The Rusted Garden Journal

Friday, November 29, 2013

Five Videos on a Fall Greenhouse for Cool Weather Vegetables in Maryland Zone 7 - The Rusted Garden 2013

Five Videos on a Fall Greenhouse for 
Cool Weather Vegetables in Maryland Zone 7 

Greens from the Fall Greenhouse - The Rusted Garden 2013

I completed a 5 part video series on a fall greenhouse in Maryland Zone 7. It covers the periods of mid September through late November. They should give you some good ideas to use in your greenhouse. This first video will show you some tips and tricks to secure your greenhouse plastic and frame. It will also show you two ways to create radiating heat sources for additional warmth at night. Each new video will cover topics like disease and pest management, planting cool weather crops, heating elements and more. 

 


This is the 2nd of a 5 part video series on managing a vegetable garden greenhouse in the fall. This video is about the organic management of diseases and insects. I show you how to use Bt, iron phosphate, baking soda and soapy water to manage problems in the greenhouse.




This is 3 of 5 videos on a fall/winter greenhouse in Maryland Zone 7. The 5 videos will generally cover all aspects of growing cool weather crops in the green house. This is one planting strategy for a fall greenhouse that does not have a heat source.


 


This in video 4 of 5 on fall greenhouses in Maryland Zone 7. Leafy greens are mostly water and leaf. You want to use a water soluble organic fertilizer that primarily adds nitrogen. I am feeding my greens every 2 week with an 8-0-0 organic nitrogen fertilizer made from fermented beet molasses. The video highlights the fertilizer mix I use, a method for watering and the greenhouse failure to stop frost at 30 degrees.




This is the last of a 5 video series on a fall/winter greenhouse in Maryland Zone 7. It has been just about 9 weeks since the greenhouse went up and I am getting my first production to plate today. This video shows you some planting methods for cool weather crops, the overall production into late November (Zone 7) and my first harvest. I highly recommend a greenhouse. I will be do a conclusion and review video on the whole experience in a couple of months.




Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Solar Soda/Beer Can Heater - Temperature Output Tests: 145 Degrees

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Over 800 Garden Videos Designed to Quickly Present Information!

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Solar Soda/Beer Can Heater 
Temperature Output Tests: 145 Degrees!


This was the first test. I did a second follow-up test to support the numbers. It was about 35 degrees out with 20 mile an hour winds. The solar soda/beer can heater generated heat with an output temperature of 145+ degrees. I used a digital meat thermometer in the test.  I am very happy with the output of this small scale design. 
I present both the test videos and the basic video for constructing a solar soda/beer can heater for your greenhouse. Success!




Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
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Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Basics About Using a Wireless Thermometer in Your Garden Greenhouse

The Basics About Using a Wireless Thermometer 
in Your Garden Greenhouse

The main benefit of a wireless thermometer is that you can read temperature data from inside your house. For about $15 you can get a digital wireless thermometer. It is much easier to monitor greenhouse temperatures from in the home versus going out and reading outdoor thermometers. This model has a 165 foot range between sensor and display. You can watch temperatures change over a period without having to go outside. You can make decisions on how you may have to manage your greenhouse from the comfort of your house. Too hot or too cold can be bad thing.


Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
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Friday, November 22, 2013

Complete Steps for Building A Solar Thermal Soda/Beer Can Heater for A Greenhouse

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Over 800 Garden Videos Designed to Quickly Present Information!

Please Support The Rusted Garden by Shopping through my Amazon Affiliate Link

Complete Steps for Building A Solar Thermal Soda/Beer Can Heater for A Greenhouse
(Originally from my blog: My First Vegetable Garden)

Please Visit The Rusted Garden Vegetable Seed and Garden Shop

I am very excited about this video. It took about a week or so to make and it was seven parts I edited together. The entire video is 20 minutes long (longer than my typical videos) but it demonstrates every step needed to build your own 'Solar Thermal Soda/Beer Can Heater for A Greenhouse'. It was a lot of fun to make. Here is what it teaches in a nutshell. And remember you can swap out parts and pieces. This is teaching guide.

Solar Thermal Soda/Beer Can Heater - The Rusted Garden

Solar Can Heater Concept:

  1. All the parts and costs
  2. How to drill, seal and stack the cans 
  3. How to build the box out of Poly Board/Styrofoam
  4. Hot to paint and arrange the cans
  5. How to seal the glass
  6. Another video will show it's use and output


It will teach everything you need to know to build one yourself. I only use 20 cans in stacks of 4 as it is a small scale design. My goal is to add some heat to a small greenhouse. Some designs use 200-300 cans with stacks of 25. People use solar heaters, of that size, on the sides of their houses to supplement standard heating methods. This is a great solar concept that works and can be adapted to meet your garden needs.

I will be using the individual videos to highlight specific steps on creating a solar heater. Some people don't like 20 minute videos or just need to know how to drill, seal and stack the aluminum cans. This video shows you just that step for creating the aluminum can columns. It is part of the 20 minute larger video.



Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
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Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Just About 10,000 Subscribers On My YouTube Gardening Channel: Help Please...

Just About 10,000 Subscribers On My YouTube 
Gardening Channel: Help Please...


I have had my YouTube Channel for a couple of years and today I am approaching 10,000 visitors. I could use a little help in breaking 10K and starting me on my way to 20,000 visitors by the end of next year. If you have a chance to subscribe or could forward my channel I would be deeply thankful.

Gardening is a passion and my whole path started with an answer to a question I have been posting. The answer to who influenced me to discover gardening was my grandfather.

My YouTube Channel: The Rusted Garden

I was in second grade. My grandfather would come over every year with tomatoes and some seeds and plant a garden. I would always help. My 2nd or 3rd grade science project was pictures of seeds and what they grew into (shot with a Polaroid). Dang I am old.

He use to open his coffee can and throw some white powdery stuff into the tomato planting hole and always say "It sweetens the soil." Those memories keep him alive. They are always with me.

I remember some kids laughed at my science project. Not meanly but they just didn't get it. I still am amazed at what a single seed can create. A magic. I would grow stuff as a kid but it wasn't until about 15 years ago, I really took over my grandfathers roll. Now gardening is a passion and way of life.

That is why I like sharing it with everyone that will humor me. It is the passion that keeps the video camera rolling in the garden. I just really enjoy it...Thanks!



Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
Follow and Organize The Rusted Garden on Pinterest

Sunday, November 10, 2013

How to Repair Garden Greenhouse Zipper Seam Tears with Duct Tape

How to Repair Garden Greenhouse Zipper Seam Tears 
with Duct Tape

I have been blogging and doing a video series on greenhouses for growing fall and hopefully winter greens. This video focuses on repairing the tears that often form along the zipper seams of the plastic greenhouses. The seam where the zipper attaches to the plastic is quite weak generally and poorly designed in the model I have. 



Duct tape can be used to repair tears along the seam of the zipper in greenhouses. In this video I repair the actual tear with painter's tape (you can use duct tape) and reinforce the whole zipper seam. The duct tape is used to reinforce the seam and staples are used the join the layers of tape, greenhouse plastic and the zipper seam.

Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
Follow and Organize The Rusted Garden on Pinterest

Monday, November 4, 2013

How to Make a Cheap Tomato Garden Container from a Cardboard Box

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Over 800 Garden Videos Designed to Quickly Present Information!

Please Support The Rusted Garden by Shopping through my Amazon Affiliate Link

How to Make a Cheap Tomato Garden Container from a Cardboard Box 

Any cardboard box can be made into a vegetable planting container for under two bucks. If you use a box you have then you can do it for under one buck.

The video shows you how to make the container with a box, 2 trash bags and some basic hardware you can get in the electrical or plumbing isle of stores like Home Depot.

You can grow 1 tomato in a box this size or 2 peppers or 1 cucumber plant. A simple cheap container!


Join My New YouTube Channel Just for NEW Gardeners: My First Vegetable Garden

Join My Google+ Community Our Tomato and Vegetable Gardens (2500+ Members!)
250 HD Short and to Point Garden Videos: My YouTube Video Gardening Channel
Follow and Organize The Rusted Garden on Pinterest