The Great Greenhouse Re-Hab of 2026 started TODAY! Exciting! It hit 50 degrees, so why not? It’s to be even warmer tomorrow!
After doing some research and reading a number of articles on how other home gardeners organize their small greenhouses (Mine is 12x8’) most of them organized them into ‘Zones’ for different activities. This applies to big greenhouses as well.
My ‘Zones are going to be:
Potting Station
Tool Storage/Trash Can
Storage for Gathering Baskets
Water Storage (gallon jugs I use prior to having the hose)
Plant Flats Growing Areas
Flats/Humidity Domes/Starting Pots Storage
Hand Tools/Gloves, Misc.
Fertilizers
Today I pulled everything OUT, which included three straw bales and the total accumulation of JUNK that I abandoned last fall when I had HAD IT with my terrible growing season.
After the bales were out, I was able to rake up enough fallen straw from the gravel floor as the PUPPIES used the greenhouse as a Playhouse last year - and to keep warm and dry and out of the never-ending rain. I raked up enough to mulch under one of my A-frame trellises, as well as mulch an entire 8x4’ BED! Brats!
Beau hung a rod from the door to the back of the greenhouse and now all of my gathering baskets are hanging up and out of the way. A GREAT use of wasted space. Love it!
He also cut me a piece of plywood that is 30x24” that I can use as a place for potting things up. All of my shelving in the greenhouse is old catwalk - and if you drop something between the slats it is gone FOREVER, LOL!
So, we got a lot done today and the plan for tomorrow is to continue to glean and organize my other ‘zones.’
As an added BONUS - I found a NEW in-the-box Cold Frame that my Mom must have sneaked in there. I’ll ask Beau to assemble it for me, then I can have a cold frame INSIDE the greenhouse for salad greens starting as soon as next month. SCORE!
Looks like I may be beating back/delaying this head cold. This is JUST what I needed, today. And I will post BEFORE and AFTER photos when I’m done - which should be tomorrow, but no promises. ;)
Your work today is “inspiration” for dealing with the shop tomorrow when it should be mostly sunny & 55°. After our last trip to the Old House in November, I had a trailer & pickup bed full of items - Army table, metal fire ring, tools, a few garden items, etc. It all got dumped in the barn & shop & for the most part, it’s still sitting where I dumped it. I further messed up the shop making the cat shelter out of the Igloo cooler in late December. The only ‘progress’ was taking 2 wooden rocking chairs (taking up space in the shop) & 2 large old recliners (taking up window/wall space in the shop garage) to the Habitat for Humanity store to donate before year end. My raised beds aren’t totally cleaned up either. Lots of reasons/excuses for the lack of productive activity ... I won’t bore you with them.
Lovely Valentines lunch today. The food was Mediterranean themed & very tasty. It was nice to take a drive somewhere out of town - new scenery & a nice venue. My niece, the one who raises flowers was there (her company hosted the luncheon) & promised to visit soon & bring me some ‘starts’, specifically snap dragons & maybe some other flowers. That is motivation to get my beds straight & do some planning. I did see a sign for ‘straw for sale’ but it was over the mountain & an hour away. I’ll probably end up buying straw from the Farm Bureau 10 minutes away due to the convenience.
Rain for Sunday - hopefully that will clear out a lot of snow. I’m trying not to get too excited about ‘Spring’ - March could still be quite cold & planting around here doesn’t start until May (at the Old House, it was often April). I have terrible luck starting plants inside - might get my ‘green thumb’ niece to take a look at the garage & those big windows & see if we can come up with a plan.