Tiny Little Greenhouse and More
By Lynn, on December 8th, 2007
My daughter and I enjoyed some time outside this morning. It’s nice weather here this morning. Perfect, actually.
We were thrilled to find a bunch of carrots under the leaves we raked onto the garden to compost through the winter. I thought the summer drought had killed the carrots, so I just let them go. Apparently not.
While I walked around and picked green things — lemon balm, dandelion, candy mint, lavender, nettles, and sage — for an infusion, my daughter played with the neighbor’s cat who came over to visit us.
I planted some mustard greens in a raised bed and then made a makeshift greenhouse over it with some old windows that we have sitting around to someday build a real greenhouse with.
And last, we walked around to the front garden where we found some snowdrops in bloom…
and…
Lynn
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About Lynn
I am the mother of four delightful children: a 23-year-old son, a 20-year-old son, a 17-year-old son, and a bright and bubbly 13-year-old daughter. I share an apartment home with my 17-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. My little home on the internet is called Rose Cottage because of my love for gardening, roses, and all things romantic and Victorian. Welcome.
I'm a North Carolina girl and I love sharing North Carolina links and information. I do medical transcription from home. My hobbies include making sweet little dolls from clay who are named and have their own stories to tell. I also make old-fashioned brooches. These are for sale in my Etsy shop.
For 13 years continuously, I homeschooled some or all of our four children, but the time came that our homeschool had to be closed. It was the end of a beautiful chapter in my life. I will always be a strong supporter of homeschooling and I will continue to review books and maintain my homeschool website, The Healthy Homeschool. The Players
Lil Ol' Me
Son Daniel, 23
Son, Big Joe, 20
Son, John, 17
Daughter, Michaela, 13
Annie Fatso Beagle
My Symphony
To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing
1810-1884
What You Do Sow a thought, reap an action.
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
Contact Me 
I would  for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
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Oh gosh…you’re so lucky to still have such decent weather! We’re snow covered here and oh, so cold and damp!
Your pictures on this blog entry look good enough to frame! I especially like the carrot picture!
Please post on what your plans are for the greens…
Happy weekend, your northern friend.. Michele
Hi Michele! It is so nice here right now. It’s about 55 this morning. Still, the almanac says snow this winter, and we anticipate a cold winter. We are going to keep the little greenhouse frame as is for now, and when it gets colder we’ll stand windows at either end. I just want to see if the greens will grow. If they do, I’ll eat them or put them in my juicer or infusions. ~:-D
Lynn
Hi! I stumbled upon your cute little two-window “greenhouse” and am wondering if it worked…and if you think it a somewhat revised version might work for tomatoes?
I’m a new (starting my second season) gardener and my husband gave up on his tomato idea when he saw the cost of plastic bins…so, I see this as a challenge to use what we have available to us. I’ve been scouring the web for ideas. Would you mind sharing your thoughts?
I have four windows and some of those big iron stakes. Thinking of first digging a trench on the hot side of our house in which to plant tomato starts. As they grow, I’d gradually fill in the trench to encourage deep rooting. Then I’d use the windows in a square, tied to corner stakes, to create an enclosure. Then I’d add a plastic sheeting top. Care to share your thoughts? Play devil’s advocate to my plan? I’m just going to do it–and let my husband complain later that I co-opted his tomatoes!
All the best!
Susanna
Susanna, thank you for your comment! Honestly, my setup did not work too well, but I do not think it was a bad idea. I think it was because I was too lazy to water underneath the window panes, and also because they were not totally enclosed. If you notice, this was posted in December. I have always wanted to try and produce food year round. We ended up having a lot of freezing weather and it was just too cold. Had it been November… Maybe. Or late February. Yeah. Especially had they been totally enclosed with a top!
I have not given up. My husband is in the process of using those old windows to build me a *real* greenhouse.
I would say try it. You just have to be sure and pay attention — don’t do like I did and ignore them, but then again we did have the super cold weather.
Let me know how it goes!
Lynn