Building greenhouse onto end of house

So...remember awhile back I mentioned when we sold our old home that the buyers wanted my greenhouse as well, so we sold it to them? Well now I have enough materials gathered to build a new one here onto the end of our new house :) My old one was from Harbor Freight ~ 10x12 Greenhouse

As much as I liked it, I didn't feel it really had the space I needed for the size! Imagine that!

So we are planning a 20 foot wide by 10 foot, well that is MY plan, hubby says otherwise.

The windows we acquired first, the neighbor redid his sunroom and since hubby helped install the new windows, we got the old ones, only 9 of them, but 9 will work!

The siding was from another neighbor who wanted an old barn torn down to put up a new building so we helped with that and now have old barn siding.

The door was found down the road in another neighbors trash, yup, farmer and hubby went and got the door, we are all set!! So let's get started!!

 We started by putting in the treated posts and attaching to the house, then moved out and squared it up to get the other posts in the ground, I wanted it 10 foot out from the house, but he thought 7 feet was enough

 string between the posts to be sure we have everything lined up

it's a start and it's a pretty day next we will get the base boards and header boards up

 there we go, got it good and square and he just couldn't wait, he added the door ha ha

 and I thought I was anxious!

 little bits at a time and it's coming together, I had planned originally on having shutters put on the computer room and bedroom windows but decided against it, I want to be able to still have those windows open to let the breeze blow through the greenhouse and into the house

getting all the windows out of farmer's barn to start putting them in, slow process at first but it's coming together and I am getting more than excited

 only 9 windows, so I am deciding which end I want 2 windows and which end I will only have 1

 it's getting there, it's looking like I imagined it to look :)

 I decided to have the 2 windows on the east side, to get all that nice morning sunshine

 I couldn't wait, I had to get started on the old barn siding, it's red on the other side, I decided to leave the natural side facing to the outside because I think it's pretty cool looking

 getting some of the barn siding on the end while I wait him to get home from work to get the window into the other side of the greenhouse

 oh boy, had been going so good, now it's time to break out the jig saw to make some cuts around the windows, this is when I get nervous that I will mess up

 I like how it looks already LOL

the critters keep going in and out the left end since I don't have any siding up there yet and that gave me an idea for the right end under the 2 windows, I am going to build a critter house INSIDE the greenhouse and put a little door so they can have a critter box on this end of the house, we already put one under the front deck awhile back and they use it and love that one on warm days because it's so cool under the front deck

 made my cuts around the window siding and sent photo to hubby at work

 cut the pieces parts for up the sides of the windows, only have little area to left of door to complete

 he needs to finish the header above door, we thought about a small vent there but I have decided against that as I can open the windows since they have screens instead, it's time to get the trusses up and get ready for the roof

 you can see he filled in above the door and I have nearly all my work done, the left side got 1 window and I almost have the siding all the way up to the top, just a few more cuts with the jig saw and I will be done and we can get to the roofing, I didn't want it all see through on roof, so we purchased some galvanized roofing for the back half

 it's really coming together now, roofing time soon

 guess I better get the rest of the siding up on both ends and to the left of the door huh before he gets home from work today and wants to get the roof done, I will get scolded for not completing my part 

 lookie lookie, we have a roof and if you look to the right, back there in the distance you can see our neighbors little red barn, the back part of that barn has already been torn down and that is where my barn siding came from :)

I could stand here and look at this all day!!

 it's a day or two later when I build the bench against the house wall and I am starting to put up the window ledges in the front windows, I will also put them on the ends too

 when we did the basement drainage, the huge backhoe smooshed my new walkway so I tore it all up and am reusing the cement pieces parts to make a little dirt area inside the greenhouse under the bench

 it's coming together nicely!! I have a pile of gravel to put on the floor

trying out this shelving on the end, but I think I don't like it and will be taking it down

 oh yes, took out the shelving because I needed to finish the wood window shelving/ledge and add the critter box on the inside of the greenhouse, I transplanted some tomatoes to see how long into the winter I can keep them growing

the window wells are under my bench, going to lay a piece of wood over them for more storage

 oh lookie, I have my celery in that big wash tub, and Backfire is checking things out, I just open up my computer room window and she walks right into the greenhouse onto the back bench, right at home 

 there is the critter box on the inside, I figure with all the windows the greenhouse ought to hold a little warmer in the greenhouse therefore making the critter house warmer for them in the winter :)

 I moved the tomatoes to opposite end of greenhouse and have some Italian roma to dry for seeds

 

 LOL I keep moving those darn tomato plants around, they are just sooo big, did I tell you we ran electric to the greenhouse? I can sneak out there after work, and I have stayed out there till midnight or later just playing and trying to get organized and my little helper is always with me

 bringing in some plants and pots to save seed for next year

 got that wall unit from a neighbor who was moving, it worked perfect for in here, the top folds down if I want to close it up completely, but for now I have little pots stacked on it

 showing you the inside of the barn siding, I didn't want the outside red so the inside got it

 the outside of the greenhouse on the end with the critter box, there is their wind-proof flap, all the outside kitties and Scooter the doggie use it, all cozy inside, it's big enough for another dog even

and the other end of the greenhouse, you can see the walkway is now gone and is being used as flowerbed border, I used some inside the greenhouse, I sure didn't want to waste all that time and effort I put into creating that sidewalk so I reused it when I had to tear it out, like I said, when we did the drainage around the house it got mashed up so had to take it out anyway

AND YA KNOW WHAT, NOW HUBBY AGREES WITH ME, IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN 10 FEET DEEP!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH your're killing me!

just don't ever listen to me when I am suggesting it, bigger is always better when it comes to a space we are taking the time and effort to build! He should know that by now.

*before photos below*

 there you can see my sidewalk where it ended and the end of the house where we had the water issue

and here is the before photo when we had to tear up to put in drainage, that's when the sidewalk got destroyed, this is the end the greenhouse now sits :)

Pickled greens, spaghetti sauce, new doors & bebe

Whew, been busy here!

We have been picking the garden, canning everything in sight, I have gotten a steal of a deal on new doors for the house and update on the new granddaughter :)

 first the new doors, ok I have been watching for a good deal on doors, remember ours are like closet doors here at the house, original from '65 when they built the house, discolored and very thin, I mean they are like a very thin laminated wood look with nothing in between them, you could push on them and they would just fall in ~ so a friend Justin at work told me they had a return on a couple of doors, normally they wouldn't take back a door that someone had painted, but for whatever reason this time they did, so he called me and I ran to check them out back in the lumber area. I said I LOVE THEM, what sizes are they? hmm well the top photo with the arched glass window was a 36", perfect for my front door!!! woot woot!! SOLD I said, and ya know what I got both doors for? $75 (well plus taxes) - FOR BOTH DOORS!!!! That is less than I would have paid for one new door and since my favorite color is green, I didn't have a problem with the color the prior customer had painted them, I paid $30 for the top door (front door), how awesome is that?

the other door was a 32" too big for my back kitchen door replacement, but I bought it anyway, it was $45 for this door (back kitchen door) it has the built in blind too, I just love it, I decided I would convince hubby to MAKE it fit, and bought it right up - now they sit in the kitchen so he can see them when he gets home HA HA won't he just love the thought of the new doors and him having to figure out HOW to make a 32" door go into a 29" opening HA HA HA I have faith, I checked out the door frame/jamb area and I am totally convinced it is workable! so there! 

 who does wee one look like? photo on phone is of our son, I think his new daughter looks alot like him!!

 and she is going to be a total beauty just like her mother

 Chey coming to help with the canning, love them sexy glasses she just got

 got my cousin down for the day, we are making spaghetti sauce, this is his first time learning the process and he is really liking it, he was simply amazed that the victorio strainer just does it all and spits out the stuff you don't need with such little effort, leaving the juices and pulp to come out the other side shoot, if you don't have a victorio strainer, you may have a Foley food mill, works the same pretty much

 along with the spaghetti sauce we are making today, we are also canning up anything and everything from the garden ~ pickled mixed vegetable (pickled greens, it includes green tomatoes, carrots, pepper, onions, garlic, celery brussel sprouts, cucumber, broccoli and cauliflower, all piled into the jar with a pickling liquid :)

Our gardens are not allowed any waste!

yes, he is impressed with all this, he said he always wanted to learn but had no idea at all how it went, so glad to have been able to share this day with him, I think he will be back for the next canning session, plus we sent lots of goodies home with him!

PICKLED MIXED VEGETABLES

4 lbs of cucumbers cut into slices

2 lbs peeled and quartered small onions

4 cups cut celery (1-inch pieces)

2 cups peeled and cut carrots

2 cups green tomatoes, chopped

2 cups cut sweet red peppers

2 cups cauliflower

5 cups white vinegar (5%)

1/2 cup canning or pickling salt

3-1/2 cups sugar

3 tbsp celery seed

2 tbsp mustard seed

1/2 tsp whole cloves

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

Yield: About 10 pints

Procedure: Combine vegetables, cover with 2 inches of cubed or crushed ice, and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours. In 8-quart kettle, combine vinegar and mustard and mix well. Add salt, sugar, 

celery seed, mustard seed, cloves, turmeric. Bring to a boil. Drain vegetables and add to hot 

pickling solution. Cover and slowly bring to boil. Drain vegetables but save pickling solution. 

Fill vegetables in hot sterile pint jars, or hot quarts, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add pickling 

solution, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. 

Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process.

Process pints 5 minutes & quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath canner.

of course you can alter a little if you want more of one vegetable instead of another.