Greenhouses come in large and small styles, so it’s easy to expand your garden as much or as little as you like. You can start seedlings early in your greenhouse, and plant plants (not just seeds) right into your garden once the last frost as fallen, expanding your growing season and your vegetable yield as well. Because you can completely control the temperature in your greenhouse, and the ventilation, it’s easy to grow plants that may prefer colder or warmer temperatures than your outdoor climate can naturally provide. Greenhouse gardening makes it easy to experiment with a variety of plants that you normally wouldn’t be able to, because you are growing them in a totally controlled setting. Invest in a greenhouse and discover a whole new world of gardening today.

A cold frame sits on top of a flowerbed or in your garden while you normally place plants that are in containers or raised beds in a greenhouse. If you don’t want to heat the greenhouse then they are perfect to use as season extenders. If you choose to heat it then you will be able to grow vegetables, herbs and flowers of your choice year round. You will also need access to water as well as making sure you circulate air and vent the grow house. When considering the placement of the green house make sure you have good drainage and a flat foundation for the best results.

I told her I have a greenhouse that I use to start my plants early every year and also to extend the life of the plants for as long as possible. It is rare that we go a month or two without fresh tomatoes, lettuce and assorted herbs and I don’t use my greenhouse to grow throughout the winter months; but I may try it this next year. Who knows, I just might become a yearlong gardener!

Today, with the advent of plastic technologies, you can easily have a greenhouse in your own backyard. There are also builders and developers around the world who are experimenting with delivering heat in the winter throughout a home with the heat generated by a greenhouse.  Wouldn’t that be nice; grow our own food while heating your entire home!  Since green houses are made in so many convenient shapes and sizes almost anyone can benefit from owning one. You can simply extend your growing season with an inexpensive plastic greenhouse or purchase a very well insulated grow house to grow food during the harshest of winters. You can find whatever it is you’re looking for when it come to a garden greenhouse.

If you are simply extending the growing season you can get by with an inexpensive hobby greenhouse, especially if you are in a moderate climate.  If you want to grow year round, then you will need a very good insulated greenhouse with a good greenhouse heater to keep your growing house at a steady temperature throughout the cold months.  If you are in a colder climate this just becomes even more important and the cheaper greenhouses don’t have the insulation value to hold the temperature in for these extremely cold climates.  Once you make a decision about what you want to accomplish with your greenhouse then you can build or buy the perfect greenhouse for you and your family.

I was recently asked what greenhouse would meet the following criteria; good for someone just starting out; small enough to fit in a backyard and still not take it totally over; a great known brand with good reviews; and affordable.  It didn’t take me long at all to respond with the Rion 6 x 8 Silverline Greenhouse!  It meets every one of the criteria with flying colors and is a great greenhouse to learn the art of greenhouse gardening.  The only problem you may have is it won’t be big enough after you get going.

Of course there are starter greenhouses that are larger and those that are even more inexpensive and are smaller, if you need a mini grow house.  If you are looking for a larger starter greenhouse there are plenty of those to choose from.  Just make sure you get a greenhouse that is suitable to your area.  One of the two biggest mistakes that are made when purchasing or building a green house is not getting one big enough or not buying one with good insulation values.  If you do a little research before you buy, you should be okay!

You wouldn’t think, growing up on a farm, that we would have greenhouse, much less two greenhouses.  After all, most of what my family grew was cotton, wheat and sunflowers; yes, I said sunflowers!  But none of these were grown in the greenhouses.  The mini greenhouse was what my grandmother called a “starter” greenhouse and was were she planted seeds and would start the plants whether she would plant them in her garden around back or move them into the larger greenhouse.

That sometimes was a hard call and other times easy.  But most of the time she would split the seedlings between the garden and the greenhouse and made sure if anything got to the garden plants she had backups in the greenhouse.  I often wondered why she didn’t call the larger greenhouse the “back-up” greenhouse.  Maybe it’s because what she really loved to do was grow orchids in that greenhouse and grow orchids she did.  But I learned the value of having a small greenhouse to start plants from seed and I am so glad I paid attention!

If you have more room and want to have a little bit bigger greenhouse you can.  There are several small greenhouses that are also portable and work in smaller areas than the typical greenhouse.  These can be fastened down by using tie down kits but they do need to be placed on a level surface.  If you get the right sized metal racks for potted plants and a rod for hanging plants you will be amazed at how many plants you will be able to place in this small greenhouse.

It is said that the Romans invented greenhouses in order to serve the freshest vegetables possible to Caesar.  Whether that is true or not, who knows?  What we do know for sure is that a greenhouse is the best way to get fresh food to your families table on a year round basis and right now, you’re family is far more important than Caesar’s is.

The best news is you won’t have to dig a pit and keep the rocks stocked throughout the winter to keep your greenhouse warm.  This can be done with the help of a greenhouse heater.  You also have advantage of some great greenhouse accessories to help you with your year round greenhouse gardening.

You also have the advantage of some great do-it-yourself greenhouse kits that allow you to easily build your own greenhouse in the backyard.  If you purchase these kits at the right time you can get some very handy accessories to go along with them that will give you a head start when it comes to gardening with a greenhouse.

This is the time of year that I love bringing in fresh flowers from my home greenhouse to freshen up the house with vibrant color as well as lovely aromas!  There’s just something special about coming in from the cold damp and dreary world outside into a home that is budding with fresh flower arrangements from the kitchen to the bedrooms.  Couple that with the smell of a roaring fire, mingling with the faint scent of blossoms, and you have the perfect atmosphere for the holidays.

I highly recommend greenhouses for those who would love to have fresh flowers over the holidays and into the winter months.  It does take work so be prepared to garden throughout the year.  For those of us who love it; it’s not a problem to be out in the greenhouse all the time.  You can also grow some of your favorite foods as well and that’s a bonus.  You will need to make arrangements to have some kind of heat and do a little research before purchasing a greenhouse kit.