The Greenhouse Effect.

A wagon load of old bridge planks 

  It has been awhile since I have thrown the sawhorses, tool boxes, and saws into the back of my pickup and headed off somewhere to help out with a project.   As I was driving down the the highway towards this latest project that I was asked to assist with I could not help but reflect back a few years to some of my earlier blogs where I had written about helping my son Shawn and his wife Vanessa build their home.  Then there were the blogs written where I helped remodel some of the cabins at the bible camp near Lake Okoboji during the winter seasons.   Those were fun little road trips.

Selecting and cutting to size a base for a greenhouse

    My brother - Rod - was at an auction and found a deal on a greenhouse kit.    I did not know what to expect when I heard it was a "kit".     A greenhouse is something that he definitely needed.   He has several of those plastic gizmos trays with little bitty green things germinating from them.   There are warm lights and heating pads and things that keep dirt moist.   It's quite the setup.   I only imagined that when he said he bought a greenhouse kit that it would be like buying a model airplane kit or something.   I didn't know what to expect and I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about a building that came in a cardboard box. 

Hmm.   I wonder which one is me? 

  His idea was to build a frame or a base where we could mount the greenhouse on.    When the spring planting season would be over and there was no be no need for using a greenhouse then he could pull it back inside a quonset or shed where it would be protected from the outside  elements the rest of the year.   He just happened to have some old treated bridge plank laying around so that is what we used to build this base.    This plank was 3 inches thick and 11 inches wide.  We doubled it up making the base 6 inches thick.

Off to a good start.

   Once the bottom base was built we started to assemble the greenhouse.    At this point I put away all the wood working tools as everything in that cardboard box was either plastic or aluminum.    Rod's wife, Charlene, was out there assisting us, fetching coffee for us bosses, making lunch when we got hungry, and her presence also discouraged us from using inappropriate language when things were not going our way.

Does anyone know where that screwdriver went to?

   I have seen movies where fathers are trying to assemble a bike or toy on Christmas eve night and the instructions left something out or whatever.     That seemed to be the case here.  Part 22 connects to part 27 with screws # 32 and plastic coupler 10.  Before joining all pieces be sure to insert sheet B.    Assemble this section as you hold parts in place with all four of your extra arms and hands trying not to drop that screw which should be inserted in the holes that do not line up. 
 (Got the picture?)

Hook the tractor on this shed and put it in place.

     On day three of working on this I discovered that my house building and cabin remodeling body has left me.    For one thing - joints hurt.  Not only joints, but muscles (what is left of em).  For another, it must be time to have the eye site checked cause every time I would drop a screw on the ground it could not be found. 
 (And they did not pack any extra screws in the box.)

Anyone need a plant or two?

    When we were all done I think everyone of us was surprised at how this structure suddenly became very stable.    I think bolting it down to the bridge plank helped a lot.   (I wonder if they sell shop buildings out of a cardboard box?)   The test will be on one of those days when the Iowa wind wants to blow hard, but this unit was placed in a protected area.   It should be alright.
     I think this project should work out good for the old gardener.