I had lived next door to an older man who had a greenhouse for many years. Even in the winter, his plants seemed to thrive. The old man would go out into the greenhouse all the time, and sometimes in the middle of the night just to check on the plants. I always knew he was out there when his radio was playing and the light was on. I could tell he got a lot of pleasure from having a greenhouse.
Once year, we had a really bad storm in our area. Unfortunately, a tree fell on his greenhouse and cut the thing right in two. The old man was out in the green house the very next day, trying to find plants and put the thing back together. It was almost heartbreaking to see because I knew how much he really loved that greenhouse.
After the tree was cut away from the greenhouse, the plastic was too torn to be able to fix properly and the may kind of just gave up the greenhouse. He planted some of the plants around the yard and gave others away to neighbors. It was very sad to see him so sad without his greenhouse. But I imagined that he had more important things to do, like play Bridge or maybe put together puzzles inside (he was a very introverted man.)
Several years later, the old man moved away and into a house with his sons. I thought about him a lot and about how much he loved the greenhouse. It wasn’t until I actually visited a greenhouse in a nearby town that I realized how much fun greenhouses could be. The greenhouse I visited was massive – one of those greenhouse farms that really produces a bunch of plants and sells them off at annual greenhouse fairs.
I decided to go home and start my own greenhouse. After doing some research online, I realized that I could purchase a greenhouse kit from my local gardening store. The kit included items like poles and the plastic that I could stretch across the poles to trap the heat from the sun. I then purchased special stands that were about the height of my naval onto which I placed the plants.
My starter greenhouse was very small, but it came complete with a fan and a door. I installed some greenhouse lights using an extension cord from my house. I also bought a whole bunch of seeds and plant mix along with some planting trays.
I purchased a few books to include in my new greenhouse library. The books were mostly about growing vegetables (I figured it would be nice to grow items that I could actually use.) during the first season, I grew so many vegetables that I didn’t even know what to do with them all! I really enjoyed just going out there and spending hour after hour looking after my plants. I really developed a relationship and understanding of the plants that I never thought I would. I recommend building a greenhouse to all of my friends as the ultimate form of stress release. I love it!