Spring cleanup

In preparation for repotting and re-homing the seedlings that I have started inside, I had to do some minor repairs to my greenhouse.  Over the winter a panel on the roof came out and blew away.  I did a seach through my yard and surrounding neighbors yards for it, but did not find it.

Since the greehouse was from a kit, the majority of the panels are all the same size.  Because of being unsure if I want to replace this greenhouse with a larger one, I opted for a quick and inexpensive fix.

First, I removed a panel from the north wall of the greenhouse.  The north side doesn’t take in the direct sunlight, so the fix that I have in mind won’t be a problem.

I took that panel and replace the one in the roof on the south side that had blown away.  Looks good as new!

I then emptied out the north side of the greenhouse and leaned a sheet of the pink foamboard insulation against that wall.  Since the wall area is 4 foot X 8 foot, it was a perfect fit for the piece of foamboard, no trimming necessary.

Taking advantage of the greenhouse being emptied out on the one side, it was a prime opportunity for me to reorganize a bit.  I took out the small workspace that I had in there and added a larger work surface.  The great part is that I had something that I could reuse for that purpose already and it fit perfectly into that space.  There was no room for anything larger…it fit like a glove.  I then added back in the shelving on that side and moved all of the pots, trays, soils and such to the shelving and under the new work surface.  I must admit, I had to actually pull out a few larger things and move them to the garage since I quickly ran out of space due to all of the pots that I had.  (My parents collected pots from people over the course of the previous summer and they brought them to me to use.  I had more than I even realized!)  Talk about 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bucket!

I was able to get the south side (sunny side) cleaned out and the shelves ready for the seedlings from in the house.

I can fit flats either lengthwise on the shelves or, turned the other way, two flats side by side.  As I survey the shelving left for seedlings, though, I am not sure if there will be enough room for everything this year.  I will be starting many, many things, in preparation for the intensive planting that is going to happen over the next couple of months.  The grafted stuff and the things that were overwintered in the greenhouse from last year are going to have to be outside and tough out the weather swings.  No room in the inn for them.  The greenhouse will be reserved for the plants that need some TLC to get them through to planting time.  I have a small heater that will run at night when it is necessary.  I must admit that my back is starting to ache at the thought of all of the water that I will have to carry out in buckets for everything since I don’t have water in it.  A small sacrifice for food, medicinal and other benefits that will be gained by the plants that will be in there.

Now I just need to remember to vent things as the days warm up.  I would hate to see all of the hard work and plants wiped out by one forgotten opening of the vents and frying of everything inside.  Automatic vent opener added to my wish list….