Not really a greenhouse...

[majorcatfish]

The little redneck greenhouse that I built has taken a beating this fall between the cold and 2 dogs rough housing
The plastic never had a chance, so have 2 options either re-skin it or build a more permanent greenhouse.
Think the dw will vote for the permanent so she can start more flowers..

Also did a inventory of all the trays and pots looks like we are going to purchase some new ones

How ever you go Snow White happy gardening

 

[Smart Red]

Sn0wwhite, I have actually planted a raised garden bed in late February up until March 17th. First I covered the bed with black landscape cloth. Then I built a PVC frame covered in Vis-screen plastic. I remember laying in the bed in mid-February and basking in the sun -- temperatures got into the 90s (F) on a cold, but sunny day. I have no idea what the nighttime temperatures got down to. The black cloth was intended to warm the soil below the cloth and the plastic was intended to warm the air over the bed. It did seem to work well and I did get a slightly earlier harvest for the cool weather crops.

My experience, however, has been that planting too early will not make all that much difference in harvest dates. Often the seasonally planted seed grow faster than the early ones and catch up to do as well or better. I've pretty much given up on trying for February starts. I still like to push the growing envelope, but not quite that early.

 

[sn0wwhite]

Hmmm. It seems I may just need to build my screen/wire house around it and not mess with the plastic to extend the growing season. I was speaking to a friend of my dad's last night - a guy who has an amazing garden that shares his excess produce with us every year, and he says he's tried several times with no luck here in Minnesota. He said it's more work and expense and the results just don't do enough to justify it.

So, next question... how high do you think the chicken wire has to be to keep the chickens out? All the way covered?

 

[digitS']

It is certainly likely to depend on the chickens, Snowwhite.

I have had the dumpy types, usually. Back when I had roosters, I'd have a spirited and lively one. Of course, he wouldn't go anywhere without his dumpy hens .

The Orpingtons couldn't have gone over a 3' fence. I doubt if the Brahmas could have either but they were generally a courageous bunch. My Australorps might try to fly but they never gained much from the attempt.

Steve

 

[Smart Red]

My garden was fenced to keep the chickens OUT. The fencing is 4 feet tall. I have had garden chickens fly out of the garden at dusk to roost in the coop, but I have never had a chicken fly into the garden. So 4 ft seems to work for me.

 

[so lucky]

My garden fence is 4 feet also. I have one chicken, a lightweight EE, that has flown over it twice, but I don't think she was trying to. Just one of those crazy chicken impulses to fly, and it happened to be in the direction of the garden.
I have a little fern and azalea bed out in the pine grove where the chickens love to scratch in the pine needles and mulch. I have found that one of those cheap little 18" wire border fences does a good job of keeping them out. When they are just ambling along with their attention on the ground in front of them, a fence is a fence.