Set up a watering system a couple days ago for the spinach.  Sprinklers called “mini-wobblers” on 3′ risers.  They were supposed to cover 15′ area.  They were a little shy of that so some hand watering was and will still be necessary, as long as watering is appropriate.  I’m thinking of setting up a different system next year.  Possibly using the same sprinklers, but rigging them to water overhead, with one row of sprinklers on each side.  I’m wondering if our water pressure is a factor in the coverage.  I thought we had pretty serious pressure, but maybe its not all I imagined.  Anywho, the spinach has been thoroughly soaked per recommendations from other growers, and I feel like the spinach is loving it!  Watering your plants seems obvious, but soaking them seemed to make a difference in this case. 

Oh yeah, the greenhouse gets pretty hot when the sun is out.  Its been in the 50’s and sunny the last couple days, and wow, the greenhouse really heats up in the sun.  My gander at this stage of limited experience, is that the difference in temperature from outside is about 10 degrees on a cloudy day and 20 or more sunny days.  Pretty wild!

Chilliest morning yet…7:30am, upper teens outside, 34 degrees in the greenhouse.  No sign of frost inside the greenhouse.  I feel like I can project at this early stage in my greenhouse experience, how the orientation can affect the light and heat in the greenhouse.  I feel I can imagine how it would be warmer in there if it were oriented East/West.  I’m thinking now that since this house is North/South, I should plant my winter crop earlier than October 2nd next fall.  We shall see.

This is a picture of the spinach at about 30 days.  It has certainly grown in the last week.  If anyone has any comments about the germination, I’d love to hear about it.  I’m not sure if this is par for the course or what.

First snow on the new greenhouse this morning! Thought it might melt off by mid-day but its still hanging on. Mid to high 30’s outside and around 50 in the greenhouse. Watered the spinach. Not sure if that was the right move or not in light of the cold, but I guess we’ll find out. Supposed to be coldest night of the season tonight, high teens low 20’s, then get warmer later into the week. Spinach looks good but I’m questioning the estimations of how much it will produce. Its just not looking like 900 lbs is going to come out of it.