It has been a long road

So a couple of years ago I had a vision of a U shaped raised bed garden with sort of a coldframe in the centre where I could start some lettuce and kale a bit earlier in the spring. It was going to look something like this.

So I started with a level square that was 16'x16'.

Then I forgot to take any photos until the next year, but I had built it up three boards high and then realized that three feet was too high. It is too high for reaching across and we also have to find a lot of fill to put in there. I removed the top layer and then I lined the inside with dimpleboard that they use for dampproofing houses. I covered the bottom in filtercloth to keep weeds from growing up through the beds and any earthworms I found while digging I kept and put back in the beds after I got some wood, rakings, and dirt in there to give them a healthy environment and to help break down the organic matter in the beds.

But then...

I decided I could cement the inside cornerposts in and make the inside into a greenhouse with the outside being a raised bed. Then we ended up here.

I, again, forgot to take photos but last summer a friend helped me frame in the rafters and I bought some hailproof Tuftex polycarbonate panels and got the roof done. Winter hit before I could get anything else done but our early spring and a bunch of leftover roughcut lumber along with some that I had salvaged, meant that this was able to be completed by last week.

I gotta say it feels pretty good!

We still have to buy the side panels but it should work just fine like this, even if we don't get them this year. I will just plug the holes with some insulation for the winter and we'll have a cozy little spot to put our plants in the early spring with a small electric heater for the frosty nights. It feels really nice to have this much done, even though it took a long time to get it this far and I think of the tomatoes that might actually be able to ripen on the vine and not in a cardboard box.

Take care, friends!