Movable Side Door

Next step was the addition of the movable side door. We had to dig enough dirt out in front of the door to allow for it to move freely. Found a use for those stones we dug up at the beginning; they will help prevent erosion. The door is held up by two door hinges and secured on the inside and the outside with bungee cords.                                                                                                                  

Roof

 

Next step. Addition of roofing material.

Open the Door

Time to add the door. We recycled an old screen door for the greenhouse. Reuse of existing materials, and the bottom pane of glass can opened or closed to allow for increased ventilation if needed.

Inside Look

 

A view of the plastic sheeting from the inside.

Plastic Siding

Next step in our greenhouse fabrication was the placement of plastic sheeting. We used 6mil plastic which seems pretty standard for greenhouse plastic. As you can see in the left image, the plastic is wrapped on the inside and outside of each wall. Not much, but the double layer of plastic adds a slight amount of insulation. Just trying to keep from reaching freezing temperatures overnight as far into the season as possible. The center picture shows the space for the movable section of wall on the south side. In the right hand picture, we left space for a recycled screen door.

Construction

We removed plenty of fieldstones and all the roots are gone. Time to start building the greenhouse. We've decided to start small and simple. The structure will be a wooden frame with plastic sheeting. If we like the location and design we can always upgrade with hard plastic widows later.

The initial size will be 12' x 8.5' with a door on the east side and a movable section on the lower half of the south side. Both the movable section and the screen door can be opened and closed depending on warm or cold conditions.

Let the battle of roots begin

       

               "Break it up!"                                                           Initial Layout                                                            AYFKM

 

Too much chit chat between Michelle, Colleen and Ray. I finally had to break up the meeting and decide on a location. With a slight slope away from the garden, the west side of the structure would have to be dug into the hill. It was tough going removing all the stones and roots but it had to be done.

 

 

 

Where do we put the greenhouse?

 

Shell's father, Ray, starts the discussion. No conclusion is reached. Time to bring in the experts. Shell's mom, Colleen, joins the discussion. It's good to make everyone feel like they're contributing. What about Doug? Hello.

Greenhouse!

Chainsaw comes in handy

Summer won't last forever. Winters are long. We need more growing season! Shell and I decided it's time to put up a small greenhouse. Since the tree that was partially shading the garden was damaged from the snowstorm, we thought it would be the perfect time to cut it down and make room for the greenhouse and increase the amount of sunlight to the garden.

24 inches

Shell and I woke up in early spring to see the damage of over 24 inches of snow in one night. Wet, heavy snow wreaked havoc on most of the trees on our property. One particular tree near the garden lost major limbs. This particular tree shaded a portion of the garden during most of the summer. It looked like maybe it was time to go.

Forever Summer

So the reality is summer won't last, especially in Northern Michigan.