PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES
By Anne Cavalier, Ed. D., VP of Institutional Advancement And Research—WVU Tech
My foray into gardening started when I was about ten years old and someone gave me some carrot seeds. My family lived in a rented house in Ripley while we awaited our own house construction to be completed. I had spent a week most summers on my grandfather’s farm in Roane County, so I guess I thought that since he let me “hoe a row” or two, then I was well prepared to grow my own garden. I dutifully cleared and tilled (with a kitchen fork) a nice little spot under a mighty maple, right between two stout roots. I planted my seeds and carefully watered them every morning, noon, and night. Each couple of days, I even dug them up to check to see how much the carrots had grown. I was greatly disappointed to finally realize they were not going to be the centerpiece at that year’s Thanksgiving dinner!
Fast forward through the pitiful little dish gardens and anemic, toothpick supported sweet potatoes on the windowsills during high school and college to my first home after marriage. Our yard was so small that it needed only sporadic assaults with a weed eater to keep it under control, but I had wide window ledges. I filled each with window boxes full of petunias and I remembered my grandmother’s adage to pinch them back unmercifully. Each summer these petunias were spectacular and as they grew, so did my family’s need for more room until we built a new house on a ½ acre of land on the Kanawha River in Smithers. The good news is we had plenty of room for gardens, and the bad news is this land was the dumpsite for all of the rock blasted from the mountains 50 years earlier when the State built the “new” Route 60. By the time we bought the property, all of the rock was camouflaged by about 1 inch of dirt and scrub trees and brush—facts all our elderly neighbors remembered to tell us AFTER we started the building process. Just before the house was finished, I called a local garden center and asked them to give us an estimate on landscaping. They came, they saw, they ran!!!!
Sixteen years, probably 50 dump trucks of top soil, yearly tons of mushroom compost, 4 retaining walls, many opportunities to learn from our mistakes, and at least one scary visit to the emergency room later, our yard is beautiful (I think I’ve earned the right to brag just this once!).
More than two years ago, I started yearning for a greenhouse. Nothing large, just enough for the amateur that I am to start flower seeds (the proper way) and to winter over some of the larger potted plants that go outside for the summer, or perhaps a place to go to ward off the dark days of winter. From that yearning grew my need to do research on what was needed for light, heating and cooling, ventilation, moisture, and pest control. I needed to learn about constructing one from scratch versus buying a kit; about wood versus metal framing; single pane versus double pane glass; about glass versus plastic panes; about clear versus patterned panes; about orienting and situating the greenhouse; about shade covers, and flooring, and electrical and water supply lines; and about costs. Some days I thought I was doing research for a second doctorate.
What did I learn and what did I finally decide? I learned that your personal, aesthetic tastes probably rule more than reason when it comes to many of the decisions you make. I learned that cost is a big factor in choosing between mechanical components and that you can buy perfectly functioning heaters, fans, grow lights, warming pads, etc. at the low end of the cost continuum at the local home improvement centers as easily as you can pay thousands (literally) for all the mechanical components sold in greenhouse supply markets and by professional installers.
After all the research, we decided that the best choice for us was a kit. It’s 8 by 14 feet and constructed of Western Red Cedar and the “glass” panes are actually twin walled polycarbonate panels. It’s from a company in British Columbia called “Cedar Built,” www.cedarbuilt.homestead.com and we worked directly with the owner, Jane Douglas, for all of our discussions by telephone and e-mail. After we placed the order, we constructed the foundation and floor from treated lumber to have it ready for the kit’s arrival. We ordered the kit with Dutch doors for each end, cedar potting benches for each side, and double, automatic roof vents. After completion, it looks exactly like the pictures you see on their website. We added our own lights, heater, fans, potting sink, and cat door for my four-legged, feline helpers.
What do I know now I wish I had known then? We learned the City of Smithers was putting in a new storm drain system and that the main route to the river would be right through the middle of the carefully selected site for our greenhouse. We also got confirmation of what we already knew: My in-laws who live beside us and who allowed the engineers to reroute the line across their property are saints. I learned that you can push a commercial sized dolly loaded with 200 lbs of crated kit parts in a business suit and high heels if the trucker calls your office and says he’ll wait for you for no more that 15 minutes and he’s not paid to unload the truck. I also learned I have some really great colleagues from work who helped unload 5 such crates on a hot mid-August day. I learned later in October that building a greenhouse in one day with family and an old fashioned “barn raising party” are just as wonderful as they sound. I also (re)learned that I’m married to the most wonderful and patient man in the world.
Last winter when the darkness of winter fell, and that peaceful quiet in a snow covered valley came, I would go to the greenhouse where I was surrounded by seeds quietly germinating and cuttings pushing out hairy little roots. After a brisk, 4.5 mile walk with my walking buddy each morning from 5:30-6:30, I’d check on the heat and light and moisture and pests. I’d deadhead and fertilize, worry and speculate on what would make it and what wouldn’t, but I never surrendered to the long ago desire to pull up the roots to check their progress. Each night I’d check the fans, heater, and vents to make sure nothing would freeze or cook overnight. This spring I was rewarded for all the research, labor, cost, and concerns with more healthy plants that I could ever use myself, so family, friends, and neighbors all benefited from those wonderful early mornings and late evenings spent in my greenhouse. During one of the first days after the house was completed and folks were coming by to see it — big excitement in a small town — one neighbor came by with his 3 year old son. After climbing over, under, around, and through everything, he looked at me and said, “Lady, I like your play house.” And a play house, with a very beneficial outcome, it has become. If you find you’ll be passing through Smithers and have a little time, give me a call and I’d love to show you our greenhouse and try to answer any questions you might have.