My New Greenhouse!

E. Lewis
Completed greenhouse at dusk. Visible plants are banana , lemon, and avocado trees; pepper plant; citronella plants. Small white Christmas string lights line the roof and solid walls.

So I did a thing . . . 

I built a new greenhouse! 

Completed greenhouse at dusk, side view. Visible plants are banana and lemon trees; pepper and tomato plants; citronella plants. Small white Christmas string lights line the roof and solid walls. Fig trees are on the patio, outside of the greenhouse.

When you take a good look at the photos, and if you know anything about greenhouses, you know this is not the greenhouse for flourishing, fruiting plants year-round. That’s okay. I just need these plants to be protected from a hard freeze. The lights will give a couple of degrees of extra warmth, and every time I empty a bottle of juice or milk, it gets washed, and filled with water. Soon the whole bottom of my new greenhouse will be lined with daytime-heat-absorbing, nighttime-heat-distributing, beautiful water. 

There were some plants I wanted to protect during the winter, but I didn’t want to bring them into the house. Last year I used Christmas lights and a sheet, which worked great until we had consecutive lows under 20° that lasted a week or more. On those nights we brought the plants in and then brought them back out the next day. It was a hassle. 

Trying to avoid that this winter. 

And besides, what is the point of purchasing “cold hardy” varieties if we have to keep bringing them inside? This is their second winter so they should be okay. Except . . . they are all in pots because we’re renting. That makes their cold hardiness a little less hardy. 

My new greenhouse is only strong enough to last through one winter, but honestly, I’m really proud of myself. 😁

Here’s the back story:

I have tracked the weather here more than I have anywhere else that I’ve lived. The estimated first frost for my area was October 20, according to garden.org. Well, October 20 arrived and temperatures were still in the 90s! I should have paid attention to the percentage chart that served as a guide.  Nonetheless, earlier that same week I checked out plant maps and found out that our first frost was estimated for November 11 – November 20. Phew! Plenty of time. 

If you’ve been following these posts, you know I’m not just running out to the store to grab what I need to build a greenhouse. So I was asking our Heavenly Father what to do for a greenhouse this year. 

Materials I used 

  • Reclaimed wood: There were some scraps of 1x4s that my husband and I scavenged on a previous trash day. They were long enough for this project. 
  • Dried/cured sunflower stalks: I also learned in a Facebook group that I could use the dried stalks as stakes! Or walking sticks, or, for this project, the upper beams of a new greenhouse. They do have to be the taller stalks for strength so I only had two – but that was all I needed for this round. 
  • Material for the walls: the only thing I had to buy. I picked up some shower curtains from Big Lots because Dollar Tree was closed for some technical reason. Cheapie shower curtains, regardless. Perfect for now! 

The Rush

Per my latest frost information, I thought I had until almost Thanksgiving to get this together. But then I looked at the local forecast midweek and realized we would have our first frost by October 30 – Sunday night! It had been raining all week and the only break I would have in the weather would be Saturday morning. 

My Greenhouse Journey

I really laid into the still small voice for this project. Remember, ask God. What do I do first, Lord? Lay the foundation. 

Don’t laugh. I would have started with the roof first. It’s not like I was building a house or even a shed. I was just clearing the ground and erecting a “non-foundational” structure. But I’m so glad I listened. I couldn’t imagine putting in the floor of my greenhouse after putting up the supports. 

And so it went for the entire project. Step by step. 

  • Grey floor and white walls of greenhouse, made out of plain shower curtains. Wood pieces around the bottom to hold it in place.
    Reclaimed wood anchoring the bottom and stabilizing the left corner.
  • Grey floor and white walls of greenhouse. Wood pieces around the bottom to hold it in place. String Christmas lights on white walls.
    Christmas lights added . . .
  • Grey floor and white walls of greenhouse. Wood pieces around the bottom to hold it in place. String Christmas lights on white walls. Sunflower stalk beams, added.
    Sunflower stalks added across the top. x2
  • Grey floor and white walls of greenhouse. Wood pieces around the bottom to hold it in place. String Christmas lights on white walls. Sunflower stalk beams. Right corner wrap around of the shower curtain.
    Wraparound corner to protect from the wind.
  • Clear shower curtains added for sides and roof.
    Sides and roof added.
  • Ties on right corner of the greenhouse, anchored with staples to the wooden fence.
    Ties anchored to the wooden fence.
  • Picture of tie on left corner of the greenhouse, around a tall metal plant holder (staked in the ground). Patio with plants, brick wall, and window visible in left background. Interior of greenhouse, lights, lemon tree visible in right background.
    Ties on the plant hanger/stake.
  • Side corners tied down with white soft rope.
    Almost finished . . . here comes the rain!
  • Rain falling on the roof of the greenhouse. Interior is visible with the string lights glowing, greenery visible. Roof lines and grey sky in the background.
    Rain on the roof

Is it perfect? No. He didn’t give a deep revelation on how to build it. It’s not Noah’s ark, after all! I think sometimes we’re looking for the big, dramatic voice when all we need to do is have a conversation. 

What he did do was bring to my recollection things that I’ve learned along the way through the experience of other projects I’ve worked on, including what worked, and what didn’t. 

And he helped me do it in the correct order: 

Foundation up. 

I think the insight there is apparent. 😎

As to the longevity of my new greenhouse: we only need the grace of God for the season we are in – not for the following season until we are in it! Sufficient for the day are the evils thereof. Matthew 6:34

The grace he gives is as we need it, just like he gives us our daily bread. 

He Knows What You Need

“Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him!”  

Matthew 6:8

It was probably June when my husband and I decided, on a “whim,” to go trash scavenging that day. It was very profitable, and we got the wood scraps for “some later project.” And the post where I read about the sunflower stalks? That was from October 2022. It was a new piece of information I kept in my head for spring 2023, through summer, and utilized at harvest time. The stalks were in a corner of the yard, with the wood pieces, waiting for me to figure out what to do with them.

So while we have grace in our current season, he also prepares us for the next. In this case, one preparation started a year prior, and one provision came 4 months prior. I don’t believe in coincidences – this is recorded as a provision from the Lord before I “had need of it.” 

The weekend prior, I got a burst of energy out of nowhere and cleared all the rocks out of that area. That was before I knew I would be building a new greenhouse the following weekend. I couldn’t have done both in one day. 

Cleared corner area, small river rocks and mud at bottom, enclosed in wooden fence with metal fence posts visible. Back patio barely visible with lemon tree at left, roof line and blue sky in background.

The water bottles? They are just a good practice for an unheated greenhouse. Hopefully, I won’t need them for anything else, but it is always good to have extra water on hand. 

He knows what we need before we ask. 

Worship

We worship when we trust – listening to the still small voice (it’s always there). We worship when we have faith to obey the still small voice even when we don’t know the purpose of an action. And we worship when we inquire of his voice to accomplish the most basic of tasks. 

He loves his children. 

And I bet when I finished my new greenhouse he was grinning from ear to ear as big as I was! 

Life is worship, and worship is life. ❤️

Completed greenhouse at dusk. Visible plants are banana , lemon, and avocado trees; pepper plant; citronella plants. Small white Christmas string lights line the roof and solid walls.
After the rain. Final wraparound of the front foundational wood, anchored by staples with the grey flooring and the clear wall, plus concrete blocks in the corners – left by a previous tenant.

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