A new adventure....

I started with outside gardening, moved to seedstarting under lights in my dining room, and now I'm taking the next step....

Today we finally got the glazing on the greenhouse!  I decided, after four years of research, to go with the Solexx 3.5mm glazing.  The light is supposed to diffuse better and it looked easy enough to install.  I ordered 4X12 foot panels of glazing to put on our prebuilt structure.  It ended up costing about $516 for the panels and then another $100 for the screws with neoprene washers and segments of u-channel for the tops and and the sides along the shed.

The entire thing started a little slowly.  We had a hard time sneaking the panel with the u-channel up under the soffet of the pole shed.  But, after we got the first panel up, we worked out a method that went pretty quickly.  We put the front three panels on first, overlapping them and putting a few screws in to hold it steady as we worked.

We got the last panel up on the front, and then started the side panels.  The front panels didn't even need to be cut, but the side panels did.  They cut pretty easily with a utility knife.  The hard part was caulking the ends without caulk getting all over the place.  We only used one tube of caulk for the entire thing.

The last side went up more quickly, as we got a method down.  The open end had to get caulked along the top to keep the air trapped in the flutes and improve the insulation of the Solexx panels.  I'm excited to see how the panels work, as they are supposed to last several years.  The wood on the floor of the greenhouse is the bridging that we eventually put up horizontally between the main beams.

And, finally, we have a GREENHOUSE!!!

I missed SPRING!

Well, this is terribly embarrassing.  I seem to have missed spring this year.  I can make excuse after excuse about how it happened.  I started a new job this year and I wasn't quite used to my new responsibilities.  No, that's not it.  My kids played spring sports this year (lacrosse, hockey AND soccer).  Well, that's probably a little closer, but still not an excuse.  It also may have been my bathroom remodel project.
Anyway, I started ONLY five trays of seeds this year.  Summer Sun tomatoes, basil, parsley, eggplant, King of the North Heirloom peppers, and some flowers.

Luckily, they were planted in self watering seed starting containers, because they got ignored for most of the spring.  They grew big and strong!  And then, the end of the school year HIT!  So, I'm still putting plants in the ground and it's July.  I haven't gotten my deck planters done yet.  I'm big time BEHIND!

But, luckily we planted a few flowers to give me some hope.

And, I always have my trusty fruit trees.  It's a great year for cherries!  So, enjoy some pictures of what I DO have in my garden, while I lament about all that I don't have in my garden.

Mandevilla- My favorite!

Dahlia

New Guinea Impatiens

Loads of cherries

I just know something amazing is going to happen!

Hard to think about planting....

... but it won't be long at all. In fact, I'm getting so many seed catalogs in the mail, it's hard not to make a plan for the garden. But for right this second, my garden sits and patiently waits.