Oh the happiness of a greenhouse

This is the view outside my window at the moment:

But a quick walk through that snow to the greenhouse there in the back, and now I have this perfuming the air in my office:

Worth every penny and every moment spent building the thing!

My own tropical paradise

For less than $1000, I get to take a vacation from winter just by walking out the back door and into my greenhouse. I only keep it heated to just above freezing, but one days when we have any sun at all, it quickly soars up to 70 or 80 degrees, and I go out, strip down to t-shirt and shorts, and enjoy the warmth and growing things. Even in rainy days like today, it is a soul-soothing respite from all the grey and brown outside.

It is full of a random mix of plants,  bunches of not-quite-hardy things I'm over wintering, lots of good things to eat, and just random things to make me happy.

Lettuce couldn't be happier. I've never grown great lettuce in the garden, it always bolts and gets bitter, but the cool temperatures and short days are making this the most beautiful, delicious lettuce I've ever grown, by far.

 I'm loving having loads of fresh herbs, including rosemary, parsley, thyme, and this yummy cilantro

And of course, some flowers. Pansies, I think, were meant to be grown in greenhouses. I've got pansies outdoors too, but their flowers are all beaten down into the mud by the rain, while these are pristine, fragrant, and wonderful.

Now I'm wondering why I waited so long to build one... seriously, for less than the cost of a vacation to Florida, you could have this too. Why doesn't everyone have a greenhouse?

Building a greenhouse

It started with a drawing on our chalkboard counter top...

 And now an actual structure has been going up in the back yard.

I now have a greenhouse! It is small (8' x 16') but big enough to have a lot of fun, and surprisingly inexpensive. This year, at least, I'm going to leave it unheated, so I won't be able to grow in it quite year-round, but it will seriously extend my growing season, and let me overwinter almost-hardy plants. SO much fun!

Friday cartoon: Gardener dreams

Merry Christmas everyone! (Unless you don't celebrate it, in which case, Happy Whatever Suits Your Fancy!)

I'm taking next week off blogging for the holidays, so I'll see you all in a week or so.

Beautiful Buffalo

If you read virtually any gardening blogs at all, you probably already know that this past weekend some 70 of us were in Buffalo having the time of our lives. Given the already wall-to-wall coverage, I'll just add a few of my favorite photos, a HUGE thank you to our incredible hosts and organizers Jim and Elizabeth for putting together a practically perfect few days.

To greenhouse or not to greenhouse?

So, my partner (who is able to build anything) drew a design on our chalkboard counter top for a 400 square foot greenhouse for the back yard that he thinks we could build for about $1000.

(It is a little smudged because the cats like to get up there and beg for treats)

How amazingly tempting... I want one. But it really doesn't make sense: we'll be moving in a year and a half when I graduate, so if we built the greenhouse, I'd only have one winter to use it. Much more logical to wait until the next house (After which I SWEAR I shall never move again -- I'm staying put and planting TREES!) and build an even bigger, more marvelous greenhouse there.

But still... wouldn't it be nice? Even if it was for just one winter...