We got a greenhouse!
These last 2 years, the sales of our vegetable plants have increased steadily. It reached a point where we realized our current set up wasn’t working or efficient anymore.
Starting seeds is my favorite part of the entire growing process. I love planting the seeds in the soil, watching them break through the ground, and continue to grow through the weeks leading into the spring.
We have used our homemade cold frames for the past 5 years to protect our plants when we brought them outside, however we filled them quickly and it limited how many plants could be protected at one time.
Fast forward to January 2025. I started doing more extensive research into materials, costs, and our options. Even greenhouse kits were over budget, and would require many many hours to assemble once they arrived.
I found a local company based in Wisconsin and serving the Midwest that builds greenhouses and other structures and delivers the structure pre-built to the end location. The price was right, I could customize the design to add additional shelving to fit my needs, and it would eliminate the labor of building the greenhouse on site. It felt like a unicorn of a greenhouse!
The company we went through has a shop in Wisconsin where Amish builders work to build the structures. After a couple of calls clarifying the design, they got to work. The process after ordering took about a month, and then we scheduled delivery! The company works with local shed moving companies to deliver the structures.
Of course, the delivery took place after a snowstorm which dumped a foot of snow on us 2 days prior. It had started to melt significantly by the time the delivery arrived, so we were dealing with a substantial amount of mud, but the delivery guy did a great job accommodating.
It only took one guy to unload. The trailer had hydraulics on it so he was able to get the structure onto his skid loader, and even that was remote controlled! It was really neat to see how easy it was to move the greenhouse to the location we wanted.
This structure will allow us to move plants outside 2-4 weeks earlier than normal. I will invest in a thermometer to monitor the temperatures, but with the sun it is easily 15-20 degrees hotter than outside, even in March.
I am thrilled with this investment! We will use this for years to come. If you can’t find me, I’m probably in the greenhouse!
