Digging in the dirt today!

It was great to get outside today. The weather has been so mild, almost Spring-like, so I spent an hour and a half or so in the yard just puttsin' about. Filling in holes that the dog had dug over winter and checking all my little bulbs and zhizones that are coming to life. Even pulled some quack grass that though it had gotten an early start before I could see it. Hah...gotcha! Sat in a lawn chair after I'd finished all my tasks including poop scoopin' :-( and just mentally drew out plans of where and what would be planted in what corners etc. It was so nice to sit and dream. Our grass is nearly all clear of snow now and is still green. Checked my roses and rhodys and Hydrangeas in the front yard and everything looks like it's come through the past two months nicely. It was hard to come back inside. But...

I had some construction to do. Look what I bought today at Canadian Tire for 1/2 price. Another toy that I probably could have done without, but for 19.99, how could I pass it up. Now I can clear all my window ledges of plants and seedlings and put them in the Hexagon Greenhouse and wheel it right up to the patio window until I can wheel it ouside on the deck in another month or so. Then finally the plants can be moved to the big greenhouse in April. I want to get started on my vegetable seeds next week and also some perennial flower seeds. So this guy should come in handy.

Donna - Santa brought me the very same plant stand for Christmas. I am jealous of your milder climate that you can see things coming to life already. It is a nice day here too but I am getting my gardening fix today by winter sowing some seeds. I have been intrigued by what I have read on this topic lately so I am going to sow some containers and throw them outside to see what happens. I already have a few outside already - I am hoping that this will be an easy/lazy way to start many of the seeds I have accumulated by trading and shopping eBay and seed catalogues. I think I will use my mini greenhouse if and when these seeds sprout to protect them from spring frost and quite possibly snow. I am off to dig in the dirt too....

Susan

Have fun, Susan. Great for what ails ya, so they say! :D

Did you put your greenhouse together yourself? I did most of it, but had to whine to my DH for the last little bit. I am just not the best with power tools. Such a girl, I guess. :-)

Hey...I got one for Christmas from my brother....But it will be a long time
till I get to use it! LOL

Cheers,
Carol

Lucky you, Carol. Looks like someone put it together for you to open on Christmas morning. That's great. Don't forget, you can use it for seed starting pretty soon.

Wow...you are right there...
This is what my backyard looks like this morning. I took a walk out back to see if there was much damage from the rabbits this year. Didn't see any so far.

This is the wrong pic..but you get the idea... :)

When does your outside growing season start Carol and Donna? I had to LOL when reading this thread....I too received a Canadian Tire greenhouse for Christmas. Mine however is still in the box and like Susan I won't be setting mine up for a number of months yet. By the looks of Carol's yard, even with the zone 5 rating, neither will she.

Our Spring season basically starts in February. DH and I went out later this afternoon and pruned our fruit tress and they are full of buds already. On the down side, I dug out my first "dandelion today!! :-(

I almost think you could leave your water lilies to winter outside.....but first did you notice how far down the ice froze in your pond?

You probably don't remember Pam, but we emptied, and filled in our big pond last October and got a preform one that we set in sand and surrounded with rocks with a waterfall flowing into it. It has been covered for the past 3 months. So can't tell you how deep it would have froze. We gave our fish to a neighbour who keeps his pond open all winter. Apparently they are doing fine, but it is about 4 feet deep and never freezes.

Hey Donna, nice GH. I got the same one last summer, but it wasn't $20, it cost me a bit more, like twice as much. It's real easy to take apart, leaving the shelves intact, and I leave it apart in the summer when I'm done with it. I've sure got a lot of use out of mine.

You're right....I remember that you refilled it but not that you covered it. How deep does the water freeze in his pond?

Only a few inches. He has his pump and waterfall going all winter.

I looked up the little greenhouse in the Canadian Tire flyer. I'm going to need more space in the solarium and am going to have to go vertical. The flyer says that the stand has a diameter of 27". That's not very big yet the ones in the pictures look bigger than that. Could you put a tray of seedlings on each shelf?

I was looking at the exact same GH on CT's website yesterday (before I saw this thread)...I had already decided to buy it. This'll be fun - later we can start a thread for pics of our Canadian Tire Hexagonal Greenhouses! lol

I like the fact that it has wheels on it; not all of them do.

Donna, I'm envious that you can see grass & dandelions! It'll be a couple more months for us yet. But then, you don't really like that "white sh...stuff", do you? :-) I bet it was nice to sit outside.

Great buy, Donna! To much snow here.
:( Donna

Love those hexagons... I think that with all the winter sowing I have planned that I am going to have to expand my fleet. If this process works, I will have more little seedlings to shelter than will fit in my hexagon. I don't think that the hexagon shape is the most efficient for the rectangular seedling trays so I will fill the shelves with the pop bottles and other recycled containers I am using. Here is a picture of the larger portable Canadian Tire greenhouse that I am going to check out which should work better for the planting trays.

Susan

That looks like a really good size Susan. The one that I received looks like the picture posted below. Thought it would be the right size for overwintering plants that like higher humidity in the basement.

Lilypon, I looked at that one too. It looks like a good size and shape to use indoors. With the one I showed, I like that it includes the shelving.

I would have loved to have received the bigger one that you are eyeing ......but I'm running out of space for plants to be squeezed in (city yard) so it'll prolly do fine. With the garden you have the larger greenhouse will be a must! ;) I'm sure you won't regret buying it.

edited to say those shelves are perfect.......I'll probably be hunting down some metal ones.

This message was edited Jan 30, 2005 1:57 PM

Donna, tks for the idea...my DH is away and will be near a Canadian Tire so I'll see if he'll grab me one. Can you tell me what the diameter is and the height between the shelves? Does the plastic come off easily? I start a lot of things in single 3x5's so it would be useful near a window when they're at the stage of wanting light but still needing protection from drafts. Is there a CT right in Castlegar? I've a friend there who would be interested.

Well, I missed the boat on that one. When I got to CT I was told they'd just sold the last one. The salesclerk said they'd had quite a few but they just went in no time. I asked about rainchecks but they're a clearance item so no. I asked about the CT in Courtenay so she checked the computer. Turns out all the stores on the island are out but there are 8 of them at the CT in Powell River. They don't move things from store to store like some chains do though.

Sandy, were you looking for the hex GH or the one larger one that durtcom posted. I guess you saved me a trip to CT.

Finally, I made it to the forum!! First Sandy, yes, the shelves definitely are big enough to hold a tray of seeds. I am not surprised they ran out. There were only two in our store by the time I got there. Bummer.

Pam, the one you got would be perfect for you to you use in the basement. That's what I am going to use mine for next winter too, since my big one outside is not heated, and DH is stubbornly refusing to heat it through the winter. Too expensive...

Rosemary, the dimension of the little hexagonal greenhouse is 27" in diameter by 51 " high. It zips around easily on it's wheels and the PVC cover lifts easily plus zippers either up to have the flap open at the top or another zipper allows the flap to be lifted up from the bottom. On sale (while quantities last) until Thursday.

Linda, I was talking about the hexagonal GH. I guess they were such a good deal they went like hotcakes.