Thoughts about setting up the greenhouse

The frame of the greenhouse is finished. I've reinstalled the glass on the roof and two walls. I am short ten panes. I broke two in dismantling the greenhouse, and 8 others were already broken when I started disassembly. Note to anyone building a greenhouse, it is NOT a storage shed, and if you insist on storing the roto-tiller, the garden tools and the lawnmower in the greenhouse, you can be pretty sure of breaking some glass.

I installed the door frame and roof vent on Sunday (November 25) but because of the cold, I didn't get the gasket areas of the door and vent frames scrubbed down so I could glaze them.

The original solar roof vent control is shot. It is a Thermofor vent control. These are still made, but it is not clear if the replacement motor cylinder sold for the current Thermofor control will fit my vent apparatus. I have found several suppliers that sell solar vent controls, and it appears that they are all about the same. Some of them mount up closer to the roof than others, so I will be looking for the vent control that will provide the best clearance.

I wrote to the original manufacturer, Elite greenhouses, in the UK, to find a US parts supplier. They recommended Charley's Greenhouses in Washington state. I have looked at their website and it appears that they have spares for the channel bolts and glazing clips that I have lost.

Charley's also has several solar vent controls and a variety of other greenhouse accessories and also sells plastic glazing panels.

I am considering replacing the eight panes of broken glass for the north wall with twinwall polycarbonate plastic. Since I knew I was short of glass, I left the north wall of the greenhouse unglazed. It makes some sense to use the twinwall glazing on the north because it insulates better. Twinwall ships in 2x4 panels that are about $14 each and I will need four panels. Shipping looks to be expensive, so I need to see if it is available locally. Still, the twinwall looks to be less than 1/3 the cost of regular glass.

Two of the broken pieces are on the East wall of the greenhouse. One is at the peak of the gable end and will have to be cut to a custom shape, an irregular pentagon. I am making a full sized pattern for it from poster board. This is one of the pieces I broke when I dismantled the greenhouse in Denver. I Because of their location and size, I will need to replace these with glass. Apparently there is "horticutural glass" which has a less perfect finish than standard window glass, and is cheaper. However, regardless of what I get, glass is really expensive down here.

I'm still perseverating over what to do about planting benches and beds. I am inclined to build a set of raised beds right on the ground around the inside perimeter of the greenhouse in either a U along the South, West and North walls, or in an L along the South and West only. If I do the latter, I could reserve a 2x6 area along the North wall for a potting bench and equip that with a cold water sink for washing down vegetables.

The appeal of the bench idea is that I could drain it into the planting beds and thus conserve the water that otherwise would go down the drain washing the vegetebles in the house. The downside is that I would surrender about 12 sq ft of planting area, although I would probably use the bench for flats during seed starting season, so the 12 square feet of beds would be replaced by 18 or so square feet of bench shelving to hold flats.

One of the problems with the way the greehouse was set up in Denver was that its sides were unprotected. The broken glass and several bent framing members testify that the greenhouse was frequently battered by the passage of the mower, roto-tiller and other garden equipment. I am arranging for at least four feet of clearance on three sides of the greenhouse, but I am also thinking that I should put in raised planting beds on the South, and West sides where it bounds the main path through the garden and to the compost bin. This would buffer the glass from damage and also provide a good spot for cool season vegetables, especially along the South side.

I am planning on installing a raised ridge pole above the roof frame to support a shade cloth above and clear of the roof vent. If I do the raised bed on the south side of the greenhouse, I could extend the shade cloth over this bed as well. The shade cloth would keep the salad vegetables producing through the heat of July and August, and then, being along the south wall of the greenhouse would keep the bed warm enough to continue the cool season vegetables into September and October. I'll plan then to plant a new crop of salad greens inside the greenhouse in September or so to produce greens through November and December. In December and January I'll let the greenhouse freeze up while I start new peppers and tomatoes in the house. I'll set these out in the greenhouse in late January or February when I register sufficiently warm soil and overnight temperatures to start a new crop of salad greens and allow the peppers and tomatoes to grow.

.and North sides