Growing Dome May 2015

My winter and spring haven is inside the Growing Dome, a snug, warm place when outside the wind is howling and temperatures are below freezing.

I have fun trying new veggie varieties, so in some ways the dome is like a laboratory. My dad often said, "Let's see what happens!" so that's what I do.

Below are Kalettes, a new brussels sprouts-kale hybrid, almost ready to pick. The little rosette in the center of the leaves are the Kalette part. The leaves look like normal kale, so I'll let you know how I end up cooking this lab experiment.

Just past the Kalettes are some new lettuce seedlings and Royal Burgundy green beans.

Here's a chard jungle. Everyone who visits or whom I visit, receives a bouquet of rainbow chard. Want a good chard recipe? Here you go.

 We've been eating lots of sugar snap peas. Our summer weather is cool, so more sugar snaps will be planted this week for the outside garden.

 The carrots aren't ready yet, but look good.

I'm trying for more flowers in the dome because they add color to the space.

Some pretty peonies.

And Trudy, look at the pomegranate plant you gave me a year ago Christmas! I didn't kill it.

One problem with growing inside are bug critters. In the past the dome has been host to aphids, white flies, and some black gnat-like annoyances who lived in the soil. We learn from our mistakes, one which was planting stuff too close together and allowing the soil to become too damp. Everything needs to dry out now and then to keep the creepies at bay. Right now I am playing host to crickets and roly polies, but they are manageable.

Two years ago was whitefly summer and the tomato plants slowly had their lives sucked out of them. I removed the affected plants, but it was just too late and those pests just never went away.  I ended up removing every plant and giving the dome a much needed airing out before replanting.

This year I am trying something new: the tomatoes are in Smart Pots, so if there is an infestation, I can remove the affected plant more efficiently. This looks like a good idea for peppers, since they seem to attract aphids.

So far, the tomatoes are growing well in their bags. I used a mixture of compost and potting soil and they will need trellising very soon.

I hope you enjoyed the update. Happy gardening!