Greenhouse & Barn Reno

Fall is always busy, but this fall we are especially caught up in the project of completing the renovations to our barn/greenhouse.  This old "barn" as we love to call it was really a drive shed for the earliest owners of this property (lots of interesting old newspapers were found stuffed in the walls as insulation).  They would have kept a cart, possibly even a horse (!) and definitely chickens in here at one point.

We had already attached a passive solar greenhouse to the barn about 12 years ago when we were first getting settled on this property.  However, it was time to reorganize the space, expand the growing area, and fix up the building so it was weather and rodent proof.  It's been a huge, and exciting venture, much bigger than we thought when we started since trying to work with salvaging/reusing existing materials and keeping intact the structure of an old building can be tricky.  We hope to have this building set up by mid winter, for growing winter greens (lettuces, Asian greens, braising greens, chard, kale, spinach) through the cold months - inspired by ideas from Eliot Coleman's Winter Harvest Handbook, among other books.  There will be space for spring seedlings, herbs, sprouting (peashoots, buckwheat, wheatgrass), and using it as a teaching space.  Let's hope the cold weather holds off just a little bit longer.  Note this is a work in progress, and window, doors, roof, wood siding and a porch are still coming ...