The Greenhouse that Jeremy Built

Several days ago, I bought Quinn's Homestead Management Binder sheets. (They are lovely, by the way! And it's not an affiliate link!) I particularly wanted the Seed Sowing Schedule. You can customize it, so that the dates are reflective of your last frost date. I put our's in, which is April 8, and it showed...that I'm totally late.

Bummer.

But also, no big surprise for those who know me.

So I thought, and thought. I don't have room to sow plants indoors. Think, think, think. We are helping to build a family aquaponics farm on the other side of town, so we have access to some green houses over there, but it's too far to go water everything every day. Think, think, think. I know! I'll get a large sheet of clear plastic, and cover up a bunch of little pots, and hold it down with some rocks! Yay! It'll be a little tacky looking, but it'll work. So I asked Jeremy to buy some clear plastic and told him my plans. He was at work and said he could.

A couple hours later, I got an email.

Doesn't that look interesting!?

Jeremy designed me a little greenhouse. And all for under $75! He brought home the materials that night and put together the frame in about an hour and a half. The next evening, we stapled the plastic on. Much better than a piece of plastic stretched over some pots with rocks.

What do you need?

8 treated 2x4's 8 ft long
4 1x2's 8 ft long
wood screws
4 mil plastic sheeting, 10 ft x 25 ft roll
2 hinges
He used his drill and circular saw, besides a speed square and tape measure, to put it together.

Instructions:

First up, the two ends. The angles are 25 degrees. The front piece is 2 ft, the back is 4 ft, and the middle pieces are also 4 ft.

Then repeat.

It was easy enough to add the middle. No cuts, because they are each 8 ft long. Just screw one to each side on the bottom, and then to the two tops.

Now the top. It's just a big rectangle. He used the smaller wood so that it would be light to lift up. (He thinks I'm a dainty thing.) The lid has two braces in the middle, and two ends. So two of the 1x2s are cut in half, and the other two 1x2's are left 8 ft long. Pre-drill the 1x2s so the wood doesn't split when you screw them together.

It fits just on right on the inside of the frame. Screw the hinges on the to the frame and the lid and boom! the frame is done! Now time to staple...

The first piece of plastic he cut was 43 inches. He used that for one end, and when he cut the angle off the top, it was the perfect match for the other end. Pull it tight, and over lap the top, But you don't have to wrap around on the sides, because you'll overlap the middle's plastic. And staple the heck out of it.

The back piece was cut to 106 inches. Pull it tight, and wrap it around the sides so there is a good overlap. Leave about 2 inches of plastic above the top board as well. We stapled it down and cut out around the hinges. Cut it off on the bottom, and use the leftover to cover the front.

Use the same methods in the front as the back. (I was holding up the lid for this part, hence the picture at an odd angle.)

Now, the last part is the lid.Cut another piece of plastic 106 inches. Staple the heck out of it too. Leave a nice couple of inches all around, and staple the middle bracers as well.

It is mobile, it just takes a couple of people and you have to lift it from the bottom. We moved it to the back of the house, which is the south side, but it's still close enough to reach the hose. And it only took about 3 hours total to build. It's a quick, cheap DIY greenhouse.

I love it. I'm so proud of him. Look at what he built me! Next up, putting some seeds in some dirt.