By Lisa Brunette
In my exuberant, optimistic post inaugurating spring, I mentioned that I’d purchased a greenhouse and could finally start seeds early in the season, in order to transplant multiplier onions and warm-season veg like tomatoes and cucumbers as starts instead of sowing directly into the soil. If you remember, I also mentioned that within its first week, the greenhouse had already been knocked down once in one of our typically dramatic Midwestern storms.
Here’s that post in case you missed it.
Podcast version:
But we were able to put the thing back together, almost good as new. It’s been a month and a half now since the greenhouse went up. Did it survive?
Right now the answer’s for paid subscribers only. (But it will unlock for everyone else in three days.)
I was standing at the sink, washing dishes, when I looked out the window and noticed that the space where the greenhouse had been was now empty.
I walked out there to find my onion seedlings strewn hither and yon. The sandbags that were supposed to have held the greenhouse in place sat there, holding down nothing but themselves, like fat little useless Buddhas who found this whole scene rather amusing. The fierce winds had toppled two heavy patio gliders and sent a few daffodil pots rolling off the patio and into the garden. The clear plastic disk that turns the top of our fire pit into a patio coffee table was lodged inside a redcedar tree. I began picking all of this up but could find no sign of the greenhouse itself.
Finally, my neighbor in the apartment building next door leaned over his balcony railing and yelled down to me, “Hey, you know your greenhouse is in our parking lot?”
So I walked next door, and at first, all I saw was an empty parking lot. I had to search around until I found it, sandwiched into a fenced corner.
The wind had picked it off our patio and carried it over our 6’ fence, clear across their parking lot, up over a picnic table, and into this corner. As my sister said, “You could’ve attached a tail to it and flown it as a kite.” It had nearly made it to the yard on the other side of the apartment building. In fact, that neighbor came out to survey the scene.
It was a sad one. We managed to salvage one flimsy side shelf, but the greenhouse was pretty much toast. We dragged the pieces over to the Dumpster.
I said in that previous post that you “get what you pay for,” but in this case, I think we actually got less. One hundred bucks for basically a lot of hassle, and no veggie starts. I salvaged a few seedlings, planting them directly into the garden, but I’m not sure even those will make it.
In retrospect, I would definitely steer clear of this type of cheap plastic greenhouse, of course made in China, like so many American goods these days. It’s far better to save up for the real thing, or if money is an object, learn some skills so you can build your own. I’m sort of gravitating between those two at the moment, weighing the options.
It’s too late for this year, however. For the warm-season veg, I decided to try bringing them into the house, keeping the door of that room closed to Chaco. We were worried he’d whine and scratch at the closed door, which is his usual MO. But surprisingly, he’s leaving it alone. So we could have done that all along. There’s not much space under just one southeasterly window, though, just enough for the tomatoes, basil, cukes, and marigolds. The sweet potato slips and squash and pepper seeds will have to wait.
That’s our story. Do you have a similar one to share?
POLL RESULTS:
40% say the greenhouse is still standing
60% say it's still standing but falling apart.
No one thought it blew away like Dorothy's house, which was the correct answer.
Well that definitely stinks. I have the smaller version that's half the size. I originally paid $20 for it used at a flea market and got approximately two years out of it before the plastic cover started to deteriorate and the metal poles on the bottom rusted in two. It worked really well in the protected northeast corner of my house where we built an addition.
I went on a search for something to replace the metal poles and just couldn't find anything the right diameter until we stopped at a yard sale and found six lenths of 1/2" metal conduit for $5. The fit was still a little too loose so I wrapped a piece of duct tape around the end of each piece so it fit snuggly in the connectors. I ended up replacing the entire bottom section and adding a few shelves in the back. Next I ordered greenhouse plastic and snap clamps to hold it on and then a stick on zipper to mimic the original opening. I moved it into the garden and weighted the bottom section down with concrete blocks but it still was no match for the wind. Eventually moved it inside of a 4' x 6' dog kennel, anchored it with rebar stakes and have a bungee strap running from one side of the kennel to another securing it. It has withstood winds in excess of 50 mph. I left it out all year and the adhesive on the zipper gave out so I bought some expensive adhesive tape which lasted another year.
So I have around $100 invested in it when I could have bought a replacement for less. Mine however is much sturdier and I'm on year six of using it so I guess that's not too bad. We hope to get our bigger greenhouse built this year and it will reside inside of it in hopes of providing extra protection for tender seedlings.