a busy fella.  Planting seeds, rotating seedlings outside into the greenhouse, and now a bunch of stuff is outside in the elements.  They love it, I just hope we don't get another frost.  I'll have to cover or move alot of stuff.

I've really been busting my butt, but it is real fun.  Doesn't feel like work.

I've also been working on the lawn.  First I had to get the stupid lawnmower running, that took a few days. But now it's running and I've had to cut the lawn twice. GREAT... Finally put down my first fertilizer treatment down...only about a month late.  I can really tell too, I have a bunch of new weeds in the lawn...my own fault.

So I've been working around the house, but the wife and I also have started working with the new Greenwood Lake Community Gardens.  We are a group of people, with the help of the village of GWL and the town of Warwick, that will be erecting a 40x60 fenced in area, with 18 4x12 raised gardening beds.  They will be avalible to the greater greenwood lake residents to plant their own veggies or flowers.  There also will be a community herb garden,perennial garden and Raspberries/Strawberries/Blueberries.  There are only a few left, but if your an area resident and area interested in a plot. They can be purchased at the Village Hall in Greenwood Lake.  There are $25 bucks for the year. Really a bargin. 

Attached you will see a overview of what we are doing

Thursday, April 21, 2011

1st ever Video Blog, looks like the first one too.

Well I am no video guy, but I figured I'd give it a whirl. Seems you can get more info than pictures.
Give her a look

Monday, April 11, 2011

Base is ready, now bring her home

So I am by myself during the day, so I needed to figure out a good safe way to move the greenhouse.  So, I did it like the Egyptians would.....Omar told me thats how he does it.

I attached a rope to the sides, stuck a round closet rod under the frame, and kinda rolled it....was actually pretty easy....





So it's moved, all I need to do is add some stone inside and do a few touchups and I'm ready to party.....

April 8th, the big moving day

So now I am moving the greenhouse over by our raised veggy beds.  First, I need to build a base for it. I took 4x6 pressure treated timbers, screwed them together, and sunk them into the ground.



Maggie always helps


So, I made the base now how do I get it over there.....by myself......

More planting....

So, some more planting for the next few days....
1 Flat Carnival Peppers
1 Flat Habanero Peppers
1/2 Flat Hot Lemon Peppers
1/2 Flat Jalapenos
25 4th of July Tomatoes
25 Steak Sammich Tomato's
1 Flat of Marigolds

Transplanted a bunch of sunflowers into bigger pots....and that brings me to the big greenouse move....off the patio she goes to her permanent home.

Wow, I'm catching up here...don't stop now...

So, were now at April 4th.  Again, nothing to exciting some more planting...

I planed 9 more spider plants
I split and repotted 5 spider plants
Planed 1 hanging basket of Pothos
and made 8 cuttings of pothos for another basket

Now if you don't know house plants, these are 2 of the best.
They are both great for indoor air quality, and they are really resiliant to poor care. ie:not watering properly.

So, if your interested I have lots. Let me know.

My big idea.....patent pending....

I call it the instant salad garden.....

So, I have noticed a problem with my garden during the summer.  I love fresh salads, but when the lettuce is ready the tomatoes are not. When the tomatoes and cukes are ready the lettuce is done till fall.

BUT NOT ANYMORE BABY.....
From the Skunk family Greenhouse comes the Instant salad garden.
No longer will you have to buy produce for a nice salad, you can grow it yourself.
The instant salad garden has been formulated for perfect bloom times. Your tomatoes/lettuce/peppers are ready all at the same time.  There also is 2 plantings of lettuce that can last weeks and weeks.

This garden comes with 15 individual plants ready for planting. These varities were selected for bloom times and great flavors. You will each healthy for weeks or months.

So, i came up with the idea. Planned the layout, ordered the  seeds and pots and away I go....patent pending

I don't know what's more work, the planting or this blog

Again, the next few days nothing to exciting going on. Just a bunch of planting....March 21-27th.

2 1/2 Flats White Wave Petunnias
11/2  Flats Blue Wave
1 1/2 Flats Purple
1 Flat White Allysum
1 Flat Purple Allysum

I must be missing a page of my log book, seems like I didn't do much these days...lazy bum....But boy I got a good idea....if you steal it I'm gonna sue...you heard me. I have a great lawyer on retainer...you may have heard of him. None other than Lionel Hutz.

It's Greenhouse time...

So the greenhouse is great, but it needed potting benches. So March 18th and 19th I made 2 benches.
Nothing super fancy; there are made with 2x4s and 2x3s ;pretty basic. 
However I topped the benches with hardware cloth(basically thicker chicken wire)
Here are a few Picts




It really seems, the more plantings I do, the more I want to do....at least I really enjoy it.  The wife says I'm outta control.  She's right, I go from being a lazy bum all winter to going buck nutty in the spring. Probably a good thing, keeps me out of trouble and hanging out with bad eggs like Jeff. 

Ok, so lighting is good, environment is great...now we wait....

So now we are March 16th,  nothing to exciting.
Planted
1 Flat Gardenias
2 Flats Zinnias
And I made 1 more light, but it is a 4 footer. Same build, just bigger.

March 17th
Well I am realizing if I am going to do this, might as well go for it so I placed an order for some pots and seeds.

I found 'Wave' petunias at "Harris Seeds' so I placed a order.
75 Blue Waves
150 Whites
75 Purple.
The reason I got 'Waves' is they are great plants and they have name recognition.  They are pretty expensive so I hope I can make nice planters/hanging baskets.

I also placed an order for pots. I found a site"Novosel" that has all sorts of pots/baskets/seeds etc. I Placed an order.
20 flats
50 10" hanging baskets.
Pretty decent prices and good selection.....so I seem to be on a roll and its warming up outside, so I think I'll concentrate on the greenhouse for a few days.....

Ok, so now for lighting....

So, these seedlings are a' popping but they need extra light to grow big and strong. I tried feeding them milk, but that didn't seem to help.

So, I had bought a wire rack/shelf from target to place all the flats so I decided to use that and attach the lights to the  shelves.  I went to home depot, and bought 3' T5 floresent lights. I used 2 fixtures per shelf.  I also found a prefinished 3' shelf to mount the lights to.  Next I got a replacement cord used for power tools, and wired the  2 lights together and mounted the lights to. Finally I attached thin rope to the 4 corners, and tied them to the shelfs.  Kinda tough to explain, I'll throw up a photo, hopefully that helps.  If anyone actually reads this and wants more info throw up a comment and I'll try to answer.....these are kick ass lights though

So there it is, I made 3 lights and mounted those bad boys. Plugged them into a powerstrip, and then into a timer.  The are running from 7am-8pm ish, and the seedlings seem to love it.

Ok, I'll try to catch up....

It looks like I am doing more planting and projects than I can write up, so I'll do a quick update.
Here is a list of plants I seeded on March 14th....
1 Flat Red Sunflowers
1 Flat Alaska Daisys
1 Flat Purple Coneflower
1 Flat Black Eyed Susan

Now I have gone through bags and bags on Scotts Seedling soil.  They are great for small amounts of seedlings but not bulk that I am trying to do.  So I made my own seedling soil.  It was pretty easy actually.
I made a few different batches, but here is the best one so far.

4 Parts Sphagnam Moss   (I get large Scott brand bags from Home Depot or Lowes,found in the outdoor section)
2 Parts Perlite
1 Part Vermiculite

Vermiculite isn't a necessity, so if you can't find it no big deal.

This mix is great for the small seedling flats. If I do anything bigger, like 4" pots, I mix 50/50 percent of regular potting soil.  So far so good.....Now Zinnias are starting to pop,I need some good lighting for the small seedlings.....this thing never ends....

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

No the seeds are not in the greenhouse, don't be so pushy....

So I was thinking of the best way to get these seeds to sprout. Greenhouse was an option, but the tempature is an issue.  Seeds need warm temps and high humidity to grow well. Unfortunately I would have to run that heater all the time, so I came up with a better idea.

I have a small entry way in my house that gets good light. It has 1 door to the outside, and 1 door into the house.  I decided to put the heater and humidifier in,closed the door to the house and stored them in there.  So now we have the temp and humidity aroun 70-75 and these seeds are loving it.  Me too, it is real nice to come in from the cold and hang  out there.

Well, this seems to be a fun adventure, but it seems to have a life of its own.  I am coming up with ideas and plans.  I guesss its spring fever.



So we are planting all this stuff, but what will we do with it.

 The wife and I decided to host a garden sale.  It will be like a garage sale, but with all sorta of plants. Annuals, Perennials,House plants and veggies.  We will advertise and make signs to put up in the town.  What do we have to loose, should be fun.  We are thinking about hosting it in May, but we'll have to see how these plants and seedlings do......

So now we're March 10th and I planted....
2 Flats pinwheel Zinnias
1 Flat purple Prince Zinnias
1 Flat "Incredible" sunflower
1 Flat red sunflower
1 Flat Coleus
1 Flat Achillea
1 Flat "envy" Zinnia (green)

So surely I would put them in the greenhouse, no, and don't call me Shirley

Well here we go....

So now we are into early March. March 9th to be specific.  Now with all these seeds, we need something to plant them in.  I went into my shed and found all the empty flats and pots I bought in the past.  Unfortunately they needed to be cleaned and disinfected. So, scrubed them and soaked them in a bleach solution are we are ready to roll.  So late into the night I started to plant these bad boys using scotts seed starting mix.
 I planted...
1 Flat of Echinacia
1 Flat Shasta Daisy
1 Flat Rudebekia
1 Flat Butterfly weed
and I made 1 flat of Peperomia; a house plant I found at the local Home Depot.

I made these cuttings, dipped them in rooting hormones, and placed them in a flat filled w/perlite. They seem to be doing well....

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

This blogging thing ain't so bad.

It feels good to get these thoughts on paper(virtual paper).

So, the wife and I decide we are just going to grow whatever we can and see what happens.  I grabbed all the used planters and flats I have saved over the years.  I cleaned and disinfected all of them and got ready for planting.

We went off to the store and grabbed tons of seeds,starter soil, and some more planters.  We grabbed all the "must have" perennial and annual seeds.  We should have a good start.  Now we are in early March, and I am lucky. I actually wrote down almost everything I have done since. We are talking what seeds, when,how many, all sorts of info.  Its almost like a diary, but less fruity.  Well sorta fruity, it is about gardening.

Where was I ???

Oh yeah, hunting for properties for our new buisness venture.  I'm not sure what to do when I find a property.  I'm not independently wealthy, but it seems like a logical first step. So, I concentrate on 4 properties and 3 of the 4 have a for sale sign.

The first place has had a sign on it since I can remember.  It has to be at least 20 years now.  So I gave the number a call, wrong number.  I went to the town to get the contact info for the owner.  I requested the info, and the clerk laughed.  "People have been trying to get that for years, no one has responded....but good luck". This is to bad. This is a nice property in the middle of town and I think it would work. However, I did send a letter. I didn't expect much, and got what I expected.

The second place has been for sale for at least 2-3 years and has a phone # on the building. So I call and leave a message, and call, and call, and call. My wife and I must have left 15 messages and got no response.  It would be nice to get a call back, even if it was not for sale.  Common courtesy people.  It's really too bad, this is probably the best property.  This place has the best location, and would almost be turnkey. Just add a nice greenhouse and away we go.  We gave up on this place...for now.

The third place would not be ideal, but could work. I called and actually got to talk to someone. Unfortunately it is sold. Probably best. Little to much property($) for us.

The last place is an empty lot right next to the 2nd place. This did not have a for sale sign, but it was worth a try.  I again went to the town, got the info, and sent a letter....still waiting, but I am not holding my breath.

At this point we are in late Feb/early March. Probably to late to open a greenhouse for this season.  We have not given up on our dream, but this year seems to be a wash.  This isn't the worst thing, gives us more time to plan and learn about owning a buisness.

So, for now a nursery is out.  However, I am really itching to work with and grow plants....how can I make this work?

Ok, so I need something more....

Well, lettuce is great and all, but kinda boring. The greenhouse is working well and it has held up great even with all the snow we've had. I need something more.

Now we are in early February, things kinda suck around here this time of year.  The wife and I are sick of the weather, and sick of our real jobs.  We get this big idea, which I still love, of opening a greenhouse/nursery in our town. Unfortunately, our town is small and there are only a few properties that can support a buisness like that.  So I go and try to contact these owners.  There are only 4 places where I think it will work....so here I go.....

Lettuce, frickin lettuce?

Yes, lettuce. Watch your tone with me.

So I planted the seeds, kept it relatively watered and waited.  Now, normally seeds need warmer temps to germinate. However, these suckers started popping.  It definately took longer than it would if it was warmer, but the sure did pop.  This is probably toward the end of January.  A few lettuce seeds didn't really cut it for me.  They were growing, but real small, and poor taste.  I needed more.

Ok, well now that I am an expert on blogging I shall continue.

I am writing these posts  from memory. If you know me, I don't have the best memory but stick with me.

So, on the previous episode I had finished my hobby greenhouse. So now I have a 6x8 greenhouse sitting outside my back door and it's still freezing out.  Now we are in early January and more snow is coming down as well.

I decided to start an experiment.  I got a small electric heater and remote thermostat to follow the tempature from inside....hmm, not bad. This greenhouse seems to hold heat pretty well, and the heater seems to be working.  I would guess that I kept the greenhouse above freezing, even though it was in the single digits many a night. The daytime temps would even reach 50-60. So, I planted some lettuce seeds and waited.

Hmmm, what the hell is a blog anyway?

Well for christmas of 2010, my lovely wife bought me a small hobby greenhouse.  At first I had no idea what to do with it. I knew I loved it, but what does someone do with a greenhouse at the end of December. Not only was it below freezing, but we had over 2 feet of snow on the ground. So of course I would wait to erect the greenhouse until the snow melted, or at least warmed up a little.

Wrong.  I am an impulsive guy, and when I get an idea in my head I go for it. So at 9pm on December 30 I decided I wanted to build the greenhouse.  I went outside, shoveled a patch on my patio and went at it.  I worked until 1am and got it half done.  Woke up the next morning(late morning) and finished it up....whats next??