Our wonderful friend, Alisha, stopped by for a visit and to bring feed for her ducks that we’re caring for until she gets her duck house and yard finished. We had a nice visit but Alisha, seeing Will was working on the greenhouse, demanded to help him work on the roof, which is a two or three person task. The 4′ x 8′ sheets of polycarbonate are lightweight but a little hard to handle, requiring two people to be on ladders. And as I’ve been “banned” from ladders after a couple falls, Will had been waiting for a nice day to have our friend, Mike, come help. So out they went. I finished up watering the tomato and pepper seedlings inside, then went out to help. Even though I can’t get on ladders, I can hand up things, hold ladders steady, etc.

Our friend, Alisha, helped Will and I put up the polycarbonate roofing on half of the greenhouse.

The first sheet was a struggle as they didn’t have a system yet. But they got it screwed down finally. When they went to get the next sheet, Will discovered a mistake. Each sheet had two plastic coverings over the clear polycarbonate; one on the top, one on the bottom. They had pulled the top sheet off but not the bottom one, on the first sheet, which was now screwed down! So up on the roof Will went while Alisha climbed the ladder to work on the lower section. They took two rows of screws loose, starting at the top, working the protective plastic off, pulling it downward. Actually, it only took a few minutes, and the top screws were refastened as the lower rows were taken free. And finally, the whole protective plastic was pulled off.

The next three sheets went up much better and faster as we’d now gotten down a system. So, in a little over an hour, the whole south side of the greenhouse was covered. But it was getting late and Alisha still had to go to the coin laundry in town to wash clothes prior to a week-long visit with friends in Wisconsin. Then it started raining.

It was 25° F. last night and we woke up to snow on the ground. But the sun quickly melted it.

Sunday, the sons came for our postponed holiday dinner with their families, so we stuffed ourselves, visited, and watched the rain fall outside. Ava wanted to visit Ladyhawk, our Friesian mare but it was still raining. So David got an umbrella and Ava opened hers and they went down to the horses. The horses, of course, were not happy to see strange looking umbrella monsters! They had to put them down to get the horses to come to the fence and have treats. Ava and Mason got to feed the baby goats bottles of milk, and that was fun for everyone. We all got to play with Delilah, who is growing by leaps and bounds. But all too soon, the visit was over, and they all headed home Then it started snowing! Ugh! And it snowed for hours but didn’t stick to the ground much. But, really, snow? The temperature went down to 25° F overnight. But today the sun is shining brightly, and it is warming up a little.

Will has been working on getting some doors and windows in the new greenhouse as well as hauling up several tractor buckets of gravel for inside so we have a good walking surface. Before it was black dirt and it got mushy when wet. The sand and gravel will be much better!

Will is working, installing doors and window with screens (from the dump).
The sand and gravel Will added will make a nice footing for walking in the new greenhouse.

The little plants in the house are getting bigger now and I’ll be transplanting soon. Some are so big they’ll have to go in 4″ plastic pots, which I ordered from Jung’s. The rest will fit into my re-used many times Styrofoam cups. And I’m hoping I can get them in the new greenhouse after that as I’m about out of room in the house! — Jackie

22 COMMENTS

  1. I’m glad to see your progress on the greenhouse. I am also banned from much climbing and it makes some tasks pretty hard. I have one of the “reachers” and have discovered that my swiffer mop can be used for cleaning walls, etc. I just wrap a cloth onto the end of it!

  2. So glad you’re getting a greenhouse. We put up a lean to greenhouse last summer off our garage and the seedlings are a lot healthier looking living out there, instead of crowded in the house. The polycarb panels are pricey and fussy to install, but so worth it. Your greenhouse will be a great help for you!

  3. Dear Jackie, I want to have a green house eventually. A hoop house will have to do for now. I’ve been fighting with health issues this year-again. My garden is running late this year and I plan on a large fall garden. Mid California can accommodate that thankfully. I’m going to planting things though this week in special raised beds – otherwise known as kiddie pools. We’ve got gophers and I’m hoping the pool bottoms will thwart the little beasts. I’m also painting the edges and upper sides white. I don’t want electric blue edges or multi colored fish in the front yard. My garden is starting up front. It’s legal in California but I’m mixing in a lot of flowers for pollinators – and the the neighbors.

    • Good idea Cat! Do remember to drill a few holes for drainage in the plastic pools. Even in California, a heavy rain could drown your gardens. We use them for threshing grain, beans and even some flower seeds. Very useful for things besides splashing in!

  4. I’m from Michigan to and its supposed to snow tonight (Tues) here. I haven’t planted
    any seeds this year due to health issues but I ordered some grow boxes that I hope to be able to plant in when they come and I wont have to weed which I can’t do anymore due to a back injury. Love your greenhouse – looking good.

    • Yeah, weeding with a bad back sucks. I’ve had two bad back injuries but, luckily, I can still weed. Just for shorter periods. One reason we’ve switched to mulching most of all 9 gardens!

  5. May I suggest that you lay some weed fabric down before you cover the greenhouse floor with stones. I did that in mine and never had to ‘weed’ the greenhouse.

  6. Colder weather and possibility of snow here too. I had to bring potato seed eyes and onion sets I purchased in from the garage. Not a big deal, but I really wanted to plant them.

    I have greenhouse envy!!!

    • I’ve got my onion sets in a bucket with our garden onions from last fall. We can’t plant out for another month and I don’t want them to sprout or dry up.

    • I do have a Friesian. But I got a good deal on her when she was a weanling. She’s SO friendly and has such a HUGE, floating trot!

  7. Today’s post reminded me of little house on the prairie family with your family get together dinner and your description of the weather. It’s refreshing to read about life in the woods.

    • We are a Little House On The Prairie family! We’re very uncomplicated and close. It’s a blessing to get together at the table and enjoy being together.

  8. Nice! Where did you get your polycarbonate sheets and what size? Do you have any damage problems using them on a roof, hail, etc.? Thanks.

    • We get the polycarbonate from Menard’s. It comes in 4′ x 8′ sheets. It’s pretty damage resistant and doesn’t usually crack or break from hail. They say you can walk on it when it’s down on the roof but we’re scared to go that far.

  9. You’re making great progress! Happy that you were able to spend some sweet family time together. Send that sunshine our way toward Michigan! We’re getting snow here today and tomorrow too.

    • I think we are! We were so happy to be with at least some of our family for a day. COVID sure messed with visits, didn’t it??? I hope sunshine is on its way to you. We’ve got cold and sun today but tomorrow it’s supposed to be warmer.

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