GREENHOUSE
Jack Schmidling Productions, Inc.
Marengo Illinois
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GREEN HOUSE
We have always dreamed of having a green house. This one isn't exactly a dream
come true but it was a place to start. It cost $25 at the local Farm and Fleet and
seemed like a way to test the possibilities. It had some serious problems so we
bought another one for spare parts.
The bench blocking the entrance is to discourage the "lawnmowers" from helping themselves to treats.
It quickly became obvious that greenhouses work. Our starter plants were two
to 3 times taller and more robust than what we had started in the house in previous years.
We decided to invest "a bit more" money into the program and came up with this
one after much shopping around. The 4 hours estimated assembly time turned into more like 4 days
due, primarily to the very poor quality of hardware supplied with the kit.
The actual structural parts and glazing are very nice but it's like the kingdom that was
lost because of a faulty horseshoe nail. For some reason, the Chinese just can't get the
nuts and bolts right and the crude instructions didn't help much either. I definitely would
not recommend this model to anyone without a gift for improvising.
But, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. This picture shows Marilyn holding
the most beautiful head of lettuce we have ever grown.
This is a view of the inside in late Fall. The exhaust fan has been covered and replaced
by an electric heater and we have begun to insulate it for Winter heating. Bubble wrap is
great for this as it still allows light in while providing a considerable measure of insulation.
Some of the more conspicuous plants are the giant Zinnia, tomatoes, banana tree,
orchids, cucumbers and the Abutilon Marilyn is holding.
GREEN HOUSE
I think this photo probably needs no explanation but it's hard not to gloat over
picking a tomato in December.
We have been picking them off and on since the vines in the
garden crashed but I waited for a good snow fall to really drive home the point.
We haven't received an electric bill since we started heating the greenhouse
seriously so I can't come up with the cost of a tomato but we didn't do this
to save money. Saving our sanity during long Winters is probably the main
rationalization.
This is a close up of the vine the above tomato was picked from. It was one of
the plants started in early Spring for planting in the garden. We kept this one
in the greenhouse just to see how long it would fruit.
As can be seen from the foliage, it is no longer a happy plant and will probably
not produce anymore.
There are two new plants that we started in August which have large tomatoes just
beginning to ripen.
COTTON
Gossypium hirsutum
With the temperature heading for 10 below tonight, I can't resist bragging about our green house again.
This fully ripened cotton boll is one of about 5 ready for picking with a few new flowers still forming as of Feb 10, 2008.
We have tried unsuccessfully to grow cotton here but the season is just too short, even starting them inside. The bolls are still green when the frost kills the plants.
No such problem in the green house.
Although not very glamorous at this point, the flowers are very beautiful.
When first open, they are a creamy white and then turn to deep pink and fall off.
