First, we went to the farm to pick up the six 55 gallon plastic water barrels that go along the back wall of the greenhouse. These provide the thermal mass to prevent the greenhouse from freezing. They are painted black to absorb as much solar energy as possible on sunny days (thus heating the water) and they release that heat slowly through the night and on cloudy days. The greenhouse itself is very insulated on 3 sides (north, east and west) to retain this heat. While we were at the farm, we picked up the shelves that sit on top of the barrels and provide a convenient grow bench.
Second, we unloaded the barrels and lined them up in the spots in the greehouse. This involved rearranging a few things, but was pretty quick.
Third, we started filling the barrels. The water will start out around 55 degrees which should be warm enough to prevent a freeze anytime soon. This step took forever since we had about 330 gallons of water to add.
Filling the first barrel
Lastly, we put the shelves on top of the barrels and moved the potted plants already in the greenhouse up onto the shelf.
Shelves lined up
First shelves on and plants moved in
Sometime in the next week or so, we'll start filling trays of soil and planting greens. By past experience, we should be able to eat salad from the greenhouse all winter long, although it will take several weeks before what we plant is big enough to start eating. We plan to plant some root crops (carrots and radishes most likely) in the front planting bed also. I can't wait to have food growing again!
We are also trying to figure out what kind of garden we can handle for next year. I would dearly love to have a garden the size of our former home garden, but we aren't sure if we'll have the time to tend a garden that size while building. There are several things that will have to get settled in our lives before we make a final decision so for now I'm happy looking through the newly arrived seed catalogs and dreaming of what I could grow.
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