No pictures today - as I only had time to shoot the 2 videos last weekend, and have been extremely busy ever since. The evenings after work have been filled with continuous work on the 3 different propagation systems, so they will be ready for the upcoming tomato seedling propagation cycle. After much wiring, programming and tinkering - they are all finally ready for use. Whew.....
Of course all of the functions ( lights, ventilation, trend charts ) will be controlled automatically by the programmable logic control unit, and my seedling capacity will be around 400 plants. Woohoo! Bring it on!
I think that much capacity will do just fine for a few years, but will have room for doubling that number if more is needed later.
As others post rough drafts of their garden plantings this year, I'll just refrain from doing likewise until around March. The reason is that Austin hasn't planned out his part yet, so the drawing isn't finished. I'll try to get him moving on it soon, but can tell you that a garden is probably the last thing on his mind right now ( age 14 ).
In other news, the compost turner is waiting for the pulley system components to be put together, and also the extension between the output shaft of the gearbox and the 10" diameter auger. As you can guess, these items are dependent on other people's efforts, and haven't been completed yet. However, the vertical 6x6 posts will be concreted on Saturday, so I still have some more things to get done before they are needed anyway. In all likelihood, it will get it's inaugural trial run on Valentine's Day. At least that's what i'm planning on.
Things in the coldframes are popping up like crazy, and I hope to be harvesting some lettuce in about 4 more weeks. These little coldframes will get quite a workout next winter, because I intend on having lettuce and carrots throughout all of the cold months. Surely two little coldframes of stuff won't be too much trouble to take care of.....
Oh, I almost forgot! I ordered a couple of 4 cu. ft. bags of perlite that need to be picked up on Saturday morning, too - which will be used to enhance the soil mixture for my swp's/swc's, and also amend the garden beds. Most people don't like perlite in their garden, but I want better drainage than I currently have. It'll be mixed into the current fill ingredients - then 6-8" of compost on top of that . This should provide good drainage at the bottom part of the mix, and also keep it from floating to the top when it is watered.
Take care, and happy gardening!
EG
10 comments:
I'm surprised you got your 14yo to agree to take care of the garden. Even I wouldn't have wanted that at 14. And you remind me that I have to get more things for my potting mix. I want some course sand. I'll have to keep my eye out when I'm in the hardware store.
Busy times, eh?
You do have a lot going on there EG! I sense that spring is in the air as many gardening blogger friends are also gearing up for the season. Good luck!
Always busy! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.
Daphne - i'm not holding my breath about the help. I'll believe it when I see it.
stefaneener - busy times are always present around my place.
Sunny - yep, it's almost time!
Maureen - yep, always busy. Everything is going well.
lettuce is four weeks. Man. I hate you. Not really, but seriously, that is completely unfair.
I wish I were harvesting lettuce. I didn't build any coldframes, though I hear (and see) they're easy to do. Keep it up!
I think you should start coming up with acronyms for your projects, like...
PS-propagation system
PLCU-programmable logic control unit
CT-compost turner
Isn't that part of an engineer's job? teehee
Have you previously discussed your swc soil mix? Can you direct me to it, or share what you're doing? Dunca!
I am about 4 weeks from the first spring harvests of lettuce too by my estimate. The propagation system set up sounds like a miracle of modern science and technology! Oh the joy of being able to start 400 plants at any one time! I am constantly doing a seedling shuffle in the rush of the spring seed starting season to move plants out as fast as possible to make room for the next round to be planted after them. I have it pretty well timed - but it is a real struggle to keep everything under lights as needed. I honestly need to expand my light set up but have been procrastinating about it.
Momma_S - I'm afraid acronyms would be confusing for some, but i'd love to do it sometimes.
I'm not sure if i've discussed the soil mix, but can blog about it sometime.
kitsapFG - the propagation system is pretty high tech, that's for sure! Right now, I have about 300 plants to do.
Post a Comment