I’ve been really working hard at expanding our garden this year. Our goal is to try and eat out of the garden as much as possible. A secondary goal was to become independent of buying plants from a store to go in the garden. And we also wanted to gain the last of sufficient knowledge to be able to grow as much food as possible in the event of a food chain disruption or grid-down.

So what is the big mistake? I was blindsided last night.

Two years in a row we’ve been hit with a hail storm in roughly mid-September. Both years it destroyed our garden with the exception of the strawberry plants. We now have a plan in-place to deal with that this year…more on that in a later post. Last night was different.

Background: We monitor two different nearby locations for our weather forecasts, there is not one for our immediate area…we live in the sticks. Both nearby locations are within 5 miles. For the most part the forecasts are pretty spot on. Last night was different.

I’ve been working really long and hard hours for several weeks lately…this morning I decided to sleep in way late…I got up about 5:45. I slept so well last night it was amazing! Cool night air coming in through the windows and just a perfect night for sleeping. Then I woke up.

Problem: One of the first things I check when I get up each morning during the growing season is the outside temperature. And yes, the inside temp as well in case I have to turn on the electric baseboard heaters for my wife. I was stunned when I saw the outside temp was 32^o outside!

Besides my berries I have my potatoes in the ground and coming up beautifully. I am also experimenting with planting some plants early and prepared to protect them if a freeze will hit. Last night it was supposed to be 37^o – 40^o…no lower…so no protection steps taken.

I have no idea what the damage will be yet. I know the berries can handle it and the potatoes should be fine as well. My experimental plants…who knows? But, I can afford to lose those since I have nearly 80 plants in my greenhouse that are my primary stock. And therein lies another problem.

I have a routine in the evening…that includes closing the greenhouse door and window. Yesterday was kinda cool so I left the door closed all day but had the window open for air circulation.

Remember I mentioned the long and hard hours I’ve been working? Last night I was exhausted and kinda took a little time to just veg…and I neglected some of my evening routine. And one item of that “some” was neglecting to close the greenhouse window. BIG MISTAKE !

I don’t know yet what the damage may, or may not, be. I think the damage won’t manifest it self clearly until tomorrow at the earliest. I am hoping for the best…a tender mercy. There were almost 80 plants in the greenhouse last night, if we lose those we are hurting big time when it comes to our garden this year. Actually we will be mostly wiped out for this year.

There will still be time to plant seed directly in the ground for many plants but not for things like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc. that need to be started indoors and then transplanted. You see we took the money that we would normally pay for plants from the store and invested it in the greenhouse and plant starting equipment. There is simply no budget to replace all those plants that might be lost from, last night. We’ll see.

So why am I sharing this experience, this mistake?

Remember the last two years of hail in September that destroyed the garden? Well, this would be the third year in a row of a major catastrophe making a serious adverse impact on our garden.

Think about that for a minute. Let’s say we were living in a grid-down scenario right now and had to depend on our garden producing food to supplement our food storage. That is 3 years straight that we would have lost part of the garden production…that could spell disaster!

I think it was 4 years ago, maybe 3, that I shared with you a real strong encouragement to start gardening. I said maybe not to become some master gardener with 2 acres under cultivation to feed your family year-round. What I encouraged you to do was to learn…that’s it. Learn your soil, your weather, what plants would do well in your climate, etc.. Just learn to garden so “if” the time came…you would have the skill-set to do so.

The same goes for me.

I will be doing a “lessons learned” post soon on this event and I hope you get something out of this post and the upcoming one. I know I learned a valuable lesson.

Related Articles –

• Garden: Hail and Starvation
• Garden: Let’s Talk a Minute…
• Glenn Beck, Destination, Prepping, & Gardening
• Top 3 Apocalypse Vegetables
• Why garden at all?
• Garden – 2021: 3/8/2021

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Let’s talk why to start seedlings indoors. In my area you have a 50% chance of frost (36^oF) by June 3rd. Two weeks later there is only a 10% chance of frost. Sure you can always cover the plants out in the garden if it looks like frost overnight, but that is taking a chance. Let’s say your tomato variety will take 2 – 3 months to produce ripe fruit.

In my area you have a 50% chance of first frost by the end of September. So let’s say you are being safe and you don’t plant your tomatoes outside until mid-June 3 months later you are looking at mid-September…and a 10% chance of first frost, 50% two weeks later. You are barely in your growing season window. And that is IF you don’t get a hail storm in the mean-time.

So why not start your tomato plants indoors 6 – 8 weeks earlier and get more fruit! (Yes, tomatoes are a fruit NOT a vegetable.)

So here is how I start my tomato seedlings in early April…

1 – I mix-up some home made potting soil < click here to read that article >

I check it to make sure I have the right pH level.

Then I use 16oz Solo cups for my seedling cups NOT regular seedling cups like you see at the stores. I put my own slits in the Solo cups to better uptake the water from the bottom. Why the bottom? It keeps your soil more evenly moist and helps prevent over or under watering. And as a bonus…it encourages roots to go deeper into the potting soil towards the water making a better root system for the plant.

I fill the cup halfway with my potting mix. Yup, just halfway…be patient.

I then place the Solo cup into a clear plastic cup about half full of water.

I place a quart size ziploc bag over it to keep the moisture/humidity and warmth next to the plant.

I place the tray on top of my refrigerator.

7 – 10 days later I get it down and here comes the magic…I add more potting mix about ½ way up the leggy stem and water that in.

It gets put in a south facing window with a grow-light on it.

Related Articles –

• Garden Tip: Potting Soil
• Garden: Q & A – Tomato Soil

Just an FYI…I don’t consider myself an expert gardener at all. I started as a kid watching my dad, and have gardened along the way. Still trying to learn the ins & outs here in the high-desert southwest. Make sure you do what is best for you soil and climate. Maybe even find a local expert with a  great garden…and then do what they do.

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No reproduction or other use of this content 
without expressed written permission from AHTrimble.com
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See Content Use Policy for more information.

Let’s talk the potting soil racket.

This year I have already planted 113 seedlings, maybe 40 – 50 yet to go. Does it get expensive to buy potting soil. Answer: Maybe.

So let’s set a base line first. I am comparing my home made potting soil to Sta-Green Potting Soil which is sold on Amazon for about $12. Making it cost just less than 19cents per quart. If you want throw in a more popular brand we can go with the 8 quart Miracle-Gro at Lowes for $5.38 per bag, or 67cents per quart. Your choice.

So far I have used about 38 quarts of potting soil. About $7 if I had used Sta-Green or about $25 is I had used Miracle-Gro. But…nope!

I looked into exactly what good potting soil is. It is basically made up of peat moss and perlite. Peat moss is decomposed organic matter that occurs naturally in cold, marshy ecosystems. Perlite is a natural mineral that expands when heated and becomes lightweight and porous. Peat moss becomes the perfect organic germination material for seedlings. Perlite is added to the peat moss to provide drainage so the peat moss doesn’t stay saturate with water and compacted. It also provides a slow-release way to keep the peat moss damp but not overly so.

So I made my own potting mix; 2 parts peat moss, 1 part perlite.

Yup, went out to my stash of supplies to get the peat moss and perlite.

The cost is almost too small to calculate but let me get in the ballpark…about 4cents of peat moss and 3cents of perlite per quart of home made potting.

Doing the math:

• Home made potting soil is 7cents per quart and 38 quarts…less than $3.00 for all my seedlings so far.
• Home made vs Sta-Green…almost 60% cheaper.
• Home made vs Miracle-Gro…almost 90% cheaper.

But you say Miracle-Gro has 6 months of fertilizer in it. Maybe, I say; depends on what you are growing. That is no problem for my home made potting soil idea. I add ¼ teaspoon of Dr Earth Pure Gold 2-2-2 Organic fertilizer and !BOOM! you now have potting soil with fertilizer. That ¼ teaspoon is added to my pint seeding container and then mixed in.

Here is a little secret for my tomato plants…I add half of my ¼ teaspoon (1/8 of a teaspoon) of bone meal to the pint seedling container and mixed in. Now there is a good mix for tomato plant seedlings…1/4 teaspoon of organic 2-2-2 and 1/8 teaspoon of bone meal.

Of course when all my plants go in the ground they get more organic fertilizer and also some gypsum for the tomato plants. (more on that in a couple of weeks)

If my seedlings will stay in their little indoor cups for more than a month I hit them with a little Dr. Earth Organic & Natural Root Zone® Starter Plant Food 0-2-2 at half strength (½ the normal concentration for mature plants). I would add the liquid mix to the watering cup, not directly on the plant itself or the potting mix around it.

So there you have it! If you are gardening AND starting your own seedlings AND want to save money this is one way to do it.

Here are my little plants so far…10 & 12 days after starting.

Note #1: I only use organic fertilizer in my potting mix, it doesn’t burn roots, etc.

Note #2: Canadian peat moss tends to be better quality overall. If you use any other peat moss, make sure it is organic and you sift out the sticks and stems.

Note #3: Before using the potting mix I add water to it. Just enough water to make it like a sponge. When you squeeze a handful of the mix just a couple of drops of water should come out.

Related Articles –

• Garden: Starting Tomatoes Indoors
• Garden: Q & A – Tomato Soil

Just an FYI…I don’t consider myself an expert gardener at all. I started as a kid watching my dad, and have gardened along the way. Still trying to learn the ins & outs here in the high-desert southwest. Make sure you do what is best for you soil and climate. Maybe even find a local expert with a  great garden…and then do what they do.

 2009 - 2024 Copyright © AHTrimble.com ~ All rights reserved
No reproduction or other use of this content 
without expressed written permission from AHTrimble.com
No legal, economic, or financial advice is given, no expertise to be assumed.
See Content Use Policy for more information.

First off…the greenhouse to the left is NOT what I am talking about. That greenhouse probably cost way more than my house did! It was just a nice picture and maybe just a bit of a trap for you.

What I am really talking about is a that anyone can build with limited tools, knowledge, and skills. A greenhouse that gets the job done at minimal cost, time, and effort. Something that every man can build and use.

I didn’t have any plans to go by before I started. I just had looked online at a couple others that are similar. Why no plans? Because I just wanted to see how easy it could be, how simple it could be.

I don’t need more space that to start about 70 – 80 plants. Why? Coz where I live there is only about 3 month growing season that you can 100% count on. Normally you can get 4 – 5 months but that isn’t assured. By starting plants indoors a couple months ahead of time you get a nice jump on growing season.

Based on the size of my garden (raised beds) and using the square foot methodology I only need to start maybe 70 – 80 plants. But, I also want to start about 20 Afghan pine trees as well. I figured a 6′ plastic table from Walmart should do it. The pines will trees will go on the ground when they get about 6″ tall. All that being said I figured a 7′ x 8′ usable floor plan would be plenty of room. I also wanted it plenty tall enough to comfortably stand up in. One additional issue, wind. We have some pretty strong wind events in the spring, it needed to stand up to that.

For the sides and top I decided on 16′ cattle panels. The are relatively inexpensive, $30 each. Plus they are made for outdoor use, are pre-assembled, and very strong when bent in a hoop form. And yes, I got the idea from others online. Doing some calculating I thought the height would only be about 6′ without adding any wood lifting up the sides of the panels. So the I added 2 levels of 2″ x 6″ dimensional lumber to the sides. The upped the sides by 15″ givingme a nice 7′ headroom clearance inside the greenhouse.

To create the corners I went with a standard 4″ x 4″ pressure treated wood post. The bottom row of wood that is in contact with the ground is 2″ x 4″ pressure treated wood.

So I laid it out real simple…

I laid it out just to get an idea of the footprint.

I used my Ryobi P234G impact driver. I also used deck screws. Why? because they are specifically made to be used outside, under stress, and hold firm. I used 3″ to make sure I had as much screw as possible to hold everything together.

Tip: Drive your screws in at a slight angle. This will make them hold even better.

I built the long sides first, on the ground where it was easy.

Then I just connected the sides with a 2″ x 4″ board. Notice I left about 9″ of the 2″ x 4″ on the left side hanging over. I will use that to “strap” down the windward side of the greenhouse making it a bit more resistant to the wind.

Then using 1″ x 3″ boards I added a lip to the outside of long sides. I wanted about 1″ of lip sticking above the side board material. If I were to do it again I would use 1″ x 4″ boards to make them a bit more secure.

I used these “lag” style screws to hold the 1″ x 3″ boards in-place. I also pre-drilled the holes through the 1″ x 3″ boards to make sure I didn’t split them. I picked up this screw in the clearance area of Lowes…great deal!! And they are really strong!

Now you can see the purpose of the “lips”, they hold the cattle panels structurally in-place from squirting out. But I wanted them even more secure.

I hope you can see that I used 3/16-in Zinc-plated Steel One-hole Strap Conduit Fittings. That little silver thingy. There will a better picture in a minute.

Here’s what I used to put them into place.

This is what it looked like with the panels in place. Notice I zip-tied the two panels together in the middle where they met up. I figured it would give them more strength connected like that.

Next came the ends. Also note, this is a better picture of the one-hole straps to hold the panels in-place. Notice I started the screws with the board laying down before I put them into place. The reason for the screw in the 4″ x 4″ is to support the 2″ x 4″ in-place so I am not trying to hold it level and drive the screw in at the same time. The 2×4 just sits on it pretty as you please.

Building the ends was pretty much a guessing game. This is the end that will have a window for ventilation but it also had to be sturdy enough to hold up structurally. See how the cattle panel end sits on the wood structure? Later you will see where I put a 2″x4″ beam in on the top for added weight structure if it got snow on it and it didn’t melt fast enough or just fall off.

Here’s what it looks like with both ends done, the beam put in, and the foam pipe insulation on the cattle panel exposed ends. And I also put Gorilla Tape on the seam where the two panels connect. Before I put the on I trimmed the zip ties.The pipe insulation is for 1/2″ pipe and the self-sealing kind. Yes, you will have to do a little cutting out around some of the wood.

The door opening is for the screen door to fit on the outside of the frame. If you want it to fit like a normal jam it is up to you. Yes, I could have cut the cattle panel end off to line-up with the edge of the wood framing. But as I said, I wanted this to simple and minimal. Also note, I didn’t use any framing on the sides, just the ends. The cattle panels give it enough support…I assume.

Here is a close up of the pipe insulation installation.

Here is how I put the Gorilla Tape on.Yes, I wanted to protect the plastic. And yes, it also gives some added strength to the panel joint.

And now comes the plastic. But, I didn’t want to use just any old plastic. I looked online for greenhouse plastic, found it. UV resistant, 6mil, blah, blah, blah. I found a greenhouse supplier with the right product, cost about $80 with shipping for a 20’x28′ custom cut piece. Ouch! So I decided…what-the-heck…I looked on HomeDepot. Same thing for $58 and free shipping. But, it was on sale so I ended up paying $35. Lesson learned: shop around.

Why 20’x28′ for a 7.5′ x 8′ greenhouse? When you measure the length from ground to ground over the 16′ cattle panels it came to almost exactly 20′. Then you consider the length of the greenhouse is 8′ plus two 7′ ends that came to 22′. Then I wanted enough left over for any mistakes and to cover the screen door.

On a non-windy day I got the plastic into place quite easily.

Then I strapped it down with these 20′ long 1″ straps from Amazon. I will post a picture of them directly below.

If you < click here > you will be taken to Amazon in a new window. If you purchase the straps this way I will earn about about 54cents…and I will appreciate it. You can also < click here > as well.

Notice how the strap ratchet is up against the wood and not just against the plastic? That is to help protect the plastic. Later I will put a couple layers of Gorilla Tape between the ratchet and the plastic to further protect it.

You can use these to connect the strap hooks to the wood. If you < click here > you will be taken to Amazon in a new window. If you purchase the tie downs this way I will earn about about 27cents…and I will appreciate it. You can also < click here > as well.

Here is where the fun starts…NOT! Figuring out how to fold the plastic into place is like wrapping a odd shaped Christmas present…good luck. You can see how I did it and it ain’t real pretty but it works.

You can see where I cut out the area inside where the window will go. But you can also see where I left enough plastic to wrap around the 2″x4″ window framing to help keep it in-place.

I did pull it snug, not tight. The pipe insulation gives you some cushion to play with. Also, notice I used roofing nails.

! DO NOT USE STAPLES !

If you use staples they will probably pull out over time…and will ripe your plastic as they do so. The roofing nails below will give you a much happier plastic.

And yes, you notice I used a couple of 1″x2″ furring strips horizontally to give the plastic more support. If you put the structural 2″x4″ on the outside vs the inside, then you won’t have to worry about the furring strips.

If you < click here > you will be taken to Amazon in a new window. If you purchase the roofing nails this way I will earn about about 8cents…and I will appreciate it. You can also < click here > as well.

Wrapping the plastic on the door end was much easier and more intuitive. Just wrap any way you want to as long as you are happy with it. I also cut out the area inside the door frame/jam area. If you don’t, then wind can build up pressure against it and potentially cause some damage.

At this point I was done for the day and the forecast showed bad weather for the next week. So all work has stopped on it for now. I will pick it back up in Part #2 once I can get back after it.

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I have done a tremendous amount of work getting my garden ready for 2024. I’ve built boxes, hauled in compost, bought pearlite, laid down landscape cloth, hauled in 4 tons of rock, put in a water line, put up fencing…okay, you get the idea…I’ve done lots of work to get ready.

I’ve also decided to do with the square foot garden methodology, makes sense for our situation. I know the bed soil I’ve made is really terrific, it grew veggies last year that were amazing!

So now I am ready to plant. Well, actually I’ve already started planting some of the spring veggies. I had a long conversation with my wife about what we really enjoy eating. Based on that I’ve developed a plan for the garden this year. I want to run it past you folks and get your ideas, thoughts, suggestions, and any warnings as well.

So here are my two gardens as of now.

This south garden gets exposed to full sun all day, and lots of windy days in the spring. I have plenty of irrigation on timers, watering is not a problem.

Here is my south garden plant plan…

This north garden gets limited sun, but little wind. Bed #10 gets the most direct sun, maybe 2 – 4 hours per day, late morning. Bed #9 gets almost no sun. Bed #8 gets 2 – 3 hours per day, late afternoon.  I have plenty of irrigation on timers, watering is not a problem.

Here is my north garden plant plan…

o there you go

So there you go! Now it’s your turn, I want to hear from you…you can post a “comment” below or send me your thoughts via the form.

Let me here from you…

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Before I get into the details of our garden set-up it is important to know what we are trying to accomplish. As you well-know, everything we build, buy, or develop has a specific mission. We define that mission so we know what success will look like.

For us we are not trying to be 100% self-sufficient with food production…not even close. We aren’t even trying to be big-time canning folks, although we do some canning. We also freeze some of our homegrown food. But, we also give away a bunch as well to those who can’t garden…for whatever reason. So our ‘mission’ for our garden is this…

To grow fresh food to enjoy throughout the gardening season, provide for others who are in need, and produce some extra to preserve.

Now, there is one minor catch to all of that…we do want to be prepared to produce large quantities of food if needed. Yeah, I mean ‘large’ quantities. How large? Large enough to provide most, if not all of our food, and more to share/trade with others. But, it goes further than that.

We have a…let’s call it a substantial food storage…and it is well-rounded; meaning, not just rice, beans, and wheat. In a grid-down situation anyone’s food storage will eventually run out. And, along the way you may get tired of just rice, beans, and wheat…food fatigue. That’s where a garden kicks in to add to food storage, extending it…and maybe being able to replace it…if done right. < click here to read about food fatigue >

So our mission priority list looks something like this:

1. Enjoy fresh food on our own table.
2. Providing fresh food to others who are in need.
3. Grow enough food to preserve it for use outside of the growing season.
4. Gain capacity to grow most/all of our own food in an extreme situation.

We also have a #1 Rule thanks to my wife…we only grow what we like to eat. We love tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, more tomatoes, onions, Anastasia beans, various peppers, garlic, more tomatoes, carrots, micro-greens, green beans, beets, squash, and tomatoes. And add to all of that…strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. We also do some herbs.

Due to space restrictions we don’t grow corn, potatoes, or any grains.

A little more background…

Our soil here is sandy with an underlying clay…and then sandstone a couple of feet down. The soil is void of organic matter and gets rock hard by early summer due to lack of rain. As for rain…we get no more than 13” of rain per year…tops. A lot of it hits during the monsoon season…yeah, kinda of an oxymoron. So we have to amend the soil and water…a lot. Why water and what a lot? Because it is normal for us to have 0% humidity along with breezes – winds.

Our first several years here we tried different gardening methods for in-ground…they all failed. Two years ago I tried container gardening with a ‘built’ soil…success! Last year I went with raised beds with really good built soil…amazing!! So everything we do now is raised bed gardening with the exception of the raspberries and blackberries; more on them later.

If you want to read about how I ‘build’ our soil and raised beds < click here >

We also have two different garden locations due to the intense sun here. The main garden is on the south side of the house. The secondary garden in on the north side of the house, shaded most of the day, and shaded almost all of the most intense sun times of the day.

So here is the main garden layout area south of the house (you can click on the pictures for the full view)…

click to enlarge

Here is the north side garden layout (you can click on the pictures for the full view)…

click to enlarge

You might notice that each garden area is fenced. Yeah, see we have a dog that thinks the organic fertilizer that I use is an appetizer. And she also thinks that the compost I use in the soil is the main course. I wrote about that before < click here to read about that >

Between the raised beds I put down landscape cloth and then rock material to keep down the grass/weeds. Why? Well, first off…the water from irrigation made the weeds and grass between the raised beds grow like crazy last year. And… last year we found a prairie rattlesnake hiding in the tall grass and weeds between two of the raised beds. Well, more specifically…my wife found it. She wouldn’t go into the garden area again until I did the weed-eater down to bare earth. < click here to read about that >

Couple added bits of information…

1. I am planning to build a small greenhouse in February. We need the added time sprouting our plants due to freeze as late as June 1^st and frost as early as mid-September. We also want to start our own plants to save the money from no longer buying plants from the store. Yup, I will do an article on that “cattle panel” greenhouse build. I might try doing a video on it.
2. We are going to go vertical also. We are going to try our cucumbers trellised. Yup, an article on that as well, if I build the trellis.
3. Here is the ‘big’ part…I am working on a 40’ x 60’ area of our yard as a 3^rd garden area should the need arise. It is a fairly flat area close to the house, inside of the chain-link fence house area, and close enough to a water supply. For two years I have grown a cover crop of grass. I also amended the soil with some compost. This year I am disc’ing up that part of the yard and putting down a pretty good layer of compost, working it in, and then planting grass again. When the time comes and the need is there, I can disc up that area and plant more crops…probably corn, potatoes, squash, and beans.
4. Our property is fairly large. I have a field, currently unused with grass growing, that is level enough. That field is about 6 – 7 acres total. I could disc it up, working in the grass for organic matter, and plant grains. It would be tough to water, but it could be done.

If you have any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, or questions…send me a note via the form below.

Related Articles –

• Lessons Learned – Garden 2023
• Rattlesnake in the Garden!!
• GARDEN: Our Strawberry Patch – Fall
• GARDEN: Strawberry Patch 2022 Fall Update
• Garden: Hail and Starvation
• Glenn Beck, Destination, Prepping, & Gardening
• Food Fatigue & PB&J
• (__XXX__) Fatigue
• TIP: Eating during emergencies, disasters, and grid-down
• Food Storage Methodology
• FOOD: Part 1 – Introduction

Contact me with your questions or send private messages…

 2009 - 2024 Copyright © AHTrimble.com ~ All rights reserved
No reproduction or other use of this content 
without expressed written permission from AHTrimble.com
No legal, economic, or financial advice is given, no expertise to be assumed.
See Content Use Policy for more information.