One Alaskans greenhouse

[Alasgun]

Spider web strength!
We’re back in a “Rainy pattern” and while picking peas the other day i noticed this web. I’ll take a picture of anything; and have gotten some very nice ones over the years. Most are simply deleted because they just didn’t measure up “on the big screen”.
This is one of those and i just hadn’t gotten around to deleting it; then noticed something that caught my eye.
Look at how much water the web is holding up and still has it’s normal shape! We’ve all heard about the strength of spider webs but this literal example spoke more to me than a thousand words.

 

[Alasgun]

Today i went Alligator hunting; in the greenhouse!
I’ve had my share of pest this year and had turned lady bugs loose a month ago. They usually don’t hang around too long but these did! And apparently they laid some eggs cause now i’ve got numerous little “alligators “ crawling around, eating Aphids.
If you’re not familiar with the larvae; here’s how they look. The little guy just finished one and was about to get after that other one you see.

 

[heirloomgal]

Today i went Alligator hunting; in the greenhouse!
I’ve had my share of pest this year and had turned lady bugs loose a month ago. They usually don’t hang around too long but these did! And apparently they laid some eggs cause now i’ve got numerous little “alligators “ crawling around, eating Aphids.
If you’re not familiar with the larvae; here’s how they look. The little guy just finished one and was about to get after that other one you see.

What kind of insect is that?

 

[Alasgun]

@heirloomgal , these are the larval stage of the Lady Bugs! And from what i read; they are far more voracious than the adults. All im real sure of is i probably have more Aphids than Alligators? Next year i intend to try screen’s over all door and window openings and see if i can cut the problem back some. Im in a Birch forrest and there’s times they almost rain down out of the trees. Outdoor garden stuff is always pretty good but they are problematical in the greenhouse; some years.

 

[Rhodie Ranch]

chomp chomp chomp....

 

[Alasgun]

In the last two weeks we’ve had 7 1/2 inches of rain! Im getting a wee bit edgy because now were looking at another week of rain; today we’ve got full sun!
All season long i’ve nurse maided the onions, keeping them under agribon fabric from the very first day; and carefully jockeying the irrigation. At times they’ve had a poly cover as well to keep the moisture constant.
I’d normally not lift them for 2-3 more weeks but fearing loosing them to rot; today i brought them in. In years past (every year) we have issues with root maggot‘s; which was the reason for the cover. Im happy to report, every onion is a keeper, every onion!
After a we bit in the sun they came into the shop; where they’ll reside for 2-3 weeks before finding they’re way to the “root cellar”.

These are Redwings, adapted to lat.65.

 

[heirloomgal]

In the last two weeks we’ve had 7 1/2 inches of rain! Im getting a wee bit edgy because now were looking at another week of rain; today we’ve got full sun!
All season long i’ve nurse maided the onions, keeping them under agribon fabric from the very first day; and carefully jockeying the irrigation. At times they’ve had a poly cover as well to keep the moisture constant.
I’d normally not lift them for 2-3 more weeks but fearing loosing them to rot; today i brought them in. In years past (every year) we have issues with root maggot‘s; which was the reason for the cover. Im happy to report, every onion is a keeper, every onion!
After a we bit in the sun they came into the shop; where they’ll reside for 2-3 weeks before finding they’re way to the “root cellar”.

These are Redwings, adapted to lat.65.

Gorgeous onion bulbs! They look about as perfect as can be!

I have and do struggle with the flies that lay eggs on onions (and other stuff too). I gave up on green onions because of them. But I read a book recently from the 60's I think, maybe 70''s, by Samuel Ogden about organic gardening. He was a market gardener, and grew lots of onions. He had problems with those maggots in Vermont. He writes that once he started using clean wood ashes on the beds he never saw another one. I plan to try this next year, and just thought I'd mention it in case you ever have trouble finding that growing material in the future. Always good to have Plan B in this world! Lol

 

[Dahlia]

Due to our short season and the challenges that presents, a greenhouse is essential if you want to reliably grow some things up here.
we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, pole beans, bush beans, celery, parsley and summer squash in ours.
initially there were shelves around the sides and we placed smartpots on those shelves.
Well, pretty soon you’ve got everything jamming into the ceiling, making things difficult.
Last winter i upgraded by building the beds shown here. It accomplished a couple things beyond lowering the plants and now the irrigation is more user friendly, the crops have a deeper bed for a better root zone and it’s easier to maintain than with the bags. In the fall all the bags were dumped into brute containers and re-amended for the following year then the bags refilled each spring. Now i just apply the compost in the fall and walk away from it!

just some odd rambling here and a few pictures inside and out. In the spring it’s pretty loaded up till i move all the stuff on the sawhorses etc out to the beds. Then in short order it becomes it’s own jungle!

That greenhouse and all the veggies growing inside are awesome! Do you grow all of your own produce?

 

[Alasgun]

Thanks @heirloomgal for the wood ash tip. I’ve heard of Diatomaceous earth being used also. There are limes (first Saturday lime) that are said to be helpful as well and next year i’ll probably try some of these.i don’t know about the wood ash but many of the other powder’s are moisture sensitive and require re-application often. Wood ash is easy enough to come by and a good starting point!

@Dahlia, thanks for the kind words. We do grow quite a bit of our own produce but not nearly all of it. We consider ourself 100% self sufficient with potatoes, carrots, beens, cabbage (kraut) and cucumbers as fresh in season and ferment pickles the remainder of the year. Tomatoes as fresh or canned. Applesauce / frozen. Anise hysopp, Chocolate mint and Self heal as teas.

50% with beets, kale, chard, peas, pumpkins/winter squash, summer squash, parsnips, cherries, straw and raspberries, lettuce, spinach and cilantro, cellery and parsley.

Every winter we grow cilantro indoors and this year are adding a pot of Inagi cukes, they were good in the greenhouse so we’re hoping they’ll do good inside as well.

This sounds like a lot but at the end of the day id say we’re about 40 percent across the board as our winters are long and a lot still comes from the supermarket. We eat nothing out of cans or packages except cheese, butter and eggs.

 

[Alasgun]

Well, its that time of year again