Two Small Greenhouses
The first greenhouse was built almost entirely from recycled materials. The second greenhouse is a hoophouse, a plastic tent-like building built over a simple metal frame.
This greenhouse was built almost entirely out of recycled building materials, including old doors and windows from home-renovation projects.
It also includes junk-shop shelving units and a cinderblock foundation.
There is also a garage-sale sink. The homeowner grows a variety of plants in her greenhouse, including parsley, chives, chard, arugula, oregano, cantaloupe, green beans, zucchini and heirloom tomatoes.
Her prize plants are a pair of lemon trees and an avocado tree that took almost five years to produce a single avocado.
Pests are kept under control in two ways.
Interplanting is the process of scattering and mixing plants rather than grouping crops together in rows. This seems to confuse bugs by keeping the scents diluted. A "bird patrol," or birdhouses placed all around the yard, invite birds, which feed on the bugs.
The second greenhouse is a hoophouse, an arched metal frame wrapped in clear plastic. The tentlike structure is an inexpensive alternative to traditional glass-paned greenhouses.
The interior is packed with native plants being reproduced, herbs, vegetables, flowers, even olive trees.
The interior temperature is maintained in a number of ways, including a propane heater, a ventilation fan and heating mats for seedlings.
The plastic skin of the greenhouse itself can be covered with an adjustable shade cloth as needed.
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