Recent World Health Organization reports state that COVID-19 is here to stay and will soon become an endemic that we should all learn to live with. So, what impact will the endemic have on our dining culture? Mandatory temperature checks at the restaurant entrance, large gaps between tables, and being served by robotic masked waiters?
From the 430 BC Athens plague to the Middle Ages’ Black Death and the Spanish Flu in the modern era, pandemics have always shaped the way people live whether in cities or in farming communities. The current COVID 19 is no exception to the rule. Presently, the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the entire global community in every imaginable way possible, from economy and healthcare to food supply.
Urban gardening could be one of the greatest answers to peace, prosperity, and well-being. Next to water, food is one of the most essential tangible things in life. Food fuels the ability to work, to think, to invent, to play, even to love.
Greenhouses help us produce more food for a longer time - we know this already! But what if we went the extra step and took our greenhouse to the next level? Greenhouses alone can extend the growing season by months - without any extra heating.
Many people have fond memories of their grandparents. Let's face it, they are the best when you’re a little kid. Most grandparents are full of amazing stories about their lives and they create fun memories. Here are some fun ideas for family gardening that we have learned from grandparents.
Don’t be discouraged by the cost of building your own greenhouse, as greenhouse gardening is really the newest innovative way to garden. You need to weigh up the gains from greenhouse gardening against the cost you will incur from building it.
After reading this article, it will become obvious that the benefits of greenhouse gardening far outweigh the costs.
Many herbs take well to growing in a sunny kitchen window, although some will bolt, as in send up a flower stalk and try to set seeds, much earlier at room temperature. Constantly harvesting indoor-grown herbs can keep them in a constant state of renewal.
A greenhouse is a perfect place to get herbs started for the season, and also to grow more tender or tropical selections like basil, bay leaf, marjoram, and lemongrass.
Knowing how to regulate the temperature and keep it from rising to levels that could potentially kill your plants is essential if you’re to have a consistent, healthy crop and while in Britain moderating winter temperatures is more difficult, maintaining productive temperatures during the summer can be just as important.
Growing your own produce in a greenhouse is an incredibly fulfilling and enjoyable pass time, but as with any hobby that requires a degree of skill and knowledge, the learning curve can be quite steep. Even when growing the hardiest of plant species, there is a large number of variables that can affect growth rates and the success of a yield.
If you like growing flowering plants for decorative use as well as edible crops in your greenhouse, the petunia is an excellent choice to plant at this time of year. Unlike some other plants you can grow from March, petunia plants do not need an additional heat source in early spring, and will grow comfortably in the shelter of your greenhouse.
Those who are new to greenhouse gardening often think that glasshouses are best suited to growing flowers, herbs, and perhaps cool season crops like leafy green vegetables. The common belief among novices is that “picky” summer vegetables like tomatoes and peppers can be started in a greenhouse in late winter or early spring, but must be moved outdoors once the weather warms up.
Most garden pests die off over winter because it is cold and they can’t survive in freezing temperatures, but in the relatively comfortable environment of a greenhouse, any remaining pests will thrive. Slugs, aphids, red spider mite and mealy bugs all like to hibernate in hidden places inside a greenhouse. If you don’t eradicate them before spring, your newly sown seedlings will provide a tasty banquet for them to feast on. A deep clean will help you locate any sneaky slugs and other pests before they cause havoc when you start sowing seeds.
We're all tempted to grow the extremes, the biggest or most flavourful and with chilli peppers, the hottest. But do think it through, there's little point in putting a lot of effort into growing a pepper that is so hot you can't actually use it. A milder variety means you can add flavour as well as heat to a dish where even one of the super-hot chillies can be too hot to taste and just makes the dish hot.
Greenhouses provide a warm, safe environment for gardeners to grow their precious plants and tender seedlings, but they are not always very environmentally friendly. But don’t worry because there are lots of ways you can make your greenhouse greener.
At one time ring culture was a popular greenhouse growing method for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and melons. The idea was that water was supplied to the plants through a trench filled with aggregate and the plants were fed via the compost held in bottomless pots placed onto the aggregate.
At the end of the season the plants and the small amount of compost would be recycled into the garden and the aggregate removed and cleaned. This was less work than digging out and replacing border soil each year but still fairly time consuming.
It's pretty obvious that the larger the greenhouse, the higher the cost of heating it but it is possible to curtain off a section of the house in the winter with bubble-wrap and reduce the volume that has to be heated.
Greenhouse gardening is the best way to undertake winter gardening because it allows you to enjoy your hobby when it's freezing cold outside. Of course, if you want to see success here, there are some things you will need to do. Keep reading to find out more.
The first thing to decide is how much of your greenhouse you want to keep warm and so need to insulate. Usually a greenhouse starts to fill when the weather is warming in spring and in the cold of winter it's probably just overwintering some tender perennials and getting an early start on some seedlings so not needing all the available space.
Things will grow very slowly if at all in December and January. Not so much because of the temperature but because the length of the day is at its shortest around the winter solstice (21st December). They will be gathering their energies ready to leap ahead come February when the days noticeably lengthen so long as the greenhouse is at least frost free.
Usually though, those buying their first greenhouse won't realise how immensely useful they are until they have gone through a season. My first greenhouse was a 6x8, six feet wide and eight long.
That first summer I found myself trying to cram in 5 varieties of tomato, 3 types chilli peppers, 3 types of sweet pepper, cucumbers, aubergines and hanging baskets being brought on for the summer.
Greenhouses serve to both extend the growing season and to provide better growing conditions during the season, enabling us grow tender crops such as tomatoes and aubergines even in a bad summer.
In a good summer though the greenhouse can become a very hostile climate to grow in. It's surprising how quickly the temperature can soar to levels that kill our plants as surely as if they were put in the oven. That same sunlight that powers photosynthesis and growth can turn to scorching, killing the leaves.
To be honest, cleaning the greenhouse on a cold winter's day is not the most pleasant of tasks but it has to be done. Over the year the glass gets dirty and possibly has algae growing on it which will reduce the light that gets through by as much as 10%.
The other reason to thoroughly clean the house is to kill off the pests and problems that are overwintering inside, sheltered from the elements.