Grow with a Pro, August edition
18th Nov 2024
We are very excited to bring you this blog/newsletter series by award-winning landscape architect and organic grower, Carl Pickens. With over 20 years experience, Carl has designed and built sustainable gardens across New Zealand. He's worked in landscape construction, managed an organic market garden and won gold at the Ellerslie international flower show. In 2019 Carl undertook a Winston Churchill Fellowship to study urban agriculture in Europe. Carl and his team are based in the Warkworth area and are focused on delivering sustainable, regenerative and permaculture-based approaches to landscape design and development. You can find his work at carlpickens.co.nz
A bit about Carl..
Glasshouse production has been an integral part of my growing experience. My grandad grew tomatoes in large glasshouses in suburban Avondale some 40 years ago (when heavy use of chemical spray was common). I cut my teeth so to speak growing in tunnel houses at Hohepa farm Canterbury in the mid 2000’s and had a Redpath plastic covered greenhouse at home in New Brighton at the time. Needless to say, covered growing is more or less essential in cold climates to extend the growing season and range of possible crops, but also offers major advantages in the warmer north (which is where I now live).
And now, on with the first edition of ‘Grow with a Pro’.
I have recently installed a toughened-glass, aluminum-framed 8x12ft WinterGardenz glasshouse in suburban Warkworth (Auckland region). For the next 12 months I will write a blog that covers the fundamentals of glasshouse growing such as soil fertility; managing pests and diseases; preventing overheating (important in the north); raising seedlings and sowing cover crops; growing cuttings; crop scheduling (what to grow and when) and whatever other interesting experiment I can dream up. Much of this will be applicable to both cool temperate and warm temperate (or subtropical) climates. Let’s start with the build process.
Key Learnings Glasshouse Erection
These glasshouses are exceptionally well made and built to last but they do take time and patience to erect (as I would expect with any product that’s built to last). If you’re on sloping ground (as I am) the build is further complicated by the need to construct a raised and retained edge. In 8 days of construction (5 hours a day) my skilled wwoofer spent 2/3 of the time building the base and familiarizing himself with the various components and steps to pre-assembly.