So far so good here. We've been in the mid-20s quite a few nights in the last couple of weeks.
I've got several 4'x4' raised beds where I installed 10-foot pieces of 1/2-inch PVC pipe over 18-inch long re-bar pounded into the ground. I put 4-mil plastic over the PVC to make "hoop" houses that are about 3-foot high. They've worked great, and so far, no losses there.
I have one of the little $150 6x8 foot greenhouses that I bought at TSC a number of years ago. It is filled with shelving and big "Rubbermaid-type" containers. During most days the inside gets into the 90s. Even on cloudy days, it will get into the 70s when the air temp is in the 50s. At night, it pretty much follows the outside air temp. I've put cheap tarps around the outside to keep air from moving through where the greenhouse sides should meet the earth. I have a little 750 watt oil-filled "radiator" heater that I turn on when we expect frost or freezing. At 7:00 AM this morning it was 28 outside, and 49 in the little greenhouse. So far, my beets, carrots, bunching onions, onion sets, potatoes, strawberries, and multiple kinds of radishes, spinach, and lettuce are doing great. My "flats" with many kinds of peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, okra, spices, and cutting flowers -- you name it, all are doing fine.
I also have a bunch of other raised beds, which are actually my worm breeding boxes. My 35 year old son looked at them last week kind of puzzled, and asked "why do you have air vents in in your worm beds? They aren't air vents. They are 1/2-inch PVC pipe with 90 degree elbows on the top. They support tarps extremely well without damaging the tarps, and without crushing the veggies growing below.
It is time to go build a bunch more raised beds to go on the pond dam. When we bought this place seven years ago, the dam was covered with small pine trees that the previous owner was very proud of. He said they prevented erosion. Ever since I cut them out, I've had little success growing decent vegetation on the dam. I'm now going to put a series of raised beds on the dam that will be watered with a solar powered pump. The first three sets of beds will be 4' x 12', and 5-1/2-inches high, and made from pine salvaged from some shipping boxes/pallets. These three beds will be filled with seasoned horse manure, sand, and worm castings. They will be planted with strawberries. My plan is to let them get established this year and next. I'm figuring the pine will rot in the next couple of years, but that part of the dam will then be covered with strawberry plants. If I get berries, fine. If not, fine. These 50-or-so plants were pulled from an old strawberry patch.
Last week I started more horse radish in one of my "wetland" areas. It is a place that gets sun all day long and starts to get pretty wet by October, and doesn't dry out until late June. I'm going to let them go "invasive."
