Friday, July 31, 2009

Evolution of a Greenhouse II

As promised, albeit almost too late to remember, is the progressive continuation of the evolution of my greenhouse. I left off with it's exterior construction. You can read more about that in an earlier post here.

We (Hunky Man, Jr. Hunky Man and myself encouraging cheerily) got the windows in just before the snow fell in November and we started working on it again in March. The bricks you see stacked to the side are waiting for inspiration to become a short walkway in front. The ladder will hang horizontally from the ceiling for drying herbs and such.

We had 42' of old picket fence, purchased for a song at the re-use-it center. We needed twice that much, so Hunky Man made it out of our old recycled deck boards. We surrounded the vegetable garden with the fencing. It took a grueling week to paint it this spring. My garden went in late because of the extent of this fencing project. It seemed so easy in the planning stages! ;-)


Even though it's really a combination potting shed and greenhouse, we call it the greenhouse to ease confusion. There was a shed on our property. A few years ago, Hunky Man disassembled it and moved it to the wood line. We put up the small barn you can see through the door. We already have "the barn" and "the shed" so "the potting shed" would have been too much. Besides, I have these long lovely greenhouse windows (south-facing, of course.)


The diamond pane windows were a double hung set. We bought them for $5 each, the door for $15 and the long paned window beside the door for $8. Paint is a fabulously transforming thing. These long horizontal windows came from my in-laws old farmhouse. They were the original winter storm windows for their 1890 farmhouse and had been up in the barn for near 80 years.




I chose a sage green wood stain for the interior and Hunky Man finished the job speedily with the power painter (with which I have a hard time getting along.) The plywood floor is painted brown. Here is the finished product.

The old feed box stores my soil and such. It has worn down places where the horses from my husband's youth would lift the lid with their noses in search of mash and other treats.




The white wire shelf is very convenient. It's hinged, so I can fold it down when I don't need it. It's supported by old railing balusters. The whole greenhouse was overflowing in the spring. I could even use twice the plant space.


I feel very blessed to have this space of my own.
It is my sanctuary.

Cheers,

Donna

4 comments:

  1. Donna, I love it! All the wonderful touches~~and the story of where everything came from...very charming! You might want to share this great looking shed with Dave of the Home Garden...He's looking for garden shed ideas and yours in wonderful. You can find him on my sidebar! Have a good weekend~gail

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  3. Donna, Fabulous Gardening and I adore the new Greenhouse! So glad I found your blog.
    Blessings and Best Wishes,
    DianeL
    I had mis-spelled a word in the previously deleted post :)

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  4. Hi Donna! I found you! Love, love, love your greenhouse. You must post pics of your heirloom tomatoes. Heather V.

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