Bam! Smack! Crack! That's how the first frost of season came in. It's very icy out there. The sun is up and I'm expecting it will thaw quickly so we can begin harvesting the hardy vegetables we grow this time of year. What a beautiful time of year though! The days are dreamy...It's interesting that whenever there are really comfortable and beautiful times of a day, there will almost always be times of the day that are not comfortable...still beautiful, of course.
We just finished building raised beds of compost in a greenhouse. It's an attempt to greatly extend the seasons both into winter and then into early spring. It will, also, be a tunnel we use to cure seasonal crops such as onions and winter squash. We carried in approx 15 tons of compost over the course of 2 days with 2 wheelbarrows. We constructed the beds of 6-8" high amish milled hardwood lumber that they sell at a discount b/c of imperfections. We paid a fraction of the price by buying the seconds lumber which made it a bit more affordable. Good Compost is never affordable so I'm grateful we will not likely have to buy too much more again to refill the beds. We'll just top the beds with a little potting soil from time to time to keep them filled.
Why the late/early season growing? There is a lot of demand for vegetables year round. Greens are hard to come by out here when winter smothers everything so that's what we'll focus on growing. We can etch out a little more money if we extend the seasons. Sometimes this is where most of the money is to be earned b/c competition is minimal and prices are higher for super fresh greens!
Enjoy the fresh produce!
Aeros, Chris and the Who Gang!
