Greenhouse Adventures: Troubles

The greenhouse saga continues! 

Ever since my brother and I put the roof panels into the greenhouse, there have been several that don't want to cooperate. 

We first thought that everything needed to be cinched down. Nope. 

Maybe a few caulking dots? Nope.

Caulking along the entire edge? Nope.

Just keep pushing them into place and pray that they stay put? Nope.

No matter what we did, those panels would always keep sliding down. 

This has officially become a battle of wills. Who will win? 

I came home from work, and my brother told me to go outside before I took my boots off. Uh-oh... 

Those darn panels were so opinionated that a couple finally decided to wiggle out and find a new home on that blustery day. Thankfully, they didn't get far, and we were able to get them before they really went anywhere or got damaged. Thought you could run away, huh?  

Do you see a problem? Something missing perhaps? 

Thankfully, I didn't have any of the newly germinated plants in there yet. 

So I turned to the all-knowing Google to see if it had any advice to dispense. 

And it did. 

I found a guy who grew in greenhouses, and he had an entire clip on what he used to keep his panels in place. 

SCORE!

His recommendation? This stuff. 

It can be applied wet, it sticks even when it gets wet, and (according to the You Tuber) lasted a long time. But it costs $10/roll. Valuable stuff this is. 

So to the store we went. 

Again. 

We put the panels back into place, and secured the rebellious ones.

Fast forward a few days, and it was a dark and stormy night. Thankfully, my brother was outside the moment the front came through and immediately thought to check the greenhouse. One wall panel had completely come out and another one was seriously thinking about it. So there we were, putting panels in again and taping more all by flashlight this time around. It's a really good thing we had bought two rolls of tape. 

Now no one is going ANYWHERE. 

...At least, I hope... 

Until next time! 

SG

Greenhouse Adventures: Tables

The next step in this larger-than-anticipated project was tables because just putting flats of plants on the ground isn't exactly a good use of space and we'd be crawling over them trying to get everything else finished. :P 

If I was in a pinch, I could have done that (okay, I was in a pinch, but I stubbornly ignored it).

I measured the interior dimensions of the space, drew up some designs, and handed them to my dad. He knows lumber math better than I do. Why do they say 2x4 when it's really smaller? This baffles my sewing brain. 

And then it was table making time. 

These things are built like tanks, and they're HEAVY. It's surprising how much weight wood can put on if it gets left in the rain. 

Isn't it purty!

They fit perfectly! Dad's lumber math was spot on. ;) 

Because the tables were so heavy, it was quite the back-breaker to get them into place. We had to take out the first table to get the back table in, remove a side wall panel, and we still had to use our backs as the lever. It was painful to go to work the next day... 

But they're in, and I think that they'll last longer than the greenhouse. :P 

And I don't know how many trips to the store the tables were. At least 2? 

Until next time! 

SG

Greenhouse Adventures: Part 1

What does every grower dream of having? 

Besides plants, silly. 

A greenhouse. 

A place to start ALL THE SEEDS, overwinter tender perennials, get a jump start on the growing season, and to be able to do grafts and cuttings. I could keep going, but you get the point. ;) 

Well, I can officially tell you, THAT I NOW HAVE A GREENHOUSE!

I'm not excited at all. :P 

For years, I've haunted the listings on Craigslist, poured over catalogs, and scoured stores looking for a greenhouse that was the right size and within my budget. Finding one the right size was no problem, but finding something that didn't cost a fortune? Next to impossible. Every time I found one that might be possible, there were some major no-go warning signs (like free, no paneling, or warped and twisted frames). So I kept haunting. 

Then, last fall (yes, fall), I found a listing that grabbed me. It was for a 8x10 greenhouse for $750. Ooh, that's tempting. I contacted the seller. It was brand new, unopened in the box, for less than what I was seeing, but over an hour away. But why are you selling it? Apparently, her husband bought it for her, but she didn't want it. (??????) I was majorly confused but said that we'd take it after some bartering to bring the price down. 

Little did we realize that the label LIED to us. 2-3 hours? Only 2 people? Pshhh. 

We picked it up, brought it home, set it in the side shed, and there it sat. I knew that we couldn't even think of touching it with the holidays, Christmas trees, and inclement weather. This was a project that would need to wait until things cleared up a bit. 

Fast forward to February, and I'm needing to get the flowers started for my sister's wedding. I didn't have a place to get them started, so my boss graciously let me use space in the greenhouse at work. That's been working fine. 

Until now. 

We're needing that space for the vegetable starts, and what's sitting there? Flowers. Their lease is officially up, and I needed a place to keep them until I can get them in the ground. That bumped the greenhouse project to the top of the priority list. 

First up: getting the site prepped. 

We did what we could during a dry spell in February. Then the 3-point hitch on the tractor broke. Then it rained and poured. Then it was muddy. Not just any mud - sticky, construction, compacted, clings-to-your-shoes-and-makes-you-taller nastiness. 

But it was eventually finished. 

Step 2: Building the Greenhouse

So last weekend, we had beautiful sunshine and a family crew (or pretty much family) that had an open day, and we set to work. Or at least, we tried to. The directions were less than helpful and rather vague. They were most likely directly translated from Chinese using Google translate. 

Somewhere along the way, we realized that we were missing hardware. A lot of hardware. Like the kit was missing an entire bag of hardware. So a volunteer went to the store to pick up the needed parts. But the first store didn't have what we needed. So they hit up another store. It ended up having the wrong thread on the bolts. So another car full went back to the store, returned the wrong ones, picked up the right ones with the assistance of the the really helpful employee. Then it was soon apparent that we still didn't have enough of the bolts. So back to the store to pick up the parts with 7 minutes to go before they closed for the night and for Easter. Got back home, and apparently there were MORE parts that we needed to pick up. Thankfully, the first store did have them. 

Day one: 4 trips to the store. 

A new crew came back from their day trip and jumped into the project with a fervor that we never had. THANK YOU! I was about to have many not-very-nice words for this greenhouse. With their help, the front and back were finished, the side frame assemble, and the roof up. All that it needed would be the paneling. That would have to wait until after Easter, but that was no biggie. That went together quickly. But I still need to pick up 2 bolts from the store to get the last piece installed. :P 

Next up on this bigger-than-expected project: floor. 

Me and math don't get along

I came up with a quick and dirty diagram, priced things out, did some math, grabbed help, and off to the store we went. First trip into town for the floor was for pavers, the next trip was for gravel. My brother and I were able to get the pavers in really fast, but I had done the math wrong. :face palm: So back to the store for more pavers. 

Flooring project: 3 trips to the store

And here is the finished flooring! We'll be building the tables to go in a u-shape. Another project for another day. 

And here it it! I feel like we need to name it with all the time that has gone into putting it together. Any ideas? 

Happy, rolling garden-buddy

And now that it is all set up and looking pretty, we have a potentially big (for this time of year) wind storm this weekend. We've battened down the hatches as best as we can, but I'm praying that it will make it. I don't exactly trust Chinese manufacturing or materials.

This is going to be a huge learning curve for me - it's a new greenhouse, I don't know what it is capable of withstanding, how it handles various temperatures, what quirks and oddities this little structure has, but it's all part of the process.  

Until next time!

SG