RISING FROM THE ASHES LIKE A PHOENIX

HISTORY - CONSTRUCTION - CONTROL - TOUR


As a lifelong gardener and resident of northwest Pennsylvania, I have often wished for a longer growing season as well as a place to grow tropical and subtropical plants. I tried many season extending techniques such as cold frames, window greenhouses and basement growing under lights. I found that, although they had their uses, none of them satisfied the basic need for a real, heated greenhouse. After many years of planning, the opportunity finally arrived.

I built my first greenhouse in 1993, the year after I built the shed I attached it to. The design was my own, built around surplus and salvaged materials I had accumulated over the years. I soon found some minor flaws in the design, but on the whole it was functional and did a good job for me. In March of 1996 a faulty exhaust fan started a fire that destroyed the entire structure. After recovering from the loss, I realized that I now had an opportunity to correct the flaws and make a better greenhouse than the first. So following some research and consultation with a contractor friend, the new building literally rose out of the ashes, a better, stronger and more beautiful one than the first. Click on History for more details of the entire process.

I have described some of the details in the Construction section. I have no photos of the actual construction process, but I use pictures of the finished project to illustrate when I can.

Electronics construction, besides being part of my vocation, is also a hobby of mine. I also enjoy watching and forecasting weather, so I have combined these interests with horticulture to design, assemble and program a computerized greenhouse control and weather monitoring system. All the tedious details can be found by clicking on the Control link.

Finally, you can take a tour of the plants and any other projects I might have going in the greenhouse. Some of my favorite plants are shown and described here. I will try to provide links to additional information for each plant as well. Click on Tour for this, and I hope you enjoy it.

If you have any questions about anything you find here, please don't hesitate to e-mail or call me. I'll do my best to help you.

 

© 2000,2001 by Dan Sorensen