Maine’s climate doesn’t support a great growing season.

Just ask my long-haired chihuahua and she’ll tell you.

New Mexican chihuahua swimming in snow.

If we planted seeds directly in the ground once the soil was warm enough, we’d never get any produce.  On the other hand, buying seedlings from a greenhouse or the farmer’s market is pricey.  It is even harder to determine if they were grown from  genetically engineered seeds.

Every late spring, we start planting our seeds inside.

The Baker girls planting seeds in 2008.

Joe has purchased seeds from expensive online seed distributors, small hardware stores, or big-box stores.  The seeds seem to have similar quality results.  However, he only chooses organic, non-GMO seeds. 

We have experimented with different starter planting options, such as peat soil pellets and small planters.   We found out the difficult way that the peat soil pellets are definitely the best method.  After planting the seeds in the soil pellets, we place the plastic top on the tray and set them in our living room by the big picture window.

Once they sprout, we bring the trays to grow in our little greenhouse.

Seedlings to be placed in the greenhouse.

Our greenhouse has evolved over the years. 

We don’t have a large space to store one inside our house, so we set it up in our unheated backroom/shed. The greenhouse is always a project to build.  Each year Joe tries to improve upon its function and structure.

This is what it looked like in 2008:

Humble origins.

Originally the greenhouse was built upon wooden crates with two sets of dual fluorescent lights acting as a large grow light.  Joe had constructed a wooden frame and wrapped it in plastic on the sides. This structure was designed so that it could be lifted easily to water the plants.  A space heater sat inside to keep the seedlings warm.

Fast forward to 2019. 

New and improved structure!

Joe wrapped the inside of the frame with reflective Mylar sheeting and obtained a professional T5 grow light. The structure is lifted by a pulley system to gain access to the plants without disturbing the light. 

An electric thermostat placed inside controls a space heater to keep the temperature uniform.  The lights are controlled by a timer to ensure that the seedlings are exposed to 16 hours of light every day.

Seedlings in late April 2019.

We love the results!

There’s a sense of accomplishment in achieving this task by ourselves.  Our seedlings grow quickly and once we get them in our garden, there’s no stopping them!

Want to get started on your own unique greenhouse?

Here are some great articles with some amazing ideas .  It doesn’t matter where you live or what your budget is:

https://balconygardenweb.com/easy-diy-mini-greenhouse-ideas-creative-homemade-greenhouses/

https://www.shelterness.com/diy-indoor-greenhouses/

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/how-to-build-a-mini-greenhouse-for-free.html

Do you currently have a greenhouse?

I’d love to hear from anyone that has a greenhouse, has suggestions, or could offer any tricks of the trade.  Post below and join the conversation!