greenhouse - Common Sense Homesteading

The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower’s Handbook – Change the Way You Grow

April 19, 2017 by Laurie Neverman 2 Comments

The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook: Organic Vegetable Production Using Protected Culture by Andrew Mefferd is a call to action for organic growers to extend the production season of their local produce. The best way for market gardeners to retain customers is to have produce for them to buy – preferably year round. Andrew looks at the eight most profitable crops for protected culture and gives you the knowledge you need to grow them well.

I've seen too many farmers and friends hurt by inadequate income. This is the type of book we need to let us do what we love (grow things) and still support our families. [Read more…]

Grow Tomatoes from Seed – Save Money, Get More Varieties

January 26, 2016 by Laurie Neverman 19 Comments

Tomatoes are the most commonly grown plant in backyard gardens, and with good reason. Nothing beats the flavor of a freshly picked tomato still warm from the sun, and homemade sauces and salsas are amazing. With the recent growth in gardening and interest in non-genetically modified foods, stores are starting to stock more heirloom tomato seed varieties, but they're only scratching the surface of the dozens of types of seeds that are available. When you grow tomatoes from seed, you can pick varieties that are right for your growing conditions and experiment with many different colors, shapes, sizes and flavors for the same amount of money you'd spend on just a few store plants. [Read more…]

Build a Secure Greenhouse Foundation That Preserves Your Growing Space

January 9, 2016 by Laurie Neverman 9 Comments

In 2015, my family and I decided to build a home greenhouse to expand our gardening options and growing season. The greenhouse we chose was a 20'x10′ unit wade with 10mm double wall polycarbonate wall and roof panels. We thought that the frame would be rigid enough that our greenhouse foundation could be a simple heavy wooden frame on the ground (most greenhouse kits recommend either railroad ties or a poured concrete foundation).

Unfortunately, that didn't work out so well. Given the size of the greenhouse, no matter how carefully with tried to level the frame, we still couldn't get it completely square along the entire length. I didn't want to sacrifice the ability to plant straight in the dirt inside the greenhouse, and whatever we built had to stay level during the course of yearly freeze and thaw cycles here in Wisconsin. We had to think outside the box – or at least build a different sort of box. As promised, I'm showing how we did it. [Read more…]

Extend Your Growing Season – Easy Tips for Gardeners

September 19, 2013 by Laurie Neverman 4 Comments

On the Common Sense Homesteading Facebook page, one of the questions that comes up regularly is “How do you extend your growing season?”. I live in northeast Wisconsin, so I do use a variety of techniques to help add growing time in spring and in fall. I don't do *everything* that can be done to potentially keep food growing here year round. From my perspective, it's easier to spend time preserving some crops than battling the elements to keep them going outside. My favorites are the ones that hold “as is” with little or no effort. You can read more about these crops in “Root Cellars 101” and “Above Ground Root Cellars – Enjoy Your Local Produce Longer“. [Read more…]

Building an Eco Home – part 3

October 5, 2012 by Laurie Neverman 3 Comments

The “Building an Eco Home” series is nine articles that were originally published in The Healthy Independent while we were in the process of building our current home. I have made only minor edits to include links and format for the online publishing.

After all the months of waiting, we are finally building our new home! As of this writing, we have a large hole in the ground complete with footings and the beginnings of the frost walls and basement walls. I think our builder is probably as relieved as we are, as this means no more “tweaking” the footprint of the house and revising window and door placements. We also have (almost) finalized our heating and cooling choices, as well as our choices for potable water and “wastewater”. [Read more…]