SPRING PROJECTS – MINI GREENHOUSE IN A SUNNY SPOT

Time to finally share something else we’ve been working on – our Wooden Victorian Growhouse – kindly gifted to me way back in November by the lovely peeps over at Waltons (makers of my Tea Shed). With the horribly wet winter and our heavy clay garden, we have been under water for so long that it has been a slow process from being able to build to painting and then finally having a patch of ground dry enough to work on – to make the base!Just what we were looking for to keep some of our plant babies safe, it will be somewhere to keep my scented geraniums cosy in the colder months and a temporary cactus infirmary where we can set free some ladybugs to eat the pests that have decided to descend on our cacti. The house has a flat back so you can rest it against a wall. We don’t have a wall big enough so are going to make it the first corner of the mini allotment/farm garden we are creating.Inside is a waist height shelf that we can stand at to pot up and water everything inside and one half of the roof lifts up to keep the air moving on hotter days.We built the Grow House way back in January, then had to cover it up and wait weeks for the rain to stop for enough days to paint. Then we covered it again and waited for weeks to build a base. Luckily that gave us enough time to gather up and break down some pallets to make a rustic wooden floor. Peeling off the protective film was a happy day, as you can see it’s perfect for wild style painting folk like me. We used Bedec Barn Paint in Matt White. Dean dug up a weed and root filled corner of the garden where the growhouse will have its face to the sun and the doors will open out towards another greenhouse we will be building later. Quite the slog, he levelled the ground, laid slabs and a frame on top to build the floor on. It is very exciting to see the back of the weeds and spiky shrubs that have been growing here for years.Once we figured out a nice pattern for the pallet wood we screwed the growhouse on top. It was quite the caper top move it around as it was fully built. We were both inside, like a pantomime horse, trying not to crush each others feet.I am really pleased with how the salvaged wood looks and it will get paler and turn grey as the year goes on. Wallis made her inspection of every inch on the hottest day, something tells me I am going to find one of these two cats asleep in here most of the summer.We have added a shelf along the middle made from an old floorboard and one under the main shelf from some more pallet wood – so there will be room for all the cacti babies up in a sunny spot. We will put bubble wrap inside for insulation in autumn and possibly a sheer kite fabric curtain to stop any of the plants getting burnt on super sunny days. We have a few more bits to finish off, some decorative additions and then the plants can move in. I will share the finished project over the next few days, then hopefully May will be a month of reveals from our house and garden.It has been so good to finally be out and enjoying some garden time! Sorry for keeping you waiting so long to show you around, we have been spinning what feels like a hundred plates since November. But hopefully, worth the wait :) xxx