The Garden Shedde

Greenhouses are great to have around year round even when you may not use them for the entire year. Having one available for planting those early seedlings is a great way to get a head start on your neighbors. I was visiting a friend just the other day who wanted to show me her tomato plants and they were about a foot and a half tall. She was very excited about having them in the ground so quickly and when she asked how mine were doing I almost didn’t have the heart to tell her! You see mine are chest high!

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!

The truth is greenhouses are a thing of the past but they may also be one of the best things to have in the future as well.  Let’s face it; greenhouses have been around for a long time.  It’s thought that they were invented by the Romans in order to bring fresh vegetables to the emperors on a year round basis. They were very small and were heated with hot rocks throughout the winter. I’m sure no one really wanted that job!

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 one of those people that have decided to grow your own food, you may experiment with several ways to accomplish this.  One is with raised beds and the other is by using a greenhouse.  If a garden greenhouse is your choice then you will need to determine if you just want to extend the growing season or do you want to grow vegetables and herbs on a year round basis.  What ever you decide will have a direct impact on which type of green house you will want to buy or build.

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.

Not having room to grow the things you want to can be a problem.  That is one reason you may want to take a look at the mini greenhouses.  They can be placed on many different surfaces including patios, landings and decks, though you will need to make sure the area is level and can handle the weight of the mini greenhouse.  This makes it easy to grow your favorite vegetables, herbs and flowers if you live in the city in an apartment, town home or condo.

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.

When looking for a greenhouse it is advisable to see how much space, with adequate sunlight, that you can contribute to putting into a growing house.  For those who only have minimal space or no yard at all and would still like to have a way to grow a few things with, you can invest in a wonderful mini greenhouse that can fit on a porch or balcony.  For those who do have ample room and sunlight, a home greenhouse is a great choice for you.

In today’s climate of rising grocery prices people are looking for ways to consolidate and conserve for the sake of their pocket book.  Though greenhouses do take an upfront investment, over time they not only contribute to helping with your expenses but also to your over health if you choose to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs organically.  The lifetime of savings in regard to your health expenses by eating properly might far outweigh the savings on food alone.  The bonus is that its not just your health; it’s your families as well.

I love stores that have a lot of variety around one theme.  Since I love gardening and being outside as well as outdoor living spaces, I was very excited to find an online store that caters to everything outdoors from large items like sheds and greenhouses to smaller items like planters and outdoor furniture and even fences, post caps and finials.  I have been watching the store for several months and finally called the service number to ask a few questions for the blog.  I found out that they are adding to the store over the winter to include patio furniture, more garden accessories, some birding accessories and metal carports and garages as they want to be a total outdoor product and structures store.

I let them know that I was going to come back to the store on an ongoing basis to see what all they have added.  I was very pleased with how helpful they were and the staff was wonderful and welcoming.  I have bookmarked the site and will be going back to BevoWorks.com to shop more often.

You hear people talk about “going green” all the time and what you find is all they end up doing is changing their light bulbs to the new and highly better florescent bulbs and recycle whenever it’s convenient.  This is a great start; however, it is not going to change the world as we know it.  What does have the potential to change the world is plants and lots of them.  We can offset the CO2 output by planting trees and other plants throughout our cities and one of the best and inexpensive ways to do this is the use of greenhouses.

Greenhouses come in many different sizes and are made from different materials.  Most residences use greenhouse kits because they are portable.  They are very easy to put together and install and allow you to grow flowers, vegetables and herbs as well as all kinds of other plants and trees on a year round basis.  You just can’t beat having a greenhouse to make it a better world for you, your family and the environment.  For those of you that don’t have a lot of space or live in a condo, you can use a mini greenhouse.  Let’s make a better world and really go green and utilize greenhouses!

Over the last few days since the information on tomatoes came out in the news, almost everyone I have talked too has said that they are contemplating a garden to grow their own food.  What struck me funny is, last year my oldest son was visiting right when my garden was starting to produce and he asked me, “Why have vegetable gardens when you can get everything you need from the grocery store?”

I went on to explain to him that I enjoyed it.  There is something very therapeutic when you get your hands in dirt.  Now I’m seeing it may be the way we feed ourselves in the future; backyard gardens and greenhouses.  In fact, there might be a time that the guy or gal that knows how to “grow things” is a very sought after commodity.

With that said, this may be a great time to start a small container gardens for those eatables that will be ready for a late summer or an early fall harvest.  At some point, you may want to invest in a hobby greenhouse so you can have your own garden almost year round.  Of course it will depend on where you live as well as your climate, etc., and there are a lot to choose from so you will need to do your research.

Everybody knows the internet is a great place to investigate your choices as to what and when to grow and how to grow it.  Another great resource for help is your state’s agriculture department.  They should be able to help you with all types of information tailored to your state’s particular region.  Some state agriculture departments will also run detailed soil analysis on the dirt you are using.  Check first to make sure you live in a state where this is available.  Once you have this information, you can take the necessary steps to improve your soil for optimum growing.