Prep Your Soil

In many parts of the country March is a good time to begin treating your soil for the planting ahead. You can start when you notice the ground is beginning to dry and you can test it with a shovelful of earth. If the soil sticks together and won’t come apart in clumps then let it sit for another week. Because if you start trying to work the soil now it will just re-compress into large, hard bricks. However, if your soil is sandy the work can start now.

Go Organic

Adding organic material to the soil is the best thing you can do for it. Last year’s compost, grass clippings, composted manure, peat moss and rotting leaves build up the soil and help it to retain moisture during the dry summer. For sandy soil this is very important. Adding chemical fertilizer is recommended in many garden manuals but resisting these and chemical pesticides is better for the environment and the health of those around you.

Because of a mixture of our climate, industrial fallout and the nature of our land most soils lean toward the acidic side so it is a good idea to add lime. Ideally the best time to add lime is the fall but you can still mix it in now if th soil is dry enough. You want to get it evenly sifted throughout the soil as big clumps will burn the roots of your plants.

Using Raised Beds

Raised beds are great for productivity because:

• The loose soil allows oxygen to reach the roots
• The soil stays warmer because it is above ground level allowing longer growing season.
• Digging is easier as the soil isn’t compacted.
• Excess water drains off

The key to making beds is to make them wide enough while still being able to reach the middle plants. The experts recommend 2 to 5 feet wide with pathways in between for easy access to the beds. For raising the soil in the beds think of the beds as individual flower boxes: The deeper the beds the more abundant your crop or the more lush your flowers. Adding soil from the paths helps out as does bringing in soil from other areas. For added height you can also put in pressure-treated wood sides.

Planting

Check the frost tables for your area to ascertain the best time for planting. For example, potatoes can be planted early while tomatoes need a wide berth of frost-free days.

Greenhouses

On of the most direct uses for solar energy is the simple greenhouse. In essence, a greenhouse is a small building with a narrow skeleton which holds a glass or plastic. Greenhouses can have solid walls but must have transparency in the roof to work – either using glass or plastic. Because of the transparency the incoming sun rays warm in the interior making it a nurturing atmosphere for plants who have a warm place to grow and the solar radiation for photosynthesis.

Hot Air Storage 

The added feature is hot air storage. When the interior parts are warmed – soil, metal, wood etc. – this heat is kept in the building by the roof and wall allowing this atmosphere when the air gets cooler. In fact many greenhouses have a stone or brick floor for this purpose.

Greenhouses can be almost shape. In some rural areas people still use discarded storm windows, glass destined for the landfill. However most are proper buildings either clad in glass or plastic. Commercial glass greenhouses may include equipment like screening installations for soil, heating, cooling and lighting.

The large greenhouses, made famous by the English during their glorious Victorian period were made from wrought iron and took up acres of property. They were called botanical gardens and conservatories and housed tropical plants garnered from the corners of the British Empire

Plant Starters 

Greenhouses are a great way to start spring plants in cold weather. This is especially true with tomatoes which cannot take a late spring frost. Seeds are started here and the plant are put into the garden when the air temperature is higher.

Unlike their fore bearers the modern greenhouse uses special glass designed to let in solar energy and keep it longer within the structure. Fans keep the warm air near the ground level to prevent its exit through the ceiling glass when the temperature goes down. In hot weather the fans are reversed and skylights open to let superheated air out.

Easily Built 

For a homeowner a sophisticated greenhouse can be purchased in kit form and built by a carpenter. A simple lean-to greenhouse starts at around $500 for a 4′ X 6′ X 3′ kit but a carpenter can built you a much larger, free-standing one with plastic sheathing for less than that.

For information on getting your greenhouse built contact Renovation Experts