Greenhouse

We have always dreamed of having a greenhouse. We thought it would only be that, a dream.  We looked up different ideas - PVC pipe, a greenhouse made from recycled windows and doors, or full-blown drawings of a brand new one. Dude was looking for tractors on Craig's List  and found a large greenhouse for sale. It seemed almost unbelievable.  It was advertised for only $500.  The price included  the greenhouse, all tables, fans, and hook ups for water along with the hanging baskets for anyone willing to come take it down and haul it off.  Dude called immediately. The day he went to pick it up it snowed but that didn't slow him down. Too many times we have called someone only to get there and whatever item it was, it was already sold. 

 

Sold!

 

The greenhouse ended up being a gem! It is 20x24x9"6', two layers of plastic and a  Tuff Greenhouse.  We called Tuff Greenhouse to get directions to put it together. I can't say enough about these folks. They were awesome. We purchased nothing but they helped us, answered any questions we had, were genuinely excited for us and told us we had an almost $5,000 custom greenhouse!

This greenhouse has been through snow, microbursts, and the hailstorm that is causing us to replace our siding and roof! It stood the test with only 2 dents in the top plastic.

We are learning a lot about growing with a greenhouse. It is not as easy as it looks. We recently just pulled up our first growing, okay, second growing... the first failed - it burned up, it just got too hot in there. We learned to use the fans and vents.  We ran a waterline from the house to the greenhouse. There are lights and Dude has been seen working late nights in the greenhouse. You can't help it. Working with plants and soil tends to cause you to forget about anything else.

Next goal is a drip or sprinkler system. 

Recently I pulled up everything we had in there - peppers, collards, lettuces, flowers and sunflowers. Here it is this morning with tomatoes still going strong after last night's frost. I am hoping to plant this weekend.

I use K-cups for my seedlings. I hate not recycling those things.

 

I can't wait to see what grows in the winter!