Winter Coat

Insulating the perimeter of the foundation is a step easily skipped. It is a giant pain to dig down another two feet and who would know? But it is essential. The greenhouse will not perform properly without it.

Cementing Our Future

Erik's son, Jordan became a welcome addition to the crew. Mixing the cement for the footer ourselves was a different experience than having a cement truck dump four or five yards into the footer forms. We Schlepped four tons of cement from the truck to the yard and into the mixer.
Mixing. Pouring the mixture one wheelbarrel at a time into the forms. Both Deb and Jordan turned out to have a knack for mixing and Erik for schlepping.

Pretty Please May We...

Erik considered the Building Department to be evil, he was against getting a building permit. However in this case, Deb was correct, it was necessary. Four or Five Hundred dollars and several licenses (required but unrelated) later, we had a permit.
Erik dreaded the first inspection, expecting a sinister, sultry inspector who considered his primary function to be failing homeowners like ourselves.
He worked on the footer until midnight by lamplight. Next morning, the inspector pulled up in the alley and poked his head over the fence, had a short friendly chat with Erik and signed off.

Digging, Digging, and also Digging

So we hired the kid next door, actually first we asked his dad if he wanted to make some money helping us dig since he was unemployed. Dad declined, while in the same breath generously offering up his son, Matt. Dear Matt helped us out when he was bored or needed some extra doe to purchase a pack of smokes. In all fairness, he was a big help and saved us a lot of work. The dirt gets carted off, one wheel barrel after another into the front yard where we picture a grandiose new landscaping project happening soonish. Today, three or four months later, the dirt is piled up with a large assortment of robust weeds. I am expecting the guy in the white Toyota mini pickup with a yellow flashing light on top to wrap upon the door and present me with a nice little ticket citing widespread displeasure with my new heights of weedom.
We are not the neighbors best friend this month, last month or even the month before.

Greenhouse Begins

This is a garage, and it also happens to be the south facing side of the garage. This is the sunniest and warmest spot on the property. In the winter the snow melts faster here than anywhere else. This garage is 22 Ft. long.
The lightbulb goes on. "Uh, how 'bout we put the greenhouse here?"
"Yeah, let's."
Thus, the genesis of our greenhouse adventure.

The Miracle of Mustard Greens

A plant can take the nutrients of the soil and, using the energy from the sun, turn it into fuel for our bodies. It is a miracle.and it is a miracle you can taste. Tasting fresh produce grown in fertile soil transforms eating into a connection to all life. This is not pseudo food grown in some far away field. This is a celebration and a connection to all things. And it is a miracle that comes from your own yard.

Today Deb, Jordan, my son and I tasted that miracle. It took the form of mustard greens sautéed in olive oil with garlic and lemon...it was a touch of heaven.

Banishing the Wasteland: Sheet Mulching

Memories of our old backyard were dim images of barren soil, weeds, and an industrial chain link fence. The most vivid memory was a dry, dusty taste.

Today flowering trees and plants, leafing bushes and grape vines all worked together with fresh plantings of vegetables and flowers to flood our senses. Our yard tasted of life and fertile earth and held the promise not only of beauty but of actual food that we would eat.

Beyond that our backyard was no longer a separate, inanimate thing. It had become a living, breathing part of us and us of it. The slow beat of its heart whispered to us of life and health and unity.

How did this transformation take place? Where did it start? Like so many great movements it began by throwing around some manure.

It all begins with the soil . . .

The first step was was a two inch layer of green horse manure, followed by a layer of card board. Newspaper is easier to plant through, whereas cardboard is better at choking out weeds. Very green manure is better at burning out the weeds but should not be planted in for at least a season. More mature manure, like a person, is less intense and better to plant into. Cow manure is fine, maybe better because cows have several stomachs. Alpaca is supposed to be great, but who has alpaca manure?

We thoroughly watered the first two layers, plastering the cardboard into the manure. Finally we put a layer of straw over the cardboard. Ideally a layer of compost could go over the straw, followed by a layer of leaves or more straw and finally good topsoil or more compost. But we did not have all that.

Rule number one is use what you have.

The idea is that the green manure burns out the weeds and mellows into a nitrogen rich mulch. The cardboard layer is designed for genocide and can be planted through in the meantime. This layer should decompose within a couple years if kept moist. The straw keeps everything moist, keeps the cardboard from blowing away, and is more aesthetic. Chipped wood can be substituted for the straw and has a better a better look to it, but takes longer to break down into the soil.