2015 - It was a TOUGH winter

It was a long winter! There was plenty of time to research different ideas and plans for a slight redesign of the greenhouse.  New beds were made and now line both sides of the greenhouse. This provides considerably more growing space. New beds were made, 2 beds measuring 48 x 30 x 11.5 and 2 more measuring 70 x 30 x 11.5.

They were made slightly shorter than the first ones (these are 30" high). Being a short person, I found it difficult to really see what was going on in the back of the beds when the plants had matured.

They are lined as before, with pond liner. This time the bell siphons are in the front corners instead of in the middle of the beds. This allow uninterrupted space for the plants.

Another change to the bell siphons is that the outer tube (stone guards) are much bigger in diameter than before (now = 6"), allowing easier maintenance if something falls into the tube. Slits were put into the larger tube so that as the roots grow and begin to invade the siphon, a turn of the tube will cut those long roots and they will be able to be removed to keep the water flowing freely.  We were given guidance from www.bigelowbrook.com, Rob has a great list of "how-to" videos that helped us from making to many mistakes.

The pea stone was replaced with the lighter and more porous, expanded shale. These peas were started in dirt and were used as the first test to see how the plants settled into the new environment. All dirt was rinsed off the roots prior to planting. The nights are still pretty cold so it was a real test to see if they would appear strained the next day. Happily, they did not appear to be stressed at all and seem very happy in their new home.