My new greenhouse
I decided to turn my geodesic cupcake dome that I was using for the outdoor market last summer into a greenhouse. My most excellent, supportive parents helped me out with a new, proper Caravan market tent–magnificently generic, bright white and well made, it will create a comforting and roomy shopping environment for the market this summer. I loved my quirky little dome, but having to hand build it (55 wing nuts!) every week was time consuming and it also was rather small and freaked some people out. In order to enter, you had to duck through a triangular doorway.
we have a big back yard
approaching the dome
germination bench
hooray! I'm warm!
This is one of those projects that just came together. I’ve been waiting for the perfect day to put it up and last Sunday was it. The day before, my friend Julie and I had gone to Salt Spring to volunteer for the spring Garden Club plant sale (my mom is the head organizer person). We came back with lots of exciting little plants, including a hosta, an anchusa, michaelmas daisies, echeveria, rhubarb and a ligularia among others. We didn’t come back with Randy Bachman’s stage shoes, which an enterprising garage sale dude tried to sell us, nor the canned ham in the free box at another garage sale. Still regretting turning that down.
Back to the greenhouse–after putting up the structure and covering it with builder’s plastic (and the old pink cupcake roof) I realized I needed some furniture to keep the plants off the grass, so as not to ruin the grass. So I ransacked the garage for junk furniture and rescued this turquoise drawerless desk, which had been sawn in two. We burned the drawers last winter in the fireplace to keep warm. Then I found these two really long, wide industrial stainless steel shelves that Mike had gotten from somewhere and put them on top–voila, perfect rustproof, bright countertop!
I’ll be adding lots more furniture and plants as the summer rolls on. I also have a tiny child’s rocking chair in there to sit on, and I’ve been hanging out in there in the evenings. It’s very relaxing. There’s something about the acoustics of a greenhouse, and of course the humidity, warmth and oxygen that is really comforting.
In unrelated news, I am participating in an art show of portraits of Premiers of BC at 16 1/2 gallery. Here’s my portrait of Thomas Dufferin “Duff” Pattullo. It was fun to do some real ART for a change.
Premier Pattullo
5 Responses to “My new greenhouse”
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Bonspiel Randomizer
April 30th, 2009 at 4:25 am
AWESOME!!! Germination station!
April 30th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
sweet portrait!
I think the greenhouse is your natural environment,
you are hothouse grown perhaps?
April 30th, 2009 at 2:58 pm
In the first picture, it looks like there is steam issuing from the top of the greenhouse!
April 30th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
That steamlike thing is the special greenhouse banner, with seedlings on it. You just can’t see it properly.
March 4th, 2010 at 1:10 pm
Hello I am trying to get in touch with Ellen so I can purchase some of her items for my daughters store The Secret Shed in Ridgeway Ontario I hope this finds Ellen garnet.graham@sympatico.com