We got a greenhouse!

I have always wanted a greenhouse, and a couple of years ago we saw one of these displayed at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe and almost bought it. But time went on, and I actually started collecting old sliding glass doors to cobble together one of my own. But when we went to the fair again this year, we saw it again and decided to take the plunge! The first thing to do, once we new it was coming, was to prepare the area:


Now I don't know if it was good timing or not, but since my foot surgery is only a month old, I was not able to help poor Frank with this task. Luckily, he said it wasn't too hard of a project. The dimensions of the spot are 8'6" by 12'3". The two installation guys, when they got here, leveled it quickly.


Since I wanted the greenhouse behind our garden shed and next to the garden, they were able to drive their truck right across the lawn and nearly up to the site. You can see that our greenhouse came with two double benches and two single benches that are open below so you can plant directly in the soil of the greenhouse under them. I plan to put swiss chard in SOON so we can hopefully have it all winter.


The two intstaller guys were able to manage this big bulky thing amazingly well and got it into place quite quickly. The only thing left for them to do was to drive six stakes through the about 6"-8" inside lip of the greenhouse into the ground to help with wind resistance. The main thing you're supposed to do is put down landscape fabric and then a layer of rock right up to the wall, as that weight is important to settling it in and holding it down in high winds. I did put the small end toward the prevailing winds, so it shouldn't have any trouble even in the highest winds that we can get here.


I didn't take any pictures of the inside yet because there is nothing to see. You can see from these pictures that we are having quite a gloomy day here in the northwest, but truly, it is quite bright inside the greenhouse. Nice! I left the benches out so I could stain/protect them so they would last longer with damp things setting on them and in that more humid environment.

I just looked back at these pictures and chuckled at all the 'supervision' we had. Sandy's head is in the bottom of one, Katie the kitty is heading for the door and of course the donkey are always in charge of everything that happens around here. The only ones missing are the chickens, but I hadn't let them out yet. I'm sure they'll be checking it out soon enough! More later once we get the inside set up!