Is the definition of optimism building a greenhouse in the snow?
My folks gave us some money to put towards a
greenhouse that we could use to start off our seedlings in and to protect some
of our more fragile summer crops. Since we have a small garden and we did not
want to put anything on the allotment we opted for a lean-to greenhouse that
will fix to the kitchen wall at the back of the house. Naturally we went for an
expensive model in green aluminium finish and an attractive arched shape. It
was delivered unassembled in several packages with a set of instructions that
made me weep. I only have a basic set of tools as I am not the most
accomplished DIYer and so everything took ten times as long as it should have.
It took me one day just to get the base fitted level and the whole of the next
to put together the frame (I am dreading the glazing that is yet to be done).
It probably wasn’t the ideal weather to be working
outside but as there was a high over the country there was no wind to make the
freezing temperature feel any colder and apart from the occasional snowflake
hitting the back of my neck I was quite warm in my thermals and layers of
clothing, though my fingers were quite blue at the end.
The instructions were though the major frustration in
particular how they referred to parts only by their six digit part number and
used deceptive hand drawing sketches to try and add detail to complicated
procedures. But the worst part is where you are required to undo some of the
previous assembly to add components to complete later ones.
Nevertheless it is looking good and as long as I can
get the glass in without breaking it then we will be ready for the spring when
it does come.
We have also had a stroke of good news regarding the
garden when the guy who is cultivating the section behind our house knocked on
our door and invited us to share some of the land for our crops. This is a
dream come true and while I was busy with my Meccano set Sue and her sister
cleared out the beds and staked our claim.
We are starting to make plans for the kitchen garden
and I have bought seed potatoes and onion sets which we will still plant on the
allotment as they don’t need as much attention and take up space while we use the
new plot for salads and other faster growing crops.
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