Gardening for Old Folks (Adaptative)

[chickmom3941]

I've been looking for a ebook on gardening in a greenhouse in the south.
Auburn U wrote a series of books and sell them only on IBooks.
I have windows so I can't read them.

We are talking about building a greenhouse this year.

Do any of you know of any I can read on how to maintain the temp and humidity?
I'm also looking at getting some kind of shade cloth for July and August.

We're not in the south, and perhaps not doing things correctly, but we don't do too much special with our greenhouses. We have windows on both ends, plus fans which we use when it's hot. We keep everything watered well, and it's only been super hot a few times to where Hubs put large tarps on top to block the sun for a few days. So despite maybe not doing things according to protocol, our veggies grow very well in them (mostly tomatoes and peppers). I do realize it's much hotter in the south, though, so maybe it's harder to use them in the south?

 

[chickadoodles]

Thank you chickemom.
Here in Alabama we have temps over 100* and the humiditystays between
80-100. I plan on a door at each end with screen to open and use fans.
I'm trying to decide if I want to be able to roll up the sides.
If we do roll the sides up I will have to screen the sides to keep all the bugs out.
I'm also wondering if this will be enough to keep the humidity down in the greenhouse.

 

[N F C]

Thank you chickemom.
Here in Alabama we have temps over 100* and the humiditystays between
80-100. I plan on a door at each end with screen to open and use fans.
I'm trying to decide if I want to be able to roll up the sides.
If we do roll the sides up I will have to screen the sides to keep all the bugs out.
I'm also wondering if this will be enough to keep the humidity down in the greenhouse.

What you're describing sounds similar to what we had in FL. Being able to roll the sides up and putting fans in to move the air around helped out a lot with heat & humidity.

 

[chickadoodles]

What you're describing sounds similar to what we had in FL. Being able to roll the sides up and putting fans in to move the air around helped out a lot with heat & humidity.

Thanks NFC. It's nice to hear I'm on the right track.

Did you use screen to keep the bugs out?

We have a terrible problem with hoppers and stink bugs eating everything.

 

[N F C]

Thanks NFC. It's nice to hear I'm on the right track.

Did you use screen to keep the bugs out?

We have a terrible problem with hoppers and stink bugs eating everything.

No, we didn't use screening. But then we didn't seem to have a big problem with grasshoppers and stink bugs were mainly interested in what we grew out in the garden.

I can't find the exact photo to show you what we had but this one will give you an idea of the greenhouse framing we had (in this photo we were in the process of changing the greenhouse to a duck house and had removed the plastic covering):

The plastic covered it all and we attached ties to the side framing. When it was a greenhouse, we could roll the sides up and tie them to the framing.

 

[chickadoodles]

Thank you NFC for sharing your pic with me. I love your set up. I'll bet the ducks are loving it!

 

[N F C]

Thank you NFC for sharing your pic with me. I love your set up. I'll bet the ducks are loving it!

We never got the chance to use it as a duck house (it would have been a palace though!). Not long after getting it done and I'd ordered ducks from Metzger's, DH got a job in WY so we sold the house and moved.

 

[chickadoodles]

Yes it wold have been a duck palace for sure.

 

[OG Anomaly]

Once upon a time i was young. I could dig soil for hours, no problem. Double digging, mixing in sand and manure were easy. Rototillers could be wrestled and i could win. Now i am making raised beds and trying to do things the easy way. Hubby has health issues and so do i. But i love getting my hands dirty! Hoping to build a greenhouse, just got a book and am reading about how to do it. So i am sure i will discuss that as well. I plan to have benches i will build at a level convenient for me to tend plants. No planting on the ground inside.

I just saw this thread and I love that you started it!
Yes, I'm getting older too, haha, but I'm also 100% disabled from a work accident in 2003.
I used to love gardening/landscaping our our 4 acres (among many other things, lol) and haven't been able to do much of anything in many years.
I've only read a few of the comments, so far, and have already seen several tips and ideas that might allow me to get back to digging in the dirt, at least somewhat again.
Thank you very much for sharing this. May you enjoy dirty hands for a long time to come!

 

[CapricornFarm]

I just saw this thread and I love that you started it!
Yes, I'm getting older too, haha, but I'm also 100% disabled from a work accident in 2003.
I used to love gardening/landscaping our our 4 acres (among many other things, lol) and haven't been able to do much of anything in many years.
I've only read a few of the comments, so far, and have already seen several tips and ideas that might allow me to get back to digging in the dirt, at least somewhat again.
Thank you very much for sharing this. May you enjoy dirty hands for a long time to come!

Oh no, how awful that you were disabled like that! Do you have any raised beds you can use? I am working on making more , as well as making the ones i have higher.
What sort of plants do you enjoy growing?