Reclaiming My Greenhouse (and Some Lessons Learned)

Inside My Greenhouse

It's mid-October and the 90-degree days here in rural northern Virginia are (hopefully) behind us. Which means I can again enjoy time in my greenhouse!

We built the greenhouse with summer ventilation in mind. A number of the reclaimed windows are hinged, we have doors on either end, and a double fan-and-vent system that pushes the hot air through and out of the structure. Still, the greenhouse is typically 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the outside temperature. Which means from June through September the temperature in the greenhouse was typically over 100 F. (I think the highest I saw was 112 F.) Even my Christmas cactus wasn't happy. In June we moved all the plants and citrus trees to our back deck for the summer. It felt odd to have a greenhouse without any plants in it.

Every year I dry herbs from my garden to incorporate into the chicken feed over the winter. Before the greenhouse, I did this in my home office using a mesh drying cylinder my son and daughter-and-law gifted me. It was nice having the smell of drying herbs as I worked there. In June I hung the cylinder in the greenhouse, loaded it with thyme, oregano, basil, sage, and rosemary cut from my garden, and left on a scheduled business trip. When I returned, I was dismayed to find nothing but gray, desiccated leaves and stems. Lesson learned: drying in the greenhouse during the summer takes no more than three days.

But now it's mid-October, the mornings are chilly, and in the evenings Tim and I sit around the firepit with libations in hand. 

And I once again have plants in the greenhouse. I look forward to harvesting peas, cukes, tomatoes, and lettuce throughout the winter. I can't wait to share with you in my next blog the results of my experiment in growing tomato seedlings from a grocery store tomato versus one from the farmers market.

Oh, and in other news, The Forager Chefs Club was released by Koehler Books on October 8! If you like foraging, farm-to-fork, forest-to-fork cooking–whether doing it or eating it–please order your copy! The Forager Chefs Club is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com, Bookshop.org, or select indie Virginia retailers like Birch Tree Bookstore in Leesburg, Twigs Gift Shop in Purcellville, or Sidesaddle Bistro in Middleburg.