Greenhouse Goes Up, Part 2

It's two sunny days in a row.  That's got to be a good omen, and my contractor is here bright and early in the morning. It took a while yesterday to figure out the process of installing the windows, but today they know what they are doing and the window installation gets finished pretty quickly. Lots of clear caulking sealed windows to wood. 

All the windows are in.

It's about 42 degrees outside with a brisk breeze, but inside the greenhouse it's already feeling warm. The automatic window vents begin to open a crack.  My contractor thought he had done something wrong; couldn't understand why the windows wouldn't stay shut. Apparently the heat in the greenhouse causes the springs on these windows to push open automatically. Cool!

This is one of the vented windows that opens automatically.

 Then it was on to the double-Dutch hung door. Hinges, latches, and handle on the door will keep it from catching in the breeze. Final work of the day was the construction of the planting bench and the plant basin inside the greenhouse. The planting bench will hold all our seedlings and started plants.  The plant basin will (hopefully) will provide a planting environment for fall/winter crops. The construction stage is complete!  There is a little more work to be done for the electrical and water access.  Our contractor has promised to return soon, maybe as soon as Sunday, to finish up that work also. 

Double-Dutch door: Splits in the middle so you can just open the window part if wanted.

Planting Bench

Planting Basin

I'm sure you've noticed the two-toned color scheme of our greenhouse. We planned it that way (somewhat). I wanted the greenhouse to look like it belonged with our house.... consequently the grey stain.  DH wanted to see some of the cedar wood in a more natural color.... consequently the clear stain.  Now the plan was to stain the outside pieces grey, and all the inside pieces clear. However the hundreds of wood pieces were packed in a rather disorderly fashion, and as we worked our brains became muddled as to what went where.  It did not work out just as we envisioned it, but we planned it that way. (That's our story, and we're sticking to it.)

I am now off to the basement. We already have trays of seedlings just waiting to move into their new home. Oh, Merry Christmas to us!

The Greenhouse Goes Up!

Oh, exciting day! It felt just like Christmas morning when I awoke. Our contractor is putting our greenhouse up today!  What seems liked a zillion-pieced jigsaw puzzle to us, is like a "Lincoln-Log" project for him.  He and his helper got right to work at 8:30 and by noon had the side walls and rafters up.  He's hoping to have it mostly done today with a little extra electrical and water work to finish up on a second day.  I warned him I'd be taking pictures all day for the blog. I've been snapping shots every hour or so, but other than that I'm leaving them to their work.




Side walls up by 9:00 A.M.

 



Doors framed by 10:00 A.M.



Rafters up by lunchtime.

Half of the windows are in by quitting time. 



The windows are taking a little longer than my contractor expected. He has to clean them, and seal them, before setting them in and trimming.  He'll be back in the morning to finish the build.  Oh, happy day!

We're declaring the growing season started!

April 8th, 2011 - Our granddaughter's 8th birthday - And the snow has just finished melting.  We broke out the rakes and hoes for our first real taste of the new growing season.

I headed straight for my flower beds. I left a nice thick leaf blanket on them all winter. I have to peel back the leaves to let the tender new sprouts see a little sunlight. I don't mind this task at all because it's a little treasure hunt to see what is already popping up out of the ground.  Crocus have been appearing for the last week or so; popping right up out of the snow.  How welcome they are!

These tulip leaves have already been chewed on by deer and rabbits.

And there are the tulips - well, tulip leaves anyway.  I don't expect more than 3 or 4 tulip blossoms next month, even though I've planted hundreds over the years.  I have lost this battle to the deer and the rabbits.  Already I can see evidence of their mid-night snacking.  They chew the tulip leaves right down to the ground as fast as they appear.  Last year I tried laying wire fencing flat over the tulips.  This did slow the critters down; they did not like to step on or through the wire fencing.  The only downside was that other perennials got caught as they grew in the fencing also; and were slightly damaged when I pulled the fencing out in June. I'm not sure it's worth the bother.

There are other perennials peeking up: chives -  looking healthy; Jacob's ladder - just planted last year; coral bells - a couple varieties; primroses - divided these plants last fall; hyacinths - must taste bad, critters never touch these; poppies - briefest blossom ever, but so reliable; and my favorite violets - one of the "happiest" flowers I know.  Welcome back, friends.

Chives - Will be able to eat real soon.

Primrose

Coral bells just peeking up.

Poppy

And what about my DH. Yes, he has spring fever also.  Last night he transferred all the greenhouse pieces out to the "construction site".  We're now just waiting on our local builder.  Today he attacked his vegetable garden with vigor.  He's moved dirt, cultivated the soil, put in new timbers for the raised bed, and planted -- yes I said planted -- peas, spinach, onions, lettuce, carrots, and beets.  They are the cool weather crops, and can be planted early, but is he pushing the season a bit?  Maybe.  He says he has seeds left over; that's good in case this first planting rots in the ground.  I'll keep you posted.  Needless to say, we are both experiencing the immediate results of all this work - lots of sore muscles! Our backs are not what they once were.  However, the satisfaction that we get from our gardens makes our aches and pains worth it.  Spring is here, and life is coming back to the land!

This raised bed is getting new edging timbers.

Cool weather crops are being planted.

Greenhouse is awaiting construction.

Where is Spring?

A few crocus have shivered their way up to give me hope.

It's April... April 5th in fact.  Okay, so March will be wintery; we know that. Usually there are a few days that tease one into thinking spring.  Not so this year. I don't think it ever got above freezing all last week.  And this week is not too much better. It snowed again today! -Not enough to shovel, but enough to dust the ground.  UGH! We are so anxious to start the new growing season.  Come on, Mother Nature.....

There is a little progress.  The greenhouse is now all stained.  Wow, were there a lot of pieces! We have tried to stain the outer pieces to match the house color. Inside pieces were stained clear to bring out the beautiful cedar color of the wood.  We hope we knew what we were doing or we may have a funny looking two-toned building.

The grey pieces match the house. The clear cedar pieces go to benches inthe greenhouse.

My DH has been growing, splitting, and propagating his geraniums and some coleus all winter. They are starting to take over the basement again, and we've even argued over space - his plants vs. my quilting projects. (For those who haven't found my second blog - quiltagain.blogspot.com - I am also spending a lot of my time with fabric arts.) That greenhouse can't go up quick enough. The base has just peeked out from the snow, and our contractor said he'd try to get here later this week.... Yippee!

Geraniums, geraniums, geraniums....

DH has started a few seeds in the basement already. He just couldn't wait. He's planted spinach in a pot, coleus, impatients, and petunias.  Spinach is up and growing. Can it reach eatable size in this pot? Time will tell. The coleus is just getting its second leaves, and the impatients are just popping up out of the ground. 

spinach in a pot

Coleus in the back, impatients in the middle.

So, Mother Nature, come on. I need to have some temps above 50.  I need a little more sunshine.  We've been patient, and we are thankful that we've seen no earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis, or other natural disasters. But it's time; it's April; we're ready.