The new Greenhouse

I'm definitely NOT the gardener in this house, but I purchased this for the gardener in the family. Brand new and just delivered, here it is:



It's really set up nice, with 2x4s set up as trusses, so you can hang tomato plants in a bucket, and other plants. Bob's going to add some more shelves, and we're going to fill it with rocks/gravel for the inside base so that water and soil can be washed away.

That's pretty sweet.

Nice. We have a green house that is storage right now. Tried growing in it when we first moved in, everything fried.

I am planning to build one sometime in the not too distant future. I don't think it will be simple however. I have a whole set of free windows and other glass, plus the lumber. It is just a matter of time and motivation now!

Your set-up looks great. There is nothing like a fresh salad long after the frost has come.

I can't quite tell but is your garden a raised bed with railroad ties?

It is. We have a cold climate, and the raised beds stay much warmer. It was actually built many years ago, but an old Italian guy who owned this house in the 40s-70s. It was a bocce court! There's even a dusk to dawn light over it, for night games.

Its in the 30s tonight, but hopefully that's the last of the cold nights.

Looks good Yoop, the wife wants to get into gardening at our next house.

That's a beautiful lawn too!

Thanks, but the lawn really isn't very nice! We just mowed the dandelions, that's all!

We have a big yard. One of the side yards is where we have our goldfish pond and deck. The back yard has the garden, and the other side yard is just the garage and mowed lawn. We have a neighbor behind us, but they don't live in the house. They live in Chicago, and use that house as a northern getaway. So, it's a very quiet yard, with no neighbors to speak of, even though we live in town.

Bob plans to have some topsy-turvy tomato plants hanging from the rafters, and he's promised to put some herbs in there for me. I told him that I could see the "brewhouse" next to the greenhouse, but he didn't even smile when I said that.

I used cinder blocks for my raised beds because of the creosote that leaks in those railroad ties but being 50+ years old it's probably very little.

So cruel. Put a beer in the scarecrow's hand will ya?

Your dog gardens?

Nice looking greenhouse, Lorena! Is Bob planning on heating it somehow, or relying solely on the sun to warm it?

flyangler18 said:

Nice looking greenhouse, Lorena! Is Bob planning on heating it somehow, or relying solely on the sun to warm it?

Click to expand...

He's going to heat it in March and April (and probably May) and again in the fall, I think. I'm not sure what his plans are- whether he'll use those heating pads for plants (kinda like a waterbed heater) or an actual heating system.

I initially was worried about the creosote from the railroad ties, but everyone I talked to agreed that there would be no issues with it, after all these years. Those railroad ties have been there about 50 years, and part of the railroad for many years before that.

Our soil in the garden is pretty great. We have some tall spruce behind, though, that drop needles so it can get pretty acidic. We only have to add a little lime every few years.