Zone 9 – gardening edibles

Past couple years, after using the small plastic sheeting greenhouse, I decided that it’s time to upgrade to a more permanent one. As backyard plans firmed up, the location of the greenhouse became more apparent. We decided to take the plunge and invest in a 12*8 Palram Essence greenhouse from Costco. After waiting for missing parts to arrive, and rains to subside, we got working on the massive undertaking of putting them together.

First step: Open the packages, sort and group all parts and name them with a sharpie. Order any missing parts. Expect 2 week wait time for missing parts to be delivered. Meanwhile work on setting the foundation.

Foundation: We have uneven ground, and had to level it quite a bit. We did not want the greenhouse to sit on ground as that part of the garden gets soggy when wet. Once the base was fairly level we used 6*6 and 4*6 lumber for the base and reinforced it to the ground with 18″ rebar. We added sturdy weed blocker, as the structure was being built over a grassy area.This took us two days of physical work.

Hiccups: Once the foundation was done, we put up some of the structure. Unfortunately, weather turned for the worse, and due to lack of free time and we ended up not completing it immediately. We ended up with a few bent parts due to high winds. We undid parts of the frame, and decided to tackle it once weather got better. It just took us 3 months of wait and a test of my patience!

Restarting the project: Luckily, Feb bought us some unexpected warm days, and sunshine. That was enough to motivate hubby to get started on it. It took us 2-3 days of consistent work to put the structure up. We filled the base partially with lava rock as it helps with heat retention.

The structure is up! YAY! I moved the overwintered peppers into the greenhouse. Many of the plant starts from my garage seed starting setup moved up to the greenhouse for growing. I already had a vegetable bed inside, and the plants in the greenhouse continued to thrive.

Next steps: We plan to add a fan and possibly some heat source for winter. There are alignment issues and gaps, so I’ll have to add greenhouse tape, or foam to seal any gaps before winter arrives. I am working on the perfect configuration for adding a workbench to place all my starter plants. We already have plumbing and drip irrigation for the greenhouse bed, but we will need to extend it to the container plants. I am beyond excited and so glad that we purchased a large greenhouse, instead of opting for the smaller sized one.

Experimental garden during summer: Growing inside the greenhouse is quite tricky, in dealing with pests, as well as temperature control. I plan to try out a few vegetables such as tomatoes, okra, yard long beans, ginger, turmeric and see how that goes.

Lava rocks on the floor. 8’*2′ raised bed and several containers.

Few tips:

Level the ground, and square the edges perfectly. If not, you will experience issues as you build the greenhouse, with doors / windows misalignment.
Follow instructions to the T. Instructions are mostly visual, with barely any text.
Sort and group all materials ahead of time. There are usually missing parts, and this will help pre-order before you start the project. Palram customer support is good, and we had no issues reordering items missing.

PALRAM greenhouse garden tour 2020

Overall though it took a while to build the greenhouse, the structure is permanent and expect several years if not decades of use from it.

Weather is fluctuating quite a bit in the Bay Area. Temperature soars to low 70’s and dips to high 50’s. With this I’ve had plants that are a bit confused, but several thriving. I have a steady harvest of spinach, truck loads of chard from my chard jungle, French and red viened sorrel, vitamin greens, cilantro, Okinawa spinach, parsley, sage, oak leaf lettuce, frissee, and various other greens easily half pound each time. We harvest the greens atleast couple of times each week and either prepare salads, or saute with mild spices. The peas are still producing flowers when the temperature dips, and slows down when they rise. My son loves to snack on them routinely, straight from the plant. This week we harvested purple cauliflower, which had formed 3-4 inch heads, totaling to about 1.5 lbs. In this bed I plan on sowing okra once the temperatures are consistently warmer.

Strawberries are growing and ripening, and between slugs, roly polies and pests, we are harvest atleast 4-8 oz of berries every couple of days. The cinderblock idea for strawberries are going great so far, however when temperatures rise, I will need to figure out a consistent watering schedule as the cement blocks could scorch the tender roots. The dwarf mulberry tree is loaded with goodness. The blueberries have started to ripen, and with that is our regular visits from “Blue the bluejay”, as my kids fondly call it.

March planted cabbages are thriving. The 45 day cabbage is almost getting ready to be harvested, with heads firmed up and about 4-5 inch in diameter. Tomatoes are thriving, and are loaded with flowers, with promises of juicy harvests. A volunteer tomato near our air conditioner has overwintered successfully and is happily growing again. Surprisingly this spot does not get much direct sun, barring for couple hours of intense heat in the afternoon. Overwintered peppers have taken off and started to produce flowers. Moringa has shown signs of life after being dormant for months. Curry leaves are prolific with new growth and shoots. Eggplants have set fruits, and so have the summer squashes. Onions planted in December last year have set good sized bulbs, and I will be harvesting them as needed. The consistent rains have helped. Garlic seems to be ready, with most of the leaves losing its bright color. Icicle and watermelon radishes are consistently producing in the canopy of tomatoes, and in between lettuces, and just about every where. Cucumbers, winter squashes, melons and cantaloupes successfully transplanted and are growing slowly but steadily. Couple of them got eaten up by pests however, and I need to direct sow. All home grown eggplants and peppers have had a slow start, but I think there is adequate time for it to take off once the hotter summer kicks in.

The tindora root I had purchased from ebay has produced shoots and is steadily growing. Sweet potatoes vines have rooted and I need to transplant them into the soil this week. I think I might be a bit late for the sweet potatoes, however there is no harm in trying. Ginger has produced shoots and are ready to go in the soil as well.

On the not so rosy side of gardening, something has been eating off all the bitter gourd, ridge gourd, gavar beans, and pole beans. I am truly puzzled of an insects affiliation towards bitters! I was very confident that no pests would bother a bitter gourd plant, but I was so not right! Perhaps the insect kingdom knows the value of bitters and chomps them off to balance their blood sugars!

Feb through April being very busy with starting seeds indoors, preparing beds, sowing and transplanting, May onwards is the time to kick back and enjoy the fruits of labor. Happy gardening my friends!