Greenhouse and Garden Project continues....

Roughly-framed in

Looking more solid! 

The greenhouse was a bigger-than-anticipated project but it is now nearing completion.  We are using reclaimed lumber, and recycled RTD bus shelter plexiglass to build a small (7 X7) greenhouse.  Perhaps next spring we can start from seed everything that we plan to grow!  We are very much looking forward to the extended growing season!

Once the outside of the greenhouse is finished we will still have much to do to prepare the inside.  Following is a list of elements needed to complete our greenhouse!

• Shelving - waterproof shelves, can be attached to the wood frame of the greenhouse (metal or coated metal would be best)
• Cabinets - a corner and short (4-5ft) section of counter top and cabinets for planting on and storing our supplies and some overhead cabinets would be good to have as well
• Children's planting table - toddler sized and roughly 2ft X 3ft, best if the surface is resistant to water
• Rain-water collection system (barrel, hoses, spout, etc)
• Drip irrigation supplies
• Indoor/Outdoor Thermometer

Many Thanks to Jeremy for
his help building the greenhouse!

It looks really neat inside with the sanded
plexiglass against the blue sky

So close!  Just a few more days and we'll have a
completed garden for the children to explore!

Family Gardening Party

Now here we had this great patch of land with so much potential, time to start from the ground up! 

To get things going, we had a new fence installed with two gates instead of ust one and a much larger footprint!  Then we set about prepping the bare ground to become a beautiful children's garden.  We dug up sod and clods of mud, redirected many a worm into the new garden space. 
We also started on the soon-to-be greenhouse.  (more about that later!!!)

While the greenhouse stood at a roughly framed-in-state, we were able to get several beds installed and filled with dirt.  The weather told us it was time to get the garden going, ready or not! 

On family gardening day, we planted "strawberry hill", where kids get to explore the ups and downs of the path through the many strawberry plants!

We have a crop of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons and strawberries all started thanks to our wonderful parent volunteers! 

Thanks to our many KID volunteers as well!

The fellowship and a shared meal afterwards was lovely!

Garden Expansion!!!



Before



After

 It was a fabulous and exciting day when we took apart our previous garden,  though it felt weird to be tearing it down.  So many happy days spent there water our vegetables and picking tomatoes.  But I know our new garden will be every bit as wonderful, maybe even better!



Nephra's folks are helping head up the garden committee for this project.  Many thanks to Victoria and Ken Brunner for sharing their enthusiasm and expertise with The Elm Tree!  I remember discussing the garden project with them last fall at our Yard Sale and it seemed so far away, and now here we were, digging up the fence, taking apart the raised beds and planning an even bigger garden complete with greenhouse!

Sonia Schnitzer, Connie Hoffman, Megan and Charles Drimel as well as their delightful young ones all showed up for the garden tear-down day.  We transplanted some strawberry plants in hopes they would entertain the notion of being potted plants for a few weeks.

It turned out to be lovely day for working on a garden, not too hot or too cold, the kids alternated between playing in the yard and helping out the grownups and we finished up everything we'd planned to get done that day!  Hurray, hurray!!!





Last September - Before remodel



Tear-down complete, wow!!!!