Dad and I have always wanted a small greenhouse. Of course we always envisioned a glass Victorian structure of times past, but that’s beyond our budgets lol so we decided to purchase a modern one to make our dreams come true. Of course dad and I are both up there in the years but why not have some fun, right? Fortunately we have our expert handyman (my hubby) to help us build our little dream greenhouse.
We ordered this little greenhouse online after much looking and consideration. It was the closest thing I could find to looking like that Victorian model in my head. It was rather simple to put up with a bit of expert help. Hubby did all the work and I handed him the tools and provided moral support and endless glasses of fresh lemon aid lol.
Hubby first built a wooden base to mount the greenhouse to, then went from there. The base is built like a skid so if we need to move it, the farm tractor can do so fairly easily. We filled the inside with dirt then placed some old rubber mats on top. It’s very sturdy and we haven’t had any problems with wind and storms (which was a concern). We also purchased mounted shelving for that brand of greenhouse to help it with sturdiness. This is a small 4’x6’ green house which fits the area we wanted it in perfectly.
Now, of course, we missed the spring starter planting season with the greenhouse for this year and it gets way too hot to use it for plants in the summer… so back to my rules of purchasing #1 all items should be multi purpose in use (no single use items or disposable items). Which brings me to its summer time use! It’s my clothes dryer in the summer! Cool, right?
We added a solar fan to circulate the air. But why not use the dryer in the RV? Well it heats up the RV and is counterproductive to using the AC on really hot days for one. It also overloads our electric using the AC and the dryer at the same time and pops the breaker in the summer (we can only use one or the other). AC takes priority over dry clothes in hot weather folks! Why not just hang a regular laundry line? Couple of reasons: 1. We are near a dirt road and dust is an issue. 2. Allergies and pollens on my clothes drive me insane with the allergies! And 3. It’s a farm. Where there are farm critters… there are flies… and flies landing on my clean clothes just really gross me out big time!
Besides… those shelves we installed are perfect for hanging clothes! (yep I ordered those particular shelves with that in mind lol so preplanned on my part, and it worked excellent!)
When it gets cool enough that I don’t need the AC and we are back to using the heater in the RV then I can use this for plants and starting next years garden or even having some winter leafy green type harvests. After I’m done using it as a greenhouse in the spring, I will just take a garden hose to those shelves and turn it back into a laundry room! The really fun part of this set up is that it conserves electricity and the solar drying honestly takes way less time than the electric dryer! It cuts the drying time for my clothes in half, no joke! It gets super hot in there! That solar fan make the air circulate and the humidity from the clothes goes out the roof vent.
So yep… I bought a solar clothes dryer folks! As a side note I also spin wool which means I buy raw wool and process it (aka wash, dry, card, then spin into yarn for further knitting, crochet or weaving projects). This makes a wonder spot for drying wool as well!
I always had issues drying a fleece before… because inevitably a gust of wind would pick up my nice clean wool and either toss it on to the dirty ground (meaning I had to hand pick grass and other debris out of it) or into the nearby creek. Gah! So frustrating because it takes a lot of work cleaning that dirty raw wool to the point it is usable! Now I have a nice safe and clean place to let it dry and I can even let it sit a few extra days in the heat and sun to sun-bleach the wool a brighter white! Excellent!
This set up is a win-win and our next order of business later this summer? When the tomato plants start producing tons of tomatoes I plan on using the greenhouse to make some sun dried tomatoes! We also have a herb garden so I can easily dry some yummy herbs for winter use! Woot woot! Yep this is turning out to be a lot of fun as well as practical! Well worth the purchase price and effort to build. A small greenhouse is perfect for our needs and just the right size to keep the temperature at the right heat for the project at hand.
Conestoga Chuck and his little sister also approve… because that means the RV stays much cooler on those hot summer days! This winter you may spot us sitting in the greenhouse enjoying that solar heat while the dogs do their morning constitutionals as well lol
Conestoga Chuck 