Todays Weather in Your Garden - 30

Coming from here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/897178/

68, clear and breezy. Gorgeous day. Unfortunately, I have indoor chores today.

The most beautiful day here, 63, cool, but the sun feels warmer. A great day to be outdoors. Sorry Victor!

Sure - rub it in!

Ike came through at a breezy 85 mph......first day of electricity since last Sunday morning. This is my neighbor's back yard.....I am pretty much OK, except I lost all my newly frozen veggies and everything else in my fridge and freezer. No power for 86 hours will do that.
And my gardens are flattened.

And without power, the moon was wonderful.....candlelight and moonlight, I felt like Abe Lincoln.......

One good thing. Your here!

True, Sherrie.....and I still have a roof!

Oh - so sorry to hear that, Sharon. Glad you're okay. Things can be replaced. Awful to be without power that long. Nice moon photo.

Thanks Victor....moonlight and candlelight...nothing like it.

Good thing it was not 95 and humid!

Yep...it did bring a cold front in, so the days were in the low 70's and nights in the mid 50's, otherwise I would have been outta here.
Should be nice all the rest of the week and weekend. Yard is all clean now, except for a few big branches from the downed tree next door, and I am on my way to start restocking my fridge. Starving for veggies and ice cold water!

Power out definitely = no fun. All those fresh frozen veggies! :-(

Estimates run over $7,000 to get one of those "back-up" emergency power generators that run on natural gas that I desperately need. Ouch!

Victor, I am guessing about 75, maybe more, over-winter in the greenhouse. Getting them all back in is quite the chore, as I insist "just one more plant should fit this winter" as I stroll the nurseries all summer.

Every year is the same story, you would think I'd learn.

Like this Kimberly Queen Fern. It was about the size of my fist when I bought it this spring!

Now it's about 6' across ..... Want one? :-)

Your GH is in your house right? Its not like my GH where the heat bill will kill you.

Yes, The GH is connected to the house. Off the south (back) side. 10' x 32' Connects to the second floor gutterline, so it is 17 foot tall in the back and 7 tall in the front.

French doors, the kitchen windows, and the back bedroom's window open to the greenhouse. Upstairs, each room has a 10' by 4' opening, but in fact, I want to remove that wall entirely upstairs and replace it with a railing, keeping it completely open to the greenhouse below.

Here's a shot of a fond memory .... the First Fall of the Greenhouse. Still under construction, but the cold came and had no choice but to move in early.

Sharon - so sorry to hear you had such a tough time and also lost your garden! Awful! I'm very glad to hear you are ok though!!

Now they are saying 31 tonight. I got my coleus cut and some dug for Fla. and got my caladiums up and the rest of the veggies that will be affected picked. DH is covering the glads as I write this. Boo hiss!

Love your GH, Willie! We cross-posted.

Sorry for your veggie loss, Sharon. After all that hard work.

I, too, love your GH, Willie. That fern is awesome. If I had room, I would love one. Maybe the next house will have a GH. Oh, sorry, I dozed off and dreamt of GHs. lol

Beautiful day today, 60ish, breeze. DH calls it "camping weather". Freeze warning tonight though for the northern half of the state, frost advisory in the south.

I'd love an attached GH someday....

Victor - congrats on your gooseberry plant photo being selected as today's Run Random Image. Nice job!

Thanks. I just went to check and see there is a different one now!

Great GH willi

Its 40* due for a sunny high of 70*

50 now going up to 69..... and I have a nasty cold already... welcome to fall

:(

35 Fall is coming quick.

48 and clear. Feel better, Allison.

Awe .... make some nice chicken soup, Allison! Always cures my colds. Hope you feel better fast!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr, cold as [insert favorite verbiage here] here this morning .... hope I didn't forget to bring in anyone!

..... and Thanks! All .... One of the best things I did was go broke buying a greenhouse!

:-) Well, not really, but a word of advice when planning for one:

Figure out your budget CAREFULLY!! Then multiply it by 4.

Sunrise: 6:59

Sunny, 46ºF (feels like 43º) ; High, 69ºF ; Low, 53ºF
Wind: 5 mph, direction ESE
Pressure: 30.41 in, steady
Humidity: 77%, Dew point: 39ºF
Visibility: 10.0 mi, UV-index: 0, Low

Sunset: 19:17

Measured: Sep/19/08, 07:45

Is yours heated, ventilated (automatically), have mosters, etc.? The whole nine? What are the dimensions?

Yes, feel better soon, Allison. I know you will after the chicken soup.

current temp 58 up to 69 I love it

My GH is not heated, per se, but open enough to the house that it rarely dips much below 55º at night when ample circulation is provided. Power Failures are another nightmare. Sunny days in the winter, the GH can get to 100º+ and the furnace does not go on. The heating bill hasn't been a nightmare, at all .... wish the same was true for the A/C bill!

Typical Winter temp distribution: If it is 55º-60ºF in the GH, it's usually (thermostat is set to this) 68º-70º on the first floor, and 75º+ upstairs (sometimes up to 100º, if sunny and the windows aren't open).

As for ventilation, all the windows on the front of the GH are double-casement windows which open fully. On each side of the GH, at the very top peak, I have 8" exhaust fans, as well as (2) skylights in the ceiling of the rooms upstairs which are open to the GH. The fans can be on a thermostat, but I do it manually. Fans are kind of loud. Maybe bigger fans that spin slower might be more quiet.

Only thing I need to add possibly are some intake fans near the front bottom of the GH sides (to bring in cooler air in the summer). Would have been nice to have radiant heat in the cement of the foundation. That would really help in the spring when starting the seedlings!

Some technical details: 32' front x 10' sides or 320 SQ.FT. ; 7'-8' high in front, 17' high in back. Double-glazed windows without any added UV films. I think that is about 82% of light that gets through double-glazing. The glass roof is pitched to 45º exactly, and faces true south.

Only monster in there is me!

I did have a mole once. I do bring in a critter or two in the Fall when I don't take the care to prep the plants correctly before I bring them in. I like spiders, though. They don't seem to need to come into the house. I haven't found any webs in the house. The dogs are not allowed in the GH. Big tails.

Mealies, aphids, etc haven't been too much trouble. I bet a spider (or two) comes in on the plants and works all winter long. The pests seem to find one plant to settle in on (usually the schefflera tree or bird of paradise). Safer soap is a good friend of mine. Those that can handle it, get a systemic with malathion, if needed; like the schefflera.

Because Queen Boudicca resides in the greenhouse I do not use any spray chems, only safer soap in the opposite end of the GH where the utility sink is. The sink is an indispensable item, great for washing/spraying off mealies, etc. I find that if you don't hose down your plants, the mealies can get out of control. Careful with the safer soap, as one time I got a spoiled bottle. PEW! Rotten eggs!

That's 'bout 8 yards worth, I figure.

Sunny and already 60ºF outside, house is up to 79º now, about 70º at 6am, no furnace. :-)

Cool set up and I bet the fuel man hates you!

Love the GH, Willie! My next door neighbor has one & grows nothing! She did have orchid cactus in there & some cockateils--both are now gone--birds ate cactus & someone left the GH door open! I would grow everything! It is 52 right now, & we're headed to Great Barrington, MA to an orchard I love to pick up some apples.

I would LOVE a GH. 65 right now high of 70 low 49 very breezy, making it feel colder
Get better soon Allison, you have all those Halloween decorations you have to finish! I start taking those meltaway Zicams when I feel I'm getting sick, works wonders.

I ended up putting the fireplace on this morning... I was freezing with this fever... now sweating to death... just gotta love it.. but I put the heat on since it's dipping down to 43 tonight... and took a big container of soup out of the freezer... it will do me good for a few days...

will have to try those Jen... I tried the liquid stuff you put in beverages... YUCK.. hope the meltaways taste better

They start out tasting ok but toward the end get kinda yucky, I put it under my tongue so I can't taste it as much, but they do work.

Asked the managment (SIL + DD)if we could have heat.
Furnace is set to come on at 5:30 AM.
Its 66* inside noe and 55* out.
Yesterday it was 40 *AM and 61 inside It remained that temp until I left the house at 10:00 no way to avoid the damp which makes me feel colder.
Without the furnace there is no way to get warm,damp goes right thru me.

well it's 44... going up to 73

and I just realized my furnace isn't turning on... back to the fireplace... honey will be home soon hopefully he can fix it

Jo Ann:

I'm with you! When it's damp and I get cold, there's just no removing the chill! I just went and started the wood furnace. DSIL has been creating the wood piles all summer long, but we still have to go outside to get wood. And, it's not cured yet. So it took two hours for the heat to build up enough in the wood furnace to actually turn on the blower. I can't imagine what it will feel like in a few months!

Not trying to be a nay-sayer, but didn't Zicam have some kind of lawsuit against them? They are basically zinc lozenges, right? Zinc is good for colds, and I think I read somewhere that a lot of folk are deficient in zinc.

JoAnn: Hope you are healing quickly and infection free!

House wasn't too chilly this AM, but I closed all the windows early yesterday afternoon and let the house (GH) heat up good and warm under all the sunshine. I just have to remember to collect the heat for the night.

My favorite way to keep the chill off is to wrap up in the featherbed and stand over the floor vent. Of course, you cannot get much done all wrapped up like a newborn.

Sunrise: 7:01

Mostly cloudy, 58ºF ; High, 74ºF ; Low, 57ºF
Wind: 7 mph, direction S
Pressure: 30.23 in, steady
Humidity: 75%, Dew point: 50ºF
Visibility: 10.0 mi, UV-index: 0, Low

Sunset: 19:15

Measured: Sep/20/08, 08:45

Outside ... 42ºF
Inside ... 73ºF, thanks to a small kerosene heater and the wood furnace

Skies are crisp and clear with just a couple of puffy clouds.

Anna is out cleaning up the gardens and planting some DL. I am inside where it's warm.

64 and gorgeous! Yes, Zicam had a settlement for people who claimed to have lost some, or all, of their sense of smell. I have used Airborne and vitamin C fizz - they both help you fel better for a few hours. Best way to stop or suppress a cold when it starts, in my opinion, is to gargle with 50/50 peroxide.