It's baaack!

As of right now, I don't have the window in the endwall, through which I took the picture in 2014. It's cooking under the late afternoon sun but there are no plants in there. The window can go in tomorrow morning.

I can't make too much noise early. My good neighbor still works late, and sleeps late. I watched this morning for Buddy the dog to be out sleeping in the shade of that garage before showing up to hammer in rebar stakes to hold the 3/4" pvc hoops. They're up and tied, film is stretched and tacked down with lathe.

Year 4, in the shed.

Steve

Fantastic! I want one! Great work, congratulations.

How kind of you to be mindful of your neighbor - I shudder at the lack of regard for others I see so often these days. Kudos!

Buddy the dog hammers rebar? Excellent!

I have a very good relationship with Buddy and I always wake him gently before I do anything to make noiseシ.

Buddy showing up in the yard indicates that my neighbor is awake and up to face the day ...

Keep in mind that I'm a guest and this shed is through a door in our fence. The neighbor built the fence, then asked if I wanted his small garden to use. I said a small part of it for a few weeks every spring would sure help! He could use the shed about 10 months out of the year and I could provide plants for his garden. I pull down the plastic and pvc pipe when I leave for my side of the fence in May.

Steve

Please, will you move next door to me? Buddy welcome too!

The trappings of the system are likely too much for DW and me to move 1,000 miles even with Buddy's help, Max'!

I moved the 800w heater in the shed and the little fan behind it. "Corabell the sensor" said it was 49°f in there at 5:30am. As soon as I opened the backdoor, I realized that that the heater and fan would not be protecting the frost-hardy plants in there from anything. It was raining. I still gave the heating system a 10 minute trial run.

Thursday night it's supposed to clear and drop into the 30's. By then, I may have some tomatoes and peppers in there. I don't get real antsy until the lows go below 30° but none of the warm-season plants have been in temperatures below 60°. 800w is barely adequate (or, inadequate) to keep the hoop house above 50°, then.

Steve

Maybe some floating cover or equivalent might help?

and, ok, you don't have to steal your neighbors dog and move 1000 miles just for me. Actually, our neighbors are not at all bad.

I'm bothering with the heat in there, this morning.

It's the first night for tomatoes to be in the shed, so their first experience with below 60°f surroundings.

It was 48° in there at 3:15am so I wandered on outdoors. The shed and hoop house are now several degrees warmer.

I think the fan and air movement helps control their growth. They are a bit spindly probably from both too little sunlight and too much heat on a few unusually warm and sunny afternoons. Still, the dozens of tomatoes out there look good and I need to try to keep them that way.

It is supposed to be a cloudy, rainy day but I will try to get a picture of things if there is adequate light.

Steve

Right now, the sky is clear and the temperature is dropping. The commitment of tomato plants has been made and the heater is on.

There is so much more room in the greenhouse with some of the older plants now in the shed! Of course, plants don't stand still ...

ت Steve

It will be a long day - up since 1:30. Weather Underground says I'm surrounded by temperatures in the 30's. After record high temperatures, I think that the frost may be back, this morning.

What a show with the moon and planets and the stars of the zodiak, hugging the southern horizon on this clear night!

I'm pleased that the moon is still so bright. It helps me see as I get power cords to heaters and fans ...

Out 3 times and it isn't 4am, yet. Once to set up "heating system," twice to check it. Now to wind down some. You've had your breakfast. Relax for awhile ...

digitZzzz

Sounds like an early bed time is in order. I'm not sure if I have the dedication to do all that... Let me rephrase that, I am absolutely certain I do not. It was hard enough for me to get woken up in the middle of the night with a child, doing so for plants is not something I see myself doing. Of course then I would wake up cussing and pissed because of it, there's really no pleasing some people you know...

Get some rest, you've earned it.

Zach, I can spend 8 hours in bed only a few times each year. If I'm gonna be up, I may as well be gainfully active. I asked the MD sometime after he had taken me off the last anti-inflammatory if there was something he could give me if in the future I'm really hurting and I'm hurting for sleep. He said there was - even the name scared me!

Four and a half, five hours - that's standard. And, I almost sleep better in the lazyboy. My expectation is that if I'm up before 3, I will doze off for another hour or so. After 3, I'm good until 9pm, anyway. I've always been a morning person ... now, I just hope I don't become the old guy who falls asleep at odd and inappropriate moments but ... that might be where I'm headed.

The forecast is for a little warmer tonight but it's already colder than this time, last night. I've got the heaters in place. This isn't so stressful, perhaps because there hasn't been too much cold this year and the warmer weather is about 10 to 14 days ahead of normal.

For the tomatoes, especially, I'm really trying to slow the tomatoes down with cooler temperatures. None of them are babies, now. I've got them spaced out so that they don't shade each other too much. Hardening off can begin soon. I'll have them out on the lawn with a sheet of plastic film over their "hoopie" at night. Right now, I'm using their taller hoopie as a second cover for some semi frost-hardy bedding plants. The tomato hoopie has 9' hoops. The interior one has 7' hoops.

this morning

Oh boy, it's 8:30! I think I will go to bed early and be ready to head out under the stars awhile before dawn. Good night!

Steve