The Ridge Piece

The Ridge Piece, which Finishes the Roof. Photo by Nate D.

I was going to use aluminum flashing to cover over the ridge of the roof, but luckily, Davie had some left over ridge pieces from his barn project. They were a bit awkward to transport from Davie’s to my house, in of all things a Chevy Cobalt. Imagine following me down the road with this giant chunk of metal sticking out from my trunk. 

In order to get up there to secure it down, I constructed a temporary ladder, and secured it to the ground. Then, all that was left was climbing up on top, without breaking through the roof, or worse, falling off the roof.

The string in my hand was used to lower the drill back down to the ground.

A bittersweet harvest

A Bittersweet Harvest

A nice harvest of tomatoes to be sure, but I bet your wondering why I didn’t let them rippen on the vine ? This year has been terrible for gardens in the area, with rainy weather, a lack of much sunshine, and word of the Late Blight traveling far and wide. I’ve picked these tomatoes green, in the hopes of saving my harvest altogether. 

Edit 1/22/2010: The late blight hit the tomatoes in my garden a few weeks after this photo. They were all destroyed. Luckily, it has been cold enough this winter the kill the Blight spores.

A Symbolic Step

The first piece of Polycarbonate Sheeting Secured

I’ve been working on constructing my own greenhouse for several months now, and I’m finally ready to start placing the panels for the roof. To secure the panels, I started with some 2 inch wide boards from the barn as a level roof base, and it took the majority of a Saturday to nail them down. I was working in the HOT sun, and I knew my back was going to be bright red, but I had to secure at least one plastic panel before hanging up the tools for the day.

 I should note, I’ve never built a free standing building before, nor have I spent much time in a greenhouse to see how it’s built. This entire structure is a culmination of dozens of guesses about how things should work. 

So there it is, The roof is finally starting to come together. Now, for some Aloe Vera, and nice long nap…

Here are some earlier posts about the greenhouse:

A Level Spot for the Greenhouse

Basic Frame and Peak Constructed

Water Tables

2.0

Trail Time

Trail Time

In the picture above, Sandy teaches my niece  the basics of the Equestrian Arts, i.e., Don’t Fall off = )

 These days, I’m not much of a horse person, but before I got my license, I had a horse named Casper. I didn’t ride him into town, or to the mall, but we did spend a lot of time exploring the woods. He was an old horse, but loved to run, and he was so well behaved that we didn’t fence him in. He would roam the yard, keeping the grass short, but when the sun was low in the sky, he would happily come running home. In the morning, we set him free, and in the evening we would provide protection from the unkown. If only more things in life would work out as well as that arrangement with Casper.

Long Range Plans

Long Range Plans, Blueberries

George bought 30 little blueberry plants, and here is their home. Each was planted in 2008, and they are slowly growing, some of them a even a bit taller then the stakes used to mark their location.  It may take years before we get a harvest, but what a harvest it will be !

Next to the blueberry patch, you might notice the Grape Trellis. George planted his grapes in 2008, a year before I got the grow grapes bug.

In the background is Mike’s treestand, used for hunting deer. We have never really been hunters, and year’s ago, Mike and my Father came to an agreement about the stand. It’s a very well built building, and It’s quite fun to climb up in and enjoy the view. Their is another stand on the hill over looking my garden, also with a beautiful view.

Water Tables

The Framed Base of my Water Tables

I plan on growing my seedlings in the Greenhouse in much the same way that I grow them in my house. Each seed will be placed into a plastic or styrofaom container with holes in the bottom. The twist in my greenhouse is that each shelf will be capable of holding water, and on these shelves I will place the containers, hence the name “water tables”.

I built the frames with 2×4’s, I will then place plywood into the shelf to make the base. Next, a layer of yellow plastic (found it in the barn) will hold in the water, as shown below:

A "Water Table"

Above, you can see one of the “Water Tables” that I filled with water. I will add drains next, as well as a water source from the house, and an inside hose.