The Greenhouse
First, I have to say, that I have wanted to own a greenhouse for as long as I can remember. The idea of growing healthy food throughout the year in Wisconsin has been on my bucket list since I first realized that joke about Wisconsin was true. You know the one, Wisconsin has two seasons - winter and construction. So when my generous next door neighbor bestowed upon me the wood from an abandoned project I was more than delighted.
This considerably cut down the cost of my greenhouse. Now to build it. Research must commence. It has been consuming all of my curious moments. There is so much to consider. What type of walls would we use. We decided on polygal 10 millimeter twin wall construction. This would provide a good deal of sturdiness and give us a maximum amount of light transmission for our seedlings. What type of ventilation will we need and where will it be located. Roof ventilation leaves us open to leaks so my builder friends thought that to put the vents on the roof in Wisconsin would be a poor choice of design. At this point we are considering an open wall design. This will involve removing some panels for the summer. Screens will be affixed to the top part of each wall so that we will be able to take the top sections of the walls right off. Next was the door and the shelving. And of course there was the foundation. It is a temporary structure but with northern winters, spring rains and summer tornadoes we couldn’t go with a fly by night operation, literally.
We opted for concrete footings. The conversation as turned to gravel and bricks mounted under the foundation to keep out rodents. The next decision concerned the type of beds would they be raised or in pots? We decided pots would be best as they are movable and be brought out in the summer to increase the yield of the greenhouse and lesson the transplanting. We could then easily bring them back in again for the fall.
So much to think about. And with my artistic background of course I also had my mind on other things, like finials and dragons and celtic shelving. The greenhouse had to have some flair so architectural elements are a must. Later today we will begin the polygal operation. More pictures to follow.
First, I have to say, that I have wanted to own a greenhouse for as long as I can remember. The idea of growing healthy food throughout the year in Wisconsin has been on my bucket list since I first realized that joke about Wisconsin was true. You know the one, Wisconsin has two seasons - winter and construction. So when my generous next door neighbor bestowed upon me the wood from an abandoned project I was more than delighted.
This considerably cut down the cost of my greenhouse. Now to build it. Research must commence. It has been consuming all of my curious moments. There is so much to consider. What type of walls would we use. We decided on polygal 10 millimeter twin wall construction. This would provide a good deal of sturdiness and give us a maximum amount of light transmission for our seedlings. What type of ventilation will we need and where will it be located. Roof ventilation leaves us open to leaks so my builder friends thought that to put the vents on the roof in Wisconsin would be a poor choice of design. At this point we are considering an open wall design. This will involve removing some panels for the summer. Screens will be affixed to the top part of each wall so that we will be able to take the top sections of the walls right off. Next was the door and the shelving. And of course there was the foundation. It is a temporary structure but with northern winters, spring rains and summer tornadoes we couldn’t go with a fly by night operation, literally.
We opted for concrete footings. The conversation as turned to gravel and bricks mounted under the foundation to keep out rodents. The next decision concerned the type of beds would they be raised or in pots? We decided pots would be best as they are movable and be brought out in the summer to increase the yield of the greenhouse and lesson the transplanting. We could then easily bring them back in again for the fall.
So much to think about. And with my artistic background of course I also had my mind on other things, like finials and dragons and celtic shelving. The greenhouse had to have some flair so architectural elements are a must. Later today we will begin the polygal operation. More pictures to follow.
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