my winter garden

[Alpinejs]

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Well,here is my first attempt to post pic of my winter garden. Pics show my
two hoophouses, the inside and a Kosovo and Stupice plant. If this works
and I get done celebrating with several bottle of wine, I might try again.
Also, if I am successful, thanks to those that patiently showed me how. Hope
I remember.

[Alpinejs]

Eureka! It worked. Many thanks to Feldon and others. Why do I love Tomatoville?? Because of folks like you!

[Alpinejs]

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Just for more practice, these two pics are of my hothouses which hold more
tomato plants setting in buckets in a trench, plus cucumbers, carrots, cilantro
and squash.

[Alpinejs]

Since I am on roll, here is my Canadian wilderness "dock" garden.

First pic should be shot of one dock.
Second is my bridege at the entrance to my lagoon
third is one dock and some shore garden for carrots, lettuce, etc.
Fourth is my hothouse and another dock.
Firfth is the lagoon, my new dock in the background (should hold 21 plants)
and my mini hoophouse. Here goes nuthin'.

I think I only got the first three so will try another post for the last two.Lochlann Lagoon garden 007.JPG

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[kath]

So beautiful...heaven on earth! It looks like you are having lots of success- congratulations!

[Gobig_or_Gohome_toms]

Very nice!!! Thanks for keeping posting!!

Craig

[Alpinejs]

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Again, this is my hothouse and another floating docvk with tomatoes and cukes.

The second shows my new dock in the background which should hold 21
mater plants, my topsy-turvy set-up at the end of the dock (novelty) and my
mini-hoop house which will hold the 70 seedlings that I will transport from Calif. until it is warm enough to plant out.

[ZachAttacksPHX]

Very cool! Why do you have them on the dock?

[Alpinejs]

zack...they are on docks as that is the only place where there is adequate sun. Most of my land is totally shaded by very tall pine trees. That little bit
of shoreline gets only enough sun for carrots, lettuce and junk tomatoes
like Early Girl. Some advantages are less chance of soil born insects, bugs,
varmits, etc. and easy access to free water and, best of all, no neighbors to
complain about my singing to the tomatoes. Also, the geese and ducks keep
me entertained while tending my "crops". Just a little ways to the right of
that new dock is a nesting bald eagle and it is fun to listen to the sreech off
the young 'uns demanding food. A pair of beavers have a home way in the
back of the lagoon, so swim by en route to toppling trees elsewhere as they
have already toppled all my leaf trees which is fine with me. I want only pines of various species and, at home in Calif., I want Palms, cycads and bamboo and no pines!!

[ddsack]

I really enjoy looking at different gardening set ups. You are a year-round gardener for sure, nice batch of cold frames and hoophouses! If this winter is any indication, we can *hope* for an early and warm summer to speed up those long season tomatoes next year. Glad you got the picture posting figured out.

[RobinB]

Wow, nice setup! How long is your growing season and what can you get away with in the hoop houses? Are they heated? Do you start tomatoes in Alpine and then cart them to Ontario? Sorry, lots of questions!

[Alpinejs]

RobinB....the season is short. DDsack has about the same season as
Bemidji, Mn and Int'l Falls, Mn vie for the coldest spots in the lower 48.
So, yes, I will start all plants here and hopefully have them about 18" high
by mid April and will bring them into motels with us and as soon as we
arrive in the Canadian wilderness, they will go into the hoophouse and
plant out will be near June 1. I leave on Oct. 1 for Calif. , so don't know the
actual end of the season, but soon after. DDsack could answer that. I
would assume DDsack has a greenhouse for doing similar headstartt stuff.
I end up leaving a ton of green tomatoes to rot. In Oct., there is noone out
there to give them to and I don't want to haul them and ask strangers if
they want green tomatoes. LOL

[RobinB]

I have a very similar season. The last two years spring has been wacky and it's been below freezing with snow the first part of June, so plants haven't gotten into the ground until mid-June, but both years the first frost was late October, which partially compensated for it. Usually, first frost is early October. I don't have any hoop houses, but I'd really like to try something like that. I have tried wall o'waters which worked great, and I got the maters in the ground in early May in 2011.

[carpenterlady]

That is really an innovative idea. Keeps the rats on hooves (deer) out of them. I wondered why you were container gardening in the lake. Makes sense now. Now if only I could get my neighbors to cut down all the trees I could have a sunnier tomato garden. Does the lake keep it too cool at night? When do you usually get fruit to set?

The good news is we have been having record highs so maybe your lakes temp will be higher than normal. I saw a thermometer in Duluth near the lake today it said 46 degrees. I am loving it. Our luck it will snow in June here. It has happened.

[Alpinejs]

carpenterlady.....actually the llake water has a positive effect. If the June
temps dip down near freezing, the lake water temp is already in the forties
at least and heat rises right up between the dock boards to my tomato
plants