We have a... Greenhouse?

I needed a shed. That's how my thought process started: not a massive shed, just a dry place to stash the weed whacker, pool supplies, and fire pit tools. I was first planning to do a lean-to shed in the back corner near our parking spot, but every option that really fit our needs and matched our old house and garage were very expensive.  I considered building one, and even designed a build, but ultimately knew I didn’t want a shed.  I have a garage and should be able to use that for a lot of these things, despite some inconvenience.

Then we removed a few trees at the back of our lot (two were dead ash trees in the alley) and the space we had available was a lot more usable than it had been before.  Now with far less shade than we ever had, it made a lot of sense to use that space somehow.  With a large spot and a lot of gardeners, there was a great opportunity to make a greenhouse work!

Vego Garden

A lot of our garden materials are from Vego Garden.  We were early adopters of their raised garden beds, and we have had them several years.  They’ve been really great beds, and I love the durability of their products.  Earlier this year, we replaced our Lomi composter (the Kickstarter original!) with Vego’s version, and we’ve been happy with the technical upgrades that came with that as well.

So, why not get their greenhouse?
We landed on the 8' x 8' Junior Victorian Greenhouse, because the size was perfect for our needs.  But I really love the style of the Pacific Greenhouse too: I couldn't quit justify the additional expense for the small gain in space.  And I'd have to redo the back fence for the extra few inches.

Assembly

I’m really happy with the final results!  But the assembly was a little more rocky than I expected.  I’d love to write that it was as great set up and there were no issues, but there are definitely some production decisions that were frustrating on my end.  The biggest ones are things that are somewhat questionable advertising:

1) "Build In An Afternoon"
Not really.  Unfortunately, the day I planned to build was filled with sick kids. So, while they rested, I built.  And I got about halfway through in seven hours.  Overall, it took about 13 hours not including the base.

2) "Includes Pre-Installed Nuts"
The nuts molded into the frame are great.  Storing the bolts in those nuts for shipping was just rude.  Nearly every bolt needed to be removed before being reinstalled.  It probably wasted two hours of time just removing bolts to almost immediately reinstall them.  I wish they’d been in a box or a bag.

My biggest issue though is that every single item is encased in plastic.  From the plastic film on the aluminum framing then covered in plastic wrap to the -understandable- film on the polycarbonate… it ends up being about a contractor trash bag of plastic film.  I wish they’d find a way to ship without so much packaging waste.

The other minor things I’d note is that it is designed to be accessible from every side for assembly.  Putting this in the corner of a fenced in yard made some parts of the install… difficult or near impossible.  The last two gutter downspouts weren’t installed.  It’s okay: it’s a low spot in the yard anyway!  The design also calls for measuring things in weird ways.  0.79” will never be on a tape measure.  Just use 13/16”.

Setting Up the Greenhouse

So… I needed a shed.  The greenhouse is starting out as a base for closed storage.  With our creamy garden beds, roof, and playhouse, I wanted something that would fit that vibe inside too.  I wound up getting two of the Kolbjörn outdoor cabinets from Ikea, though out of the box they were a little grayer than the other creams. Oh well.  They give me just enough closed storage for tools like the chainsaw and leaf blower while also fitting nicely in with the rest of the yard.  This line also comes with shelving that I can add to the top of these cabinets, but I haven’t committed to those quite yet.

I also have a set of Z-racks that I'll store in here: they have been great for clotheslines when we’re in the pool or washing our wool blankets.  And one works great to hang the outdoor movie screen.  With other rakes, shovels and equipment out here, we have a nice little space to work and keep things under wraps.

Who knows: next year we may even get some electricity out here to really get things going!