This Week's Temperature: 76F: The Farm Report 02-23-2021

 This Week's Temperature: 76

The Farm Report

02-23-2021

Oh, Wait! That is a typo. It should have said, "This Week's Temperature SWING: 76." I live in a tough climate. My weather resembles Minneapolis weather. I'm in the area the USDA weather zone maps used to call 'The Hook.' It is a little comma shaped spot that has just miserable weather changes and high winds. Last week on Tuesday morning, Alexa told me my outdoor ACTUAL TEMPERATURE was -27F. That is, if you've never experienced it, what puts starch in the old saying, 'Colder than a well digger's arse.' I mean, it is really really cold. Just for fun, I took a cup of hot coffee outside and threw the coffee as high in the air as I could. It is a physics trick. POOF! The hot coffee vaporizes instantly into a cloud, and no liquid hits the ground. I'm a kid at heart, so I did it three or four times. It was neat. Annie looked puzzled, and then lost interest after the first one. The thermometer in the pic shows the temp inside the greenhouse. At the time I took this, it was still -20F outside, but the sun was shining. Greenhouse effect?! So, of course that put me in mind that it was time to be seriously getting to work starting seeds.

Why start seeds when you can just go to Home Depot and buy plants? Two reasons for me: One, I like to do it and it makes the tail end (that is a pun if you work on it.... ahem) of winter more tolerable. Two, there are some plants I want that just never seem to show up on the plant stands; Ailsa Craig onions being a case in point. These onions get huge, and they are sweet. They are not good for keeping, but they make great steamed or fried onions.

I'm wanting to put some seedlings up in the greenhouse as soon as I can. Still, I need to protect them from frost, and I also need to protect my bank account from the fuel bills. What to do? Here's my latest idea in the works. I started with a cheap plastic storage box from Wally's Chinaworld.

It just fits my foam 10/20 seed starting flats. Upside down, it isn't a storage box anymore, it is a greenhouse mini-dome.

Here's the scoop if you want to play along at home. When I started to buy a storage bin, I thought this one was just way too huge. The next size down seemed a little small. Measurements scribbled down on a piece of paper beforehand would be good, but hey, anybody can do that. I just go for eye measurements. Anyway, when I got home with the one I thought was going to be just too big, surprise!, it was just right.

Next comes ventilation. I'm not much for being ingenious when it comes to designing things, but I can copy with the best of 'em. I'm using a design made and sold by Vitagrow in England. The UK folks are the REAL gardeners among us. The price to buy a genuine Vitagrow is nearly a hundred bucks here though. This project cost me less than a tenner - as they say.

I poked two holes in the back of the top.

Then I poked two holes on the bottom edges opposite. One for 'In' and one for 'Out.'

Then I also cut bigger discs from another source of cheap plastic (the lid from the dishwasher soap bucket). One cheap stove bolt per and just the right amount of tightening, and Bob's Your Uncle for a draft controller on each opening.

Down for a little, up for a lot. I'll put this up on the bench in the greenhouse with an electric heat mat laying on the foam tray. The seed flat will sit on top of the heat pad. At night, I can throw a blanket over the whole contraption for added cost savings and insulation. A little thermostat keeps the heat at the 'just right' temp I tell it to.

I live in Iowa, but I'm only a few miles away from the Missouri border. I'm close enough to use the Missouri, 'Show Me' mantra. Last time, I was saying that a heat mat for seed starting was a real plus. Here's some proof. These little lettuces were started 1-27.

Here are their roots in the Spaghetti Jar Hydroponic System I showed you last time. Nice roots, and nice plants. If my math is close, I think that was 26 days ago. They were on a sunny window sill in my shop office.

Here are some more starts. These guys were all started 2-11; Ten days ago.

Ten Days Ago! Nice plants, better roots, less than half the time. Try taking my seed starter heat mats away from me! Lettuce is easy to start. The harder things like celery and parsley need this heat control even more. I bought some really expensive impatiens seeds for Joyce's shop planter boxes this year. I'll be sure to use the heat mats for them.

Here is my coffee can net pot with a spider plant/airplane plant in it. I broke this off 10 days ago and pushed it down into the potting mix. It had NO roots and just little swollen buds where the roots should be.

Hey Presto! Ten days later and look at the roots coming out through the net pot slits. If you look closely, you can see the wick in the background. It is just a piece of hydrophilic landscaping cloth. Don't overthink this idea though. My great aunt Irene did this same thing back when my grandfather was in France fighting the hun in WWI. She use a piece of old woolen sock. Same old idea, new high tech supplies.

'Tim! Did you just see that? That darned cat gets away with murder on me!' Miss Kitty had just taken a roundhouse swing at Annie's nose that Muhammad Ali would have been proud of. Like a cat, she already had her escape route planned and was on the way out like water running towards the drain by the time I looked up. Annie was shocked. Shocked! I'm tellin' ya. So we begin a new season and prepare to let go of the old one. All is well at Oakdale Farm. I hope it is well with you, too.