What I Do, Since I Can't Do It Outside.

Oh my goodness you truly are a devoted gardener - this is an amazing set-up and as a result you have so many great looking plants. Seeing that beautiful fern knocked me for six - I have just never imagined ferns in Alaska! Congratulations on your efforts - seeing all those plants thriving must be the greatest reward.

Great blog GT. It is so nice to see your home and all your lovely plants growing happily about the place. It must be bloomin' cold out in your outhouse.....do you have a little heater out there to put on?

Great blog! What a huge effort you put into your plants - you really are living in a greenhouse! Do you manage to grow any veg apart from the herbs you mentioned?

Ingenious, Greenthumb! I wondered how you gardened up in Alaska...I don't think I could handle not having running water, though.

brilliant!!!
we all take it for granted that gardening takes place during the summer but not that some summers are much shorter than others like where you live!!
keep at it!!!

I just can't imagine a life like yours - but your blog helps! You are so courageous and it's great to see that you can and do grow plants under such difficulties!

WELL DONE from me!!! XX

You have such a lot of plants in there. It was interesting to read about your lights and how you can grow everything . you should have a medal . lol.

Never seen so meny indoor plants It must take you forever to take care of them Your log cabin looks very homely

That is an amazing blog, Green thumb. So very interesting and full of information. Whilst I could not contemplate your life in such a long winter for myself, I do admire what you have done.
After looking after so many plants, I wonder you have time for a 'day job'.

What an amazing set up. The plants seem to have squeezed you out almost! Your great love of plants really shows through this blog. Well done and thank you for showing us such a different way of life.

Well done your plants look so well.

Oh wow this is truly some dedication and from the comfort of our more temperate climate it looks beautiful but guess that must wear a bit thin after so many long months.

The beauty that must rush to show itself during your so brief thaw and the wildlife must be stunning but to live there must take some grit and determination for which I congratulate you . Well done.

Thank you all for commenting. I'm glad I could share this with you. I feel like I've accomplished more than I thought as a result. There are challenges but happily faced as this is just what it takes to keep what I love. :-)

Bernieh, well noticed with the fern. I've four ferns and they are rare in alaska. Just to dry a climate for them. I'm very proud of mine.

Gilli, I just have to freeze.....lol. We have a secret called blue foam (insulation). You don't get nearly as cold if the seat never does either. :-)

Nariz, I haven't been growing veg inside. I have been planning to keep a window box of greens but just haven't done it. The herbs mostly just sleep or show thin leggy winter growth, if any.

Doonah and Bulbaholic, It is not as time consuming as one would think. Watering is just about 1/2 hour and I hope to shorten that by putting a little pump and hose in the water tank. (Right now its back and forth with a water can.) I trim three or four times a year. I can get in all my hellos watering, or just wandering the garden as I am known to do. I'd say you can feel them all say hello when I get home. :-)

Thank you all again. Life is a beautiful thing even in the frozen cold north. And yes BB, summer is a wonder that isn't seen anywhere else. I hope its warm enough to show that this year. Last summer was so cold! I feel like Spritz's eleagnus, I don't think I could take another cold wet summer. :-) I'm honored by the compliments.

Hello Greenthumb I ,,ve read this blog many times and am absolutely fascinated with all you do to have your indoor garden, I cannot imagine ever being able to survive your winters let alone be a gardener as well, you are obviously as passionate about your plants as the rest of us ,though most of us dont sleep with ours,lol,.Lets hope we all get a good summer, especially you because I for one am really looking forward to seeing what you can acheive.Thanks for sharing your extraordinary life and take care...

Wow!! Devoted horticulturist for sure! Thanks for the insight on how you manage to keep so many thriving plants in such wonderful condition. I think it is really kind of them all to let you have a little corner of their cabin for yourself, lol!! You have really managed to have the best of both worlds, lush gardening & the beauty of the wilderness. Wonderful!!

awesome blog. its mad how we all live such different lives..and yet we all have the big connection with plants. the plants must keep u sain. you have explained alot about the diferences in the lights which i have always found confusing... great insite into your life...

Greenthumb..........I am stunned...........You live in a greenhouse and you maintain it so well that every single plant is thriving. You truly are devoted to the green..........Well done.........couldn't handle the outside loo though...........Brilliant Blog

very good blog.
I found all the stuff about the lights interesting too.

An incredible and fascinating insight into your very complex life, you are a very determined young man, and I admire you.....we take so many things for granted over here....well done.

Thank you thank you. :-) I appreciate every comment. BA has it right. I haven't time for much anything other than home, but it is cold out there, what else could I be doing? Definately keeps me sane. :-) We've a mad independant streak up here and you'll find a whole lot of quirky hobbies. Mine is the green. :-)

Wow, usually indoor plants live alongside us humans but it's the other way around for you! Your place looks so cosy and your plants clearly feel all the love and care you give them, they are so healthy looking. I bet the light helps you through the darker months too. :-)

~I think it takes a lot of grit and determination and a good sense of humour to enjoy living and maintaining your living breathing green decor as you do~you make it sound easy but of course we know that it can be anything but!
Well done you ~ and I hope this year that you have a fantastic long warm summer~hoping we do to!

I hope you do too Arlene. We could all use a thorough thaw out. :-) Wonderful comments. I have lived this way for a long time, maybe thats why it doesn't seem much to me. The garden is definately my support group through the long winters. I love it.

I had to read this again....an absolutely amazing blog Gt. So many lovely indoor plants and how you live and maintain them all so well under such cold conditions is incredible. Well done!!
I just hope your summer is warm enough this year, something that we take so much for granted.
Thanks for sharing.

Brilliant blog. I was very intrigued how cold it gets and how you do manage with so little light, for so long in the year. I suppose you get used to the cold and having to adapt to such extreme conditions. You have alovely collection of plants and they are well looked after. Does you cat go out much in the cold, as cats do like the warm and cosy.
Thanks

Bianca the cat, doesn't like anything below 0F unless she is really stircrazy, then a quick stop outside for fresh air. I think she really appreciates her jungle. Thanks for the comment. I'm glad you read my blog. The light on timer makes winter dark feel like it never happened, until the sun comes in the window....lol.

What a fantastic and fascinating blog... can't believe I'd missed it up to now - keep up the good work GT

Thanks so much MG.

I have just read you blog, in utter amazement, It is fantastic what you have done. Congratulations on what you have acheived in a relatively small place and indoors. I will have to read it all again - slowly!

Thank you Marge. I wanted to share what can be done indoors during those dreary winters and just how far one can go to get anything one wishes. :-)

Great blog Greenthumb! Thanks for sharing your living home :) All of your plants are so healthy looking. Can't wait to see the wisteria climbing up the rail of the steps. It will be beautiful and smell lovely. I'm very impressed with your afircan violets...they look great! How do you keep them from climbing out of their pots? Maybe I need to rotate mine more... Hope that summer treats you well GT :)

The big violet is a mini (smaller leaved), they bloom better letting them spread out this way than your normal variety. Most sacrifice the blooms to the green. I keep the pots no more than 4 inches tall and just get wider ones, like succulent pots. The regular saintpaulias are better kept just removing the new starts as they mature to make new plants. The parent can be repotted if it gets spare and tall. Just gently scrape the stalk free of dried bits and repot to the green, removing roots even if it is too tall for the pot. It'll make new ones. I'll test one of my larger ones in a wider pot, see if the tale of smaller and less blooms is a myth.

amazing greenthumb, its a wonderland of life all around you, do you have friends near you or are you totally cut off during winter months? love to see snow but dont think i could cope with so much for so long, love your house, well what we could see, nice work

I'm on a residential street in a rural district just 6 miles from town. I have neighbors right on both sides. I work in town every day. No running water is relatively common since wells and plumbing can freeze so easily and often are given up to avoid the maintenance. Many homes have all of it indoors and just keep a holding tank filled up so everything is inside. This is a rental and they worry about water being maintained well be tenants. Thanks for reading my blog, Sanbaz. And the house, you pretty much saw it. Nothing more there. :-)

How did i miss this Blog, Im so Facinated about the way you live GT, 8months of winter then a cold summer!!! we complain about the weather all the time, we live in the tropics compared to your weather.. Your plants are fantastic, an indoor garden WoW. Are you able to garden outside in summer? and one more question which has nothing to do with Gardening :) but here Go's, am i right in thinking there is very little Skin cancer in Alaska if any...sorry if its a dumb question... Dee..

Thanks for reading Dee. :-) Luckily gardening outside is fine. By the time it is frost free, it is no longer dark and things can grow 24 hours a day! So on a good warm summer it is amazing what happens. Last summer wasn't warm, I still had some good blooming but that was a few weeks in august. I hope it is a better summer this coming year. What we call break up just began, when all the snow and ice turns to water and just rushes away. I should be able to put up cold frames and my new greenhouse end of April. I've developed big plans. :-) Its true there isn't much skin cancer, but you can still burn at the lake or skiing. Just a short opportunity. :-) My seeds are in, same as some of yours. :-)

brilliant blog you are as many have said, devoted to every thing you grow and cater to their every need and itshows well done you,

Thank you Joanella. I'm glad you found and enjoyed my blog. RIght now things get overwhelming as every year when I move in new stuff from outdoors to overwinter. But it will all settle soon and I'll be cozied up, hot cocoa, cat and indoor jungle.