Goodbye to the Greenhouse...

After looking at the pictures of the 2010 tomatoes and cucumbers compared to what they looked like this year, and in 2009, I have decided to say goodbye to the greenhouse.  Well, not goodbye, exactly.  It will be transformed into next years potting shed!  Last year, the greenhouse was out of commission, so I erected a hot-house of sorts.  I bent some old tent poles into one of the raised beds and covered the whole thing with clear plastic.

By August, this is what it looked like in there...

2009 and 2011 the tomatoes and cucumbers were planted in the greenhouse.  There isn't a consistent temperature inside at all, and although I have a fan system set up, it doesn't seem to make much difference.  I don't have raised beds installed, so the plants are in large plastic rubbermaid buckets.  They were all spindly, putting out few branches and only providing 2 or 3 fruits per plant.  Seriously, it was so pitiful that I didn't even want to take any pictures in there this year!

So, the greenhouse potting shed, will be put to much better use next year, giving me a small area for transplanting etc., but more importantly, a place to store all my assorted pots and containers, as well as garden tools, or anything else I can fit in there!  Instead of growing the tomatoes and cucumbers in the greenhouse, I will build a moveable frame (I practice crop rotation) to which I can attach plastic each year.  Then I can plant them in one of the raised beds and attach the frame over the top.  Hopefully, the harvest will be much more bountiful in 2012!