Duane and i have long discussed building a greenhouse. We have 4 decks on our house, two in the front and two in the back. We use the front one as the "front door" and we have a porch swing and a glider there to sit out when we feel like it. The upstairs front deck is off of our bedroom. I put out seeds for the birds, chipmunks and squirrels (no squirrels around right now, they've died off). Otherwise it doesn't get used much.
We talked about enclosing the upstairs back deck for a greenhouse, but instead we used chicken wire and netting to enclose it so we could let the cats out there. They kind of like it, but it has become another "room" to them, and they still want to get out and roam, which we can't let them do. We do use the downstairs back deck to store wood, and the barbeque (which we rarely use) is back there. Also other various odds and ends. I decided it would be better to be enclosed as a greenhouse. It is larger than the upstairs deck, and that side of the house faces south/south-east. It gets lots of sun, especially in the winter. A friend of ours, David, does lots of handy-man work and he is building that greenhouse for us. I'm very excited about this.
It has been somewhat of an issue as Duane is also very good at building things and *can* do this himself. And he doesn't like to pay for things he can do himself. The problem is that he and i are both very good at procrastination and if it was left to us the greenhouse would not be built this year, if ever. Also he has been very busy with Search and Rescue and hasn't been around a lot on the weekends.
I also need to get more boxes built for our garden. I have them in the "cat-free" room currently. It faces west and gets very warm in the afternoon, but they need to be transferred to outside. Our soil is horrible for gardening, mostly rocks and sand, and so they need to go in raised boxes with compost and soil that can grow things.
Here are a couple of pics of what i'm trying to grow. These pics were taken a couple of weeks ago. They have grown quite a lot since i took these.
Of course, i started these back when i had all those days of energy. It was so fun. It still is fun to see them grow, but i'm wondering how i'll manage to work it all, much less preserve them, if i don't get more stamina. Guess i'll deal with that when the time comes.
I have about six different types of tomatoes, buttercup (not butternut) squash, zucchini pumpkin, two different types of lettuce (one is not doing well at all), broccoli, carrots, beets, i don't remember the rest. I've strawberries outside, as well as raspberries and blackberries. This is the third year for our raspberries, and for the first time they have a few buds on them. We just planted the blackberries last fall. I don't know if they will produce or not. The blueberry bushes are struggling. I had a grapevine (concord) i was nursing along, and it finally died. We would never have grapes, however, without a cold frame because our season isn't long enough for it to survive. I've got potatoes in sacks that i'm growing, and i'm so excited with their progress! Our apple tree is going to have a bumper crop this year. No peaches or pears. The cherry tree nearly died last year, but it does have one branch with half a dozen cherries. I'll have to protect them from the birds.
I am learning to garden!
I'll post pics of the new greenhouse, when i take them.
517
We talked about enclosing the upstairs back deck for a greenhouse, but instead we used chicken wire and netting to enclose it so we could let the cats out there. They kind of like it, but it has become another "room" to them, and they still want to get out and roam, which we can't let them do. We do use the downstairs back deck to store wood, and the barbeque (which we rarely use) is back there. Also other various odds and ends. I decided it would be better to be enclosed as a greenhouse. It is larger than the upstairs deck, and that side of the house faces south/south-east. It gets lots of sun, especially in the winter. A friend of ours, David, does lots of handy-man work and he is building that greenhouse for us. I'm very excited about this.
It has been somewhat of an issue as Duane is also very good at building things and *can* do this himself. And he doesn't like to pay for things he can do himself. The problem is that he and i are both very good at procrastination and if it was left to us the greenhouse would not be built this year, if ever. Also he has been very busy with Search and Rescue and hasn't been around a lot on the weekends.
I also need to get more boxes built for our garden. I have them in the "cat-free" room currently. It faces west and gets very warm in the afternoon, but they need to be transferred to outside. Our soil is horrible for gardening, mostly rocks and sand, and so they need to go in raised boxes with compost and soil that can grow things.
Here are a couple of pics of what i'm trying to grow. These pics were taken a couple of weeks ago. They have grown quite a lot since i took these.
Of course, i started these back when i had all those days of energy. It was so fun. It still is fun to see them grow, but i'm wondering how i'll manage to work it all, much less preserve them, if i don't get more stamina. Guess i'll deal with that when the time comes.
I have about six different types of tomatoes, buttercup (not butternut) squash, zucchini pumpkin, two different types of lettuce (one is not doing well at all), broccoli, carrots, beets, i don't remember the rest. I've strawberries outside, as well as raspberries and blackberries. This is the third year for our raspberries, and for the first time they have a few buds on them. We just planted the blackberries last fall. I don't know if they will produce or not. The blueberry bushes are struggling. I had a grapevine (concord) i was nursing along, and it finally died. We would never have grapes, however, without a cold frame because our season isn't long enough for it to survive. I've got potatoes in sacks that i'm growing, and i'm so excited with their progress! Our apple tree is going to have a bumper crop this year. No peaches or pears. The cherry tree nearly died last year, but it does have one branch with half a dozen cherries. I'll have to protect them from the birds.
I am learning to garden!
I'll post pics of the new greenhouse, when i take them.
517
1 comment:
How exciting to the prospect of getting a greenhouse built! Maybe the draw of the garden will give you a little zing of energy. Praying for you Kathryn.
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