Between the two of us, it seems like there’s always a project or three going on all at once. This post is about our greenhouse project.

So, we ordered a kit from Lowes. I think it’s available from other locations, too. The model we bought is called Zalie Backyard Discovery, and the parts look like good quality and they’re all numbered. It’s small and looked like something we could get done fairly quickly. Why is it that our projects always seem to involve far more time and effort than it first seems it will? We have not yet begun the actual greenhouse part of the greenhouse project yet, after a few months. As with everything else, there is always three to five things to do before doing the thing you set out to do.

The greenhouse project is going to take longer than expected. My husband likes to do everything thoroughly and perfect on the first go around, which adds time to any endeavor. But the end results usually do turn out to be worth it. Aside from that, we have some other projects going on, like I said, so the greenhouse is being done in between stages of the other things. Some of those other things include soon be my studio by the gate, his deer blind, my work in real estate, the garden, and the general everyday tasks of keeping up the land and driveway that we live on.

Here’s how it should look when we’re done. It’s small 7′ x 11′, but large enough for our personal garden needs.

The Greenhouse Project

Unboxing

The greenhouse arrived in several large boxes. We can’t receive freight shipments here, so we ask the local hardware/feed store in Huntsville to receive them for us, usually. So far they’re always happy to help and we tip the guys using the forklift to put our things on the trailer. I’ve also used the even more local Kingston feed store dock, too, but shippers won’t plan to come during their business hours which makes it harder to coordinate.

Since we already knew we weren’t going to be putting the thing together the following weekend, we needed to make sure all of the parts were there and undamaged as soon as possible. So, that’s literally hundreds of pieces to check.

Staining and Sealing

The instructions say you should seal the greenhouse. Well, as I said earlier, my husband is very thorough on doing things the way he feels is best… and in this case that meant staining and sealing each individual piece. (!! – my initial reaction, lol)

So we did that. And it did take some time.

Foundation

You could just put the thing on the ground. It would probably outlive us… but maybe not. And we definitely don’t want to go through all this work again, so it needed a concrete foundation.

We just finished that part today – yay!!

Thankfully, he divided the slab into 4 parts so we didn’t have to do it all in one day. The seams that join the parts will act as drains for any water that gets on the floor once we have plants inside to water.

Each part took between 10-13 80-lb bags of concrete. We had to take a recuperation day after each pouring day. Most of the time we also used that day to go get the next batch of concrete bags.

Construction – probably not until some time before spring

Commissioning! – this will be a day worth celebrating, lol

When we get more done on this, I’ll update the post! What kind of projects do you have going on, and do you juggle more than one at once? I feel as if I am always trying to take irons out of the fire, but somehow more just keep getting added instead.

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Author/Artist Info
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In the summer of 2018 I began making watercolor paints from the rocks, clay, and other resources of our land here in the Ozarks. In 2023 I began experimenting with the same pigments in oils. I love this medium and now paint in oils almost always. I call them Wild Ozark Paleo Paints, because they’re made in a way very close to the same way paints were made when man first put a hand-print on the wall of a cave. I use very small amounts of outsourced pigment for blue, white, and sometimes yellow to offer a greater range of hues built upon the earthy local pigments. My specialty is painting nature, specifically the nature that surrounds me here in the remote hills of northwest Arkansas.

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Madison Woods
@wildozark (Instagram, Twitter, Threads and FB)
madison@wildozark.com