greenhouse warmth

We have been enjoying our early Spring and the greenhouse doors have been officially open during the day to cool things off. We did get a thermometer in there and I was amazed a few weeks back on a 54 degree day to walk in the greenhouse before noon and find the temperature at 91. Before we started opening the doors in the early morning there were a couple of days when I walked in there to find the temperature at 110 and even 117 --before noon. It was fun to watch Jerome and Phoenix have a water fight (in the greenhouse) when it was 60 degrees outside.

We have some green things poking through soil in our pots. Yesterday at the farmer's market in Davenport I spoke with a couple that had been growing lettuce and spinach in their greenhouses all year. They said that in a particular greenhouse they did not heat it at night, but planted directly into the ground and covered the plants at night with a cement blanket (the kind used to keep fresh cement warm in cool weather). This approach is something that I would like to try this Autumn. It is so warm out now, though, that we have peas and sunflowers sprouting outside, as well as my daffodils in full bloom.