Extend your growing season with a greenhouse

I am pleased to introduce my greenhouse to you all.

Well, as you can see that is a screenshot. But that is in fact my greenhouse! I bought it last fall for a better price too.

Since I got into gardening, my mind works on overtime, scheming of garden design plans. It’s hard to keep my plans realistic and affordable. And as you know, one project breeds another.

However, when you consistently vizualize something for years, I think you need to move past reflection into action. That is what I did last fall. I spent the winter planning the greenhouse location. Thank goodness for bae- I would have stuck it into the ground and accepted its likely many flaws and cried when it blew away. But Bae is a carpenter and insisted on leveling the ground and building a solid foundation made out of pressure treated 4x4s. We lined the foundation with landscape fabric to block those pesky weeds, and then we filled it with marble rocks. The initial plan was to put down a durable plastic flooring but now I am quite happy with the light and airy feel I get from the white floor.

So now the greenhouse is up. It is quite small, but tall enough for my 5’8″ frame. My dahlias thrived in there until this weekend, and I also have some happy marigolds, and cucumber and pepper anf eggplant starts.

To be honest, the greenhouse will be more functional in early spring and late fall than it will be now. It actually gets quite hot and dry in there now, so I do have to water daily. But I am looking forward to the shelter it will provide in late fall, and this year I would love to grow greens as late as possible.

A few tips for gree house owners:

Make it study and don’t skimp.

Make sure its in full sun.

It is still unlikely that you will be able to grow much of anything in the winter, except if you choose to heat it.

Decorate it with some tiny solar string lights.

So I will keep you informed on this project. I am in the process of getting my pre-sprouted dahlias into the ground. I think I will let the peppers and eggplant chill out there for awhile since they seem to be loving it.

How are your gardens doing?