Working in the geenhouse

Actually, Dad informs me that it's not a greenhouse, it's a high tunnel. I'll have to look up the difference, I suppose! The temps are high enough in there that he went ahead and planted peas (Dwarf Sugar Grey) and Lettuce (Quatro Santorio) in the cold frames. The soil temp was registering 42, so it's a little cool yet. The air temps are ranging from 48-55 during the midwinter thaw. They will drop again soon for a while.

We had rolled the big 250 gallon tank for the aquaponics system in yesterday, which was an adventure. it's about 4x5', covered in a galvanized cage, so we had handholds, at least. taking it out of the little greenhouse by the garage was the trickiest bit, since it wasn't much wider than the tank to begin with. And then we couldn't put it in the front of the tunnel, since there is a regular door there, so we had to roll it all the way to the back and take down that wall to get it in! He put it into place after I went back in the house, but tells me this morning that he has to move it again and dig down a few more inches. He has the trough for the plants dug, but not yet lined or braced.

We brought in some flats and jiffy pellets, he wants to start some things in the house. Ill have to record what it was later.

the big tank

The trough for plants

central pipe for in-bed heating

Catnip (and a little celandine weed) green and ready to go in the greenhouse.

The cold frames in the green house. Using these allows us to extend the season even more. Dad puts milk-jugs full of water for heat absorption and slow release through the night. Right now we are starting peas and lettuce, joining the overwintering leeks and garlic.