Green is the Word

Green grass, green plants, greenhouses, green is the word of the day.  Of course I have to admit there are a few white flakes out there floating around but this is only April in Montana.  It always amazes me, when the spring snows melt, the grass is suddenly green. 

I have been working in my greenhouse this week since it is again pretty cold outside.  Bob helped me make a couple of raised beds and fill them.  This is the third summer for my greenhouse and I am still trying to make it work.  It is on a very wet piece of land barely  above water level.  Last summer I did not need to water until late summer.  The water came up from the bottom and kept everything wet, actually too wet, thus the raised beds.  I am using Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening method.  The dirt in my beds are 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost.  The compost is a mixture of five different kinds of compost.  I am hoping to keep the plant roots a little dryer but I am also hoping to utilize the ground water for easy watering.  Time will tell.  I use my greenhouse for beans, zuchinni, peppers, cukes, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, and year around lettuce.  

I have planted lettuce and onions so far but I have tomatoes blooming in the sunroom.  They will go into the greenhouse in about another month.  They are in bottomless pots and will also go into the ground to use the ground water.  We are still eating last year's crop in soups and sauces so I know this method works for tomatoes.