The Story of a Cooler Greenhouse: Keeping Summer Alive

About seven years ago we knew we wanted a greenhouse. Originally we wanted one that we could use to start seeds, raise vegetables, and grow flowers. JEJ found recycled windows, wood for Mom's old deck and other surplus supplies to build the greenhouse. We attached it to the end of the garage so it would get sun all morning, then also in late afternoon. We were ready to grow seeds, propagate plants, and have tomatoes year round.We quickly figured out there are cold greenhouses and warm ones. To raise flowers and tomatoes from seeds we needed a warmer greenhouse. When the heat was up we struggled with white flies, other bugs, and the cost of keeping it warm. We then decided on a cooler greenhouse. This has been easier for us to manage.In a cooler greenhouse we can bring in as many plants as it will hold before the first frost. We usually keep the temperature at about forty-five degrees. This year we raised our tomatoes outside in five-gallon buckets so we brought them in to see what would happen.Our house plants can flourish better in here without the drying effect of the wood stove in the house. We can propagate many types of plants so we can have many new small ones the next spring. It is a circle of life each year.
We have experimented around with the location of plants to the heat or the light and found plants like geraniums and begonias always do well. Spider plants grow more little babies that we can take care of each winter. We are always offering free spider plants to willing plant lovers.
After trudging through a gray, dark, cold week in January it is a pleasure to bundle up and visit the greenhouse on a Saturday with a cup of tea, a few cats, and music in the background from the old stereo we hooked up in the garage. The smell of scented geraniums, potting soil,and the last few paper whites from Christmas make it a heavenly place to spend some time. It does help keep summer alive.