Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Ellie Smith writes....

my old greenhouse is frozen closed!


here we have a guest post from Ellie Smith.....

"Remember a greenhouse/ glasshouse is not just a storage place,
With a long stretch of a mighty cold winter this year, gardening has not been at the front of everyone’s mind. As winter begins to bite in December, the darkest month – plant growth slows accordingly and a little patience is called for until the days slowly begin to lengthen again. However this does not mean we cannot look forward to preparing for greenhouse growing in the spring. It may seem far too early but spring is only three months away and as we know, time sure does fly.
Most greenhouses will be neglected during the frosty- wintery months and can fall into a dangerous trap of being used as storage hubs. Excess clutter and garden furniture is usually thrown into the greenhouse to be kept out of view. The danger of doing so is not being troubled to clear it at a later date.
Try not to fall into this habit- remember it won’t be long until the greenhouse will act as a beautiful feature in the garden and the perfect home for blooming flowers and tasty vegetables. Setting the heaters to a temperature that keeps your greenhouse ticking over and running smoothly makes sure you are ready to go.
Spring arrives in the greenhouse long before it makes its presence felt in the rest of the garden. By March many plants will be busily putting on new growth but, at the same time, these increasing temperatures also bring the transformed threat of pests, as they too begin to warm up again. Warm days and cold nights are typical of spring, which makes keeping the temperature in the greenhouse a challenge. The spring greenhouse is a hive of commotion in more ways than one – and a few regular tasks now should set things up for the rest of the year.
Give your greenhouse a good clean but make sure you just use Soap and water as you do not want to remove the UV stabilising coating. Some cleaning products contain harmful chemicals that can destroy the polycarbonate covering.
Staging should be disinfected along with the pots and seed trays ready for new growth. Once you have done so, you are ready for new growing stages. Automatic vent openers and automatic door openers come in handy.
Pouring freezing water over seedlings can shock them so remember to fill up a watering can and leave it in the greenhouse to warm up. "
Author: Ellie Smith, on behalf of Hartley Botanic.



thankyou for the lovely post Ellie!!


and you can click on the link to look at the fabulous greehouses from Hartley Botanic...put one on your Christmas Wish List!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

bleh

photo taken last Monday, Scotland ground to a halt and I had to walk five miles home. the weather report for today has not been good, cold and wet rain this morning and snow is meant to come in after it and then freeze......just for the moment the sun is out and its very pretty.
I am very fed up with it now, and continue to have no car as it now needs fixing as the power steering has failed.
many blessings to everybody who keep giving me lifts up to the stables and back.
the greenhouse was frozen shut for over a week, I opened it this morning and the minimum shows -12C and the maximum 11c. brrrrr fed up!!!!

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Abbey in the snow

trying out the video upload...cool!!

Saturday, December 04, 2010

Abbey likes snow

Abbey likes the snow, she gets very excited and gallops off when put out in the field.
its much deeper than this now, but she is still careering round in it and has to be persuaded to come in at night time, as long as she is dry she is happy!