This has been our coldest week so far this winter. It only got to 37 degrees today. It could be worse, in PA they got a ton of snow. Roy has been tending the fire in the greenhouse. I got to go out and get the fire started last night and tonight. I haven't done that in a long time. I was glad I still knew how.
The greenhouse. When Jon came to live with us the summer/fall of of 2002, I picked up a mini green house. It came with miniature pots, soil, and tomato seeds. I wasn't thinking about it being September. I was thinking that it might be a good project to work on with him. Well, by the time it got cold, we had 26 tomato plants that were doing really well. Roy said he wanted to keep them so he put plastic around the back porch and put the plants in there. We also put the patio table and chairs in there. We really enjoyed sitting out there at night and on weekend mornings to drink coffee.
Needless to say, by spring, the plants we started with were huge and Roy had added some heirloom to the mix. We made stands and hooked up a watering system. In June we were inundated with tomatoes. We gave a ton away and I brought them in by the basket full. I made sauce and Roy tried his hand at salsa.
From that experience, he decided he wanted a greenhouse. He needed a place to winter the staghorn ferns and he wanted to have some citrus trees that don't like to freeze. So he built a greenhouse. His proposal was 10x10 and it won't take to long or be expensive. That worked for one winter.
The next winter, he built an adjoining 10x10 room. He heated it with a temperature controlled propane heater. That worked for a few years.
Then last year, he decided that it would be more cost effective to keep the temp in there at no less than 50 degrees by using a wood stove and not a propane heater. His rationale was the cost of propane was too high and it was taking up funds that could be better spent. So he went in search of a stove. Found it, installed it and used it for the season. The bad part is that you have to get up every 2-3 hours and add wood. That's what you get with a pot belly stove.
Well, late this last summer, he said he wanted to add another area onto the greenhouse to hold his stove. He decided it was taking up too much space in the center of the one room and he wanted to be able to maximize the storage space. So a room was added. I believe this one is 8 x 12. His buddy gave him a nicer stove to put in the space. He fixed up some old lawn furniture and put it in there, and he got a small flat screen tv to watch while he's tending his stove.
I'm curious to see what improvement he will want to make next year. He will have a lot of time to think about it as he tends his fire and flips through the channels.
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