Greenhouse raising

Hi Bob. Actually it did tear the clear cover pretty bad, but I was planning on changing it this year anyway, the black webbed stuff is the shade cloth, and it's alright. Almost every bow split at the center about 75% of the way around. The bows are 1 5/8″, I could sleeve them with about 6″ sections of 1 3/4 and weld them on. This proves that this was the most snow we've had at one time in the last 13 years, that's when I put the greenhouse up. At least I'm not alone. Misery loves company, and there are many, many greenhouses around here that met the same fate. Worst case scenario, I make a jig for my truck to haul 7 of these bows over from the valley. That would weigh 300# and set me back $305.00 plus gas.

Or not leaving the roof clearing snow rake on the ground where it gets buried in….snow.

Strictly for personal use. I start tomatoes, onions, peppers, and later squash and pumpkins to give them a head start for our short season. I'll buy tomato and pepper plants later and put them in increasingly larger pots so they are 3' tall or so when they go out. I only start from seed varieties we like but can't find in stores. I grow Cipollini onions from seed because I can't find plants or sets ( my wife really likes them). Our last frost date is around June 7th, the first date in fall is a crap shoot. Could be September 1st, could be the beginning of November.

You really have to know your market and have skills to survive in a commercial setting here. On the other side of the Cascade range is the valley where everything grows like crazy. They have the perfect weather and even our soil! When the Snake river and Columbia gorge were formed water flooded through and deposited top soil in the valley. Our “Central Oregon Moon Dust” is 6″ to 2' deep, the top soil in the valley is up to 600' deep! Oh, and they have water too. But we get a winters worth of potatoes, beans, peas, sometimes corn, peppers, onions, carrots, etc.

Heirloom tomatoes, I see them in catalogs and in the store, but they are full season. If I had time I would try a few and keep them in the greenhouse. But that is a good example of something to grow commercially in a small operation. Small market, bring a premium of double or triple the price of regular tomatoes so you could eke out a profit.

 The late frost date and cool nights means you really have to be a sucker for punishment to be a gardener around here , but there are a lot of us trying anyway. The mountains, lakes, streams, clean air and small town low crime rate living more than make up for it.