Happy new Year to you and your family.

I love your “in twelve straight lines, they went to bed. . . “

CC, funny, but I just drew up a lap-pool house last week. Tiny little building, smaller than the greenhouses…hmm! But: I’m more a gin-and-tonic kind of girl when it comes to poolside sippies. Not that I would turn down a margarita, mind.

Paula, it took about a year of direct observation before I really “got it,” as it’s quite different than outdoor gardening. Easier in some ways, a lot harder in others, mainly because it’s literally up to you to manage things you leave to mother nature otherwise (water, heat).

Kelli, well! You don’t do lettuce? What about spinach, or mache, or arugula? There are other things outside the direct lettuce family that you should try, and you might just like. So. Indoor growth. You’re right: you need more light. I know there’s this one product on the market that’s kind of space-age but is aimed at growing your own salad. Any grow light would work though. The cooler the better, frankly: other than germination, salad stuff prefers it on the cold side. And yeah, it’s okay: there’s a seed list at the top. I try not to crap up the blog with lots of links and sidebar nonsense but maybe I am hiding things a bit too well!

MC, thanks! It’s fun to just think about the greenhouses, too: I spend a lot of my day doing just that. And today is really cold (19* at 10a.m.) but super sunny so that means I get to go sit in them over lunch, when it’ll be about 70 in there!

Hi Jennifer, glad to hear you’re giving greenhouses a go too! Well, weed control between the beds: you’re right, I put down cardboard then heaped wood chips on top of them. The great thing about greenhouses are any weeds are usually of your own making: like the beets growing between one set of beds in my greenhouse now. In other words, other than the occasional dandelion, weeds are not a problem between the beds at all. The beds themselves, well…the soil has a lot of compost and the compost has a few weed seeds. That’s gardening!

John Michael, thanks, excellent suggestion! And cheap-ish too. I’ll put it on my shopping list. And likewise I am glad to hear you’ve made your own. Green onions are great, and so fresh. If I were to have one that size, I would likewise sneak some thyme and parsley in it too as for me those are quality-of-life herbs

Jennifer: I think he means those things that are the next step up from paper clips. You know, the ones that are usually black and have two spring-like prongs? There are some that are book-sized so that’d be the way to go with these pipes.

Kellie, thanks! You snuck in there as I was typing this up. That’s wonderful I found some at a scrap yard but they wanted me to take a 3′ wide spool home with me: cheap too but goodness, that’d be enough pickets for 1000 greenhouses! Home Despot sounds so much more manageable

They call it tension wire & sell 170 feet of 9 gauge wire for around $17.00

For the bed covers, I find large binder clips to be perfect for securing over pvc.

Thanks for the pictures and the cloth idea. My chard and chicory just wilted to death with our recent cold snap so I’ll try that next year.

Curious – do you have ground felt or plastic down between beds? I remember your older pics with cardboard…how do you handle weed control between rows?

I put down the thick, black, woven plastic and did my own version of straw bale gardening on top of it, but plan to cut it in bed shape before staking in the wood bed frames in Feb..

I love the greenhouse updates, thanks.

Long story short, I still have lots of questions about how to do this and wondering if you or any of your readers would be kindly willing to offer any advice. What varieties would do well? Also, what are good sites for ordering the seeds? Thirdly, the room I am thinking of is cool (50 degrees or so) and has a west-facing window. I have read that may not be enough light – would I need grow lights?

Any resources or advice would be well-appreciated. The sites I have found, save for one, are about starting seedlings to transplant outdoors and my intent is to grow them indoors for their whole lives. I love following your blog and all of your food adventures. Thanks for writing it!

Not criticizing, just wonder what is your reasoning.

[Another five inches of snow today. Be a good day to stay inside and bake bread. Think I will try the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes book today.]