Weeds, water, and WIP

What happens when you leave a garden to its own devices for two weeks?  Duh.  Weeds.  I've been battling them ever since I returned from visiting Jean in England, and it amazes me how the weeds flourish when everything else is dry as a bone.

There's been virtually no rain for a while here, and I've had to water the garden to keep it going.  Some things just never came up (like the pumpkins) because it's been so dry.  The grass is even crispy.

But, weeds and lack of water don't keep things from moving along here.  Dad and I continue to work on the greenhouse, and yesterday we finished laying the foundation for it.

Here we are in February, cutting slots in 1x3 to accept the windows.  Thanks to the handy dandy propane heater, we didn't freeze too badly.

We were kind of winging it until Mom found a set of plans online that looked fairly easy, and we quickly started in on adapting our ideas.  Here's the stack of lumber, and one of the greenhouse sides.

Working fairly steadily, typically on Fridays, we got the sides, front, and back finished. Mom wasn't too happy that we were using her picnic tables...

Once the easy parts were done it was time to work on the gambrel portion (the greenhouse will look like a barn when it's done).  We built the first rafter, then used it to make a jig for the rest.

We made gussets to reinforce the rafters and ends.  Some of them we had to chisel out by hand.  I think my late father-in-law would be proud of the job I did.

Here are some of the rafters and the gambrel ends, stacked up ready to move to Two Sheds Farm.

Taking up my middle bay

Next step, finding a good spot in the yard and marking out where the foundation will be.  The greenhouse is about 100 ft or so from the house, because the land slopes and that's the most level spot.  Dad and I spent an afternoon marking it out and making sure everything was square.  It's accurate to within a sixteenth of an inch!

Because the ground isn't level, we are putting in a block foundation.  We had a little "oops" moment when we found out the mortar we bought was rapid-set...I "unconcreted" the wheelbarrow we had mixed it in by turning it over and dropping it on the ground.  We'll use the "wheelbarrow stone" for the threshold of the greenhouse.  I don't think Dad totally appreciates that.

 

We've spent quite a few very hot days setting the blocks in, but it's finally done.  The butterflies sure seemed to like the cement mixer.  At least five or six of them fluttered around every time we turned that thing on.

All done laying block!

We still have to put sheathing on the sides and paint them, then figure out how to attach the windows.  Might just go with plastic for this year, though.

In the meantime, weeding continues...and here comes some much-needed rain!