Cattle Panel Lean-to Greenhouse in April

I’ve had a few people ask about my little lean-to greenhouse so I thought I’d post a few more pictures here for you.

I can only get about half of the greenhouse in a photo, so I’ll show you photos from both sides and you can mentally piece it together…or not.

This lean-to is attached to the garden shed and is about 15′ x 16′. There are two doors, one on either side. One faces east,the other west.  Vents above both doors help prevent overheating.

Grow Bed in the Greenhouse

There are three permanent grow beds in the greenhouse with room for another if I want- but I really like using the Earth Boxes for some things-especially in the winter. I can scoot them around where I like, and move them outdoors when the weather gets nice.

The longer permanent grow beds on the outside ‘walls’ are about 10′ x2′ and have 4″ of builders sand in them.  The shorter one is about 8′ long and 2′ wide, also sand filled.

Potted plants or seedling flats an be set inside them. The grow beds can be covered with half hoops and plastic which bumps me up another zone or two. This allows me to grow a few greens all winter. I can also use heating cables in them for root zone heat-providing we don’t lose power. That happens quite often actually.

Another trick I like is using plain old clear plastic tubs to make mini greenhouses for seedlings and smaller tender plants. I can set the tubs in unused areas of the grow beds over heat cables if necessary.

Greenhouse From West Side

We recently had a huge ‘toss-a-thon’ and got rid of about 14,985,642 nursery pots from the lean-to, garden shed, outside potting bench and wherever else I had them stashed. I don’t know why I’ve kept them all, I sure don’t need that many these days…must be a gardening thing!  Here it’s been tidied a bit.

Herb Greenhouse- Potting Shed Wall

OK…I did not say I had gotten rid of all my nursery and tree pots. A girl should keep about 400 on hand I think. And plenty of cedar herb boxes, too.

This wall is the back of the garden shed. It gets really beat up from the sun and heat so it’s getting stained this year come h*ll or high water! I am also adding a long bench beneath the windows and tossing the castoff plastic dealio on the left. In case you didn’t know, plastic stuff degrades like crazy in the greenhouse. The cute little decorative bench is getting relocated, too. It was never meant as a serious potting bench, but as a decorative thing. I think I’ve nearly killed it over the last few years.

Here is the inside of the garden shed, AKA The Mental Health Center.

One thing I love is that on sunny winter days I can open these two little windows on the greenhouse side and the garden shed heats right up! I originally thought about opening this wall on the left up into the greenhouse, but decided against it. We hold small classes in here and can’t afford to lose the workspace. Besides-the 15′ walk around the corner to the greenhouse isn’t that far.

Interior West Half of Herb Garden Shed

You can see the west half here- one of the 4×8 hanging racks above, and the antique Chambers stove to the right. The stove is nice for preparing my brews, soaps, lotions and potions.

Then of course there is lots of junk like my gourds, half finished concrete projects, greenhouse shade cloth and plenty more. Now that I’m looking at it I realize I probably should have cleaned up before taking this picture.

The other side has more storage, hanging racks, a work table, small TV with the trimmings, and even an itty bitty fireplace. It’s really cozy in here and a very nice place to work in the winter. When my kids were little we’d bring out toys and schoolwork (they were all home schooled) and we would all ‘work’ .

Well, that’s the end of the herb greenhouse and garden shed tour, hope you enjoyed it!

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Deep Snow Outside The Door

As the longest winter in the history of the world drags on I find myself craving greens…yellows…blues… and creamy peach.

Oh, right… those are all the colors of Spring.

Evidently my frosty white world is getting to me. I’d go start some seeds but my greenhouse is still partially buried and the door is frozen to the ground. I can’t get in.

The Greenhouse Buried in Snow

I’m concerned that it may not be thawed until March and my house will be overrun with shiny new seedling trays and grow lights. Like usual.

So what is my solution to the ‘ever whiteness’?

Well, I visit lots of blogs. Blogs in places where the owners can grow things year round, and where people can actually cook out on the grill in February! I also play with the color palette on my blog- but you already knew that. You’re looking at the blog now. Just let me know if it looks weird in your browser, please?

If you have the ‘can’t get into the garden or greenhouse’ blues, here are some of my favorite blogs to visit. Take a little cyber-trip and see if you don’t you feel better.

My French County Home Beautiful, elegant, earthy and artful. Incredible homes, gardens and antiques. If I could take my goats and chickens I would go live there. None of us speak French, so we’d have to learn together.

The Grumpy Gardener Always informative and entertaining, Steve Bender (The Grumpy Gardener) casts his snarky pearls of wisdom for southern gardeners. Great fun to read, he also has terrific pictures!

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It’s a known fact that every once in awhile you have to put new covering on your plastic covered greenhouse or hoop house.

Greenhouse plastic -or film- comes in various thicknesses and each is estimated to last a certain number of years. I buy 6mm thick film, and it’s supposed to brave the elements for 4 years.

This estimate can be cut waaay back when cats climb it, unless you invest in rolls and rolls of greenhouse film repair tape… and I do. I keep rolls of the stuff on hand at all times, but after going a full 5 years on a 4 year film, the old covering just had to go.

I was blessed with the help of three of my children including daughters # 2 and #4. My youngest boy child, kid# 5, is now tall enough to handle the high stuff, and our BFF, the Darling Miss K. came to help. Confusing I know, but I have six kids.

Daughter #2 told BFF Miss K. that we were playing with power tools, and since that was a novelty she came willingly. Next time she’ll know better. It was work and it was hot. It was REALLY hot in the greenhouse removing the old plastic, but thankfully it was off before Miss K. arrived.

We always have fun when we work together. Besides lost drill bits, rotted wood, two jammed staple guns, and my blasphemous cussing, the highlight for me was getting covered in stinky dead bugs after I yanked  the old plastic off the roof. The kids always like watching when I do things like that. And Miss K. actually was excited when we let her ‘play’ with the drill! Naturally we took advantage of that and turned her loose.

Drilling things is FUN!

The best part? Another 4 5 years of not having to mess with it…other than the miles of repair tape I’ll need. Ahhh.

OK, I just had to get outside today.

This morning it seemed every time I stuck my head out it rained on me. Hard. In between thunderstorms it was absolutely gorgeous though!

Doubt me? Here is the sky

Gorgeous Sky!

When it cleared off I spent a little time harvesting some young nettles for sauteing and soup-and set some in the shed to dry.

Young Nettles

Nettle is my favorite herb for hay fever season…

Then I went and checked on some little herb seedlings in the greenhouse.

A Few Herb Seedlings

Herb Seedlings in the Lean-to Greenhouse

Everything looked absolutely peachy so I headed back to the house…just in time to get drenched again.

My Cattle Panel Greenhouse

At home, besides my medicinal herb garden I also have a kitchen garden. I start almost everything from seed or cuttings, so I have a nice little ‘homey’ greenhouse to work in.

The greenhouse at home is unheated except for heat mats in raised grow beds, so most seedlings and starts go into the greenhouse around late March. Around here nothing goes into the ground before mid May-except peas- and we wait until the guys down the road have quit spraying in their fields.

This greenhouse is a nice size for home growing. It’s also a cheap affair, my “Cattle Panel” lean to.

The whole thing is a mere 16′ x 15′- and is attached to the back of the potting shed….or as I like to call it-the Mental Health Center.

There is a small mist system for cuttings, and an 8′x 16 shade house for the 100* months of July and August- it’s also a cattle panel job.

Here is the shade house frame, completely naked and without flooring. It will have it’s top on and have landscape fabric laid down by early summer.  See? Nothing fancy. The LP tank for heating the potting shed is to the right.

Oh sure- go ahead and laugh at how ugly they are, but these things have held up through snow storms, straight line winds that took out a goat barn -WITH the goats in it- and more. Since I am in the middle of open fields I need sturdy. The metal arches wired together does the trick.

New plastic is definitely due this year on the greenhouse-I’ve gone 5 years on this bit and it is showing it’s age…and it was just a 4 year plastic.

The fact that the cats insist on climbing it doesn’t help with rips and tears, so until it’s replaced, all I can say is thank goodness for repair tape!