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[imported_ClairSParticipant]

Hello everyone:

In the interest of getting rid of the grocery bill, I have begun to get very serious about vegetable gardening.

Last fall I converted a small shop into a greenhouse.  This is a wood structure that required some bracing and lots of white paint.

Also late last year I made a long and deep double raised bed and built a greenhouse from scratch on top of the sunken walkway and beds.  This structure is made from chain link fence top rail in a standard house configuration with 2 by 4 ends.

This spring I began construction on the third greenhouse for fruits and vegetables, also made of chain link fence top rail.  This structure is a quonset hut style with 2 by 4 ends.

My intention is to get rid of the produce bill and feed us all year long by canning, freezing and drying what we don’t eat fresh.  We are also going to grow and harvest during the off season (late fall through early spring), with little or no additional heat in the greenhouses.

Is anyone else this gung-ho about avoiding the high price of produce and becoming more independent?  I’m know to be excessive, but there are probably others that are interested in how they can do something similar with a minimal investment of money.

Sorry about the centering of text.  My buttons don’t work.  Beginners luck I suppose.

Clair

[imported_refuge821Participant]

WOW!  You are serious and how cool to have pulled this off.  I believe everybody is going to need to be growing food not only for the price but also because of the shortages.  With the bees and bats dying off, it gets pretty weird.

Do you have photos online of your project that you could post a link to?  We all need to be interested in gardening again.  It feeds the soul too :-)

Thanks for sharing your story and for joining the forum!

Donna

[imported_wjcalderon]

I haven't gone to quite the extreme that you have, but I'm getting started.

I built a raised bed this spring and planted more than I needed (tomatoes, peppers, lima beans, and corn) – I'm freezing and canning the surplus for later use.
I intend to add another raised bed (or 2) next spring.

I've also bought some vegetables and fruit at local fruit stands while they are in season and have frozen that for later use.

I got a great deal on a huge basket of peaches – ate a few, froze some and made several jars of peach jam.

I've put the word out locally – I'll accept anyone's surplus produce.  You would be surprised how many people give away tomatoes, zucchini, corn, etc.  because they have too much and don't want to go to the trouble of preserving it.

Every little bit helps!

[imported_bonitaditaParticipant]

WOW!  You are serious and how cool to have pulled this off.  I believe everybody is going to need to be growing food not only for the price but also because of the shortages.  With the bees and bats dying off, it gets pretty weird.

Do you have photos online of your project that you could post a link to?  We all need to be interested in gardening again.  It feeds the soul too :-)

Thanks for sharing your story and for joining the forum!

Donna

come to my hood and see that the bats arent dying off

[imported_refuge821Participant]

I was talking about the [url=http://bat die-off in the news]bat die-off in the news[/url]:
http://www.thenatureinus.com/2008/04/bat-die-off-great-concern.html

[imported_ClairSParticipant]

If you are interested in seeing what we have done this year (2008), you can see our homemade greenhouses in action at:

http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/build-your-own-greenhouse.html

There you'll see our three homemade greenhouses, links to lots of pictures about what we grow and what we have harvested from the greenhouses, and some links to other pages that show a high tunnel and a low tunnel from kits, and a PVC greenhouse that is homemade. They are all great structures and work very well.

For example, we're hauled in 175 pounds of winter squash from just half of one of our greenhouses.

All my greenhouses are homemade. I haven't gone the kit route for several reasons. First, you have to build the kit yourself anyway, and there are plenty of extras to buy to make it complete. Second, I need more strength and woven poly to withstand our strong winds out here. Third, I believe I can build something twice as strong at half the cost when I do everything myself. Fourth, everything is available at the hardware store (except the UV protected poly).

With respect to pollinators for the greenhouse, our experience this year shows that we can hand pollinate with small paint brushes, and then when the bumble bees take over, there isn't anything else that needs to be done. It becomes their greenhouse, not yours.

Lastly, we are venturing into the winter with some cold weather crops. We are growing mostly turnips, Swiss chard and lettuce. The greenhouses should provide sufficient warmth now that we have added row covers to the interior. If you are interested in what you can do in the winter with simple protection, you might want to read my discussion about winter gardening at:

http://www.frugal-living-freedom.com/winter-vegetables.html

I don't have much experience, but I know that broccoli, Brussels sprouts and kale don't like the heat, and if planted in the spring they'll grow well until summer and then wait until fall before they kick into high gear. With double protection from frost, you might have some of these growing well into the winter, and you'll be harvesting vegetables long after everything else has rotted down to particles on the compost pile.

The idea with winter gardening is that you mostly harvest during the winter, you don't really grow all that much. Surprisingly, this spring our lettuce survived well into the teens and even the single digits, and with triple coverings (greenhouse and two row covers) you can probably harvest about 20 or more varieties of cold hardy crops over the entire winter – all with no added heat.

Gardening isn't just for summer anymore.

Clair

[imported_fun231Participant]

does anyone hear know where to find the 4 way pvc fitting to make the dome greenhouse with would like to try one if i can find the fittig

[imported_refuge821Participant]

Here's a few places I found on a Google search:

http://www.littlegreenhouse.com
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com

Possibly this place on a search for the term:
communication-equipment.globalspec.com/Industrial-Directory/4_way_pvc_fitting

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