Greenhouse Project

We moved into our house nearly two years ago and when we bought it we inherited the previous owner's small wooden-framed greenhouse. It has been left untouched for two years, partly because I've never owned a greenhouse and wasn't sure what to grow in it and also it needed a good clean up if we were going to use it.



We've been spending more time in the garden recently, thanks to the lovely weather we've been having, and the tatty greenhouse has really started to stand out, sitting there all grubby and unloved, especially as the rest of the garden is really well cared for. This corner of the garden needed tidying up and re-organising with the green house being the biggest eyesore.

I started to think about whether to keep it or get rid of it but a greenhouse seemed like a nice thing to have and I have fond memories from childhood of my Nana tending to the fruit and vegetable plants in her greenhouse and me and my brother sitting in her kitchen eating freshly picked peas and strawberries from her garden. It would be nice to let the kids experience home-grown fresh fruit and vegetables like I did.

One weekend I decided to take action and I spent a hot sunny day scrubbing it clean with an old sponge and a bucket of soapy water, removing the webs, dirt and spiders (dead and live ones!). Once it was dry, I then sanded down all the wood - this was much harder work than I thought it would be.

Next I stuck masking tape to all the window edges so they wouldn't get paint on them, then it was finally ready for painting - always my favourite bit in any decorating project.



I had picked a bright shade of blue paint, I thought it would really brighten the greenhouse up and add a splash of colour to that area of the garden and I'm really pleased with the end result. My three-year old daughter does get confused when I call it the greenhouse as it is actually blue!



I've bought some plants to grow in the greenhouse so I'm hoping soon I will be able to pick strawberries, cucumbers, sweet potatoes and plum tomatoes. If I manage to look after these successfully (by that I mean they don't die!) then I might even have a go at growing plants from seeds next year - my Nana would be proud!