Green Thumbs Nearly Soiled

With spring not so far off, those of you who wish to grow your own vegetables and fruits this year may wish to make a visit to www.greenhouseselect.com. You’ll be pleased to learn that you don’t need to make a permanent commitment of a large portion of your yard to add a greenhouse to your horticultural arsenal. Truth be told, you don’t necessarily need a yard at all.

A friend of mine takes pride in the tomatoes and squashes he grows himself each year. In the early years, his father let him use what little space remained in his large and weather-worn greenhouse in a very rural part of the western south island. More than a few panes on the old structure were covered with cellophane sheeting secured with duct tape. (Red Greene would have been proud – duct tape was similarly instrumental in securing the corner posts of the rickety trough tables)

Eventually he became more ambitious and wished to expand his yield, but the expanse of his pops’ botanical ventures meant there wasn’t enough available space in the greenhouse. He resolved that with a little more diligence and care the crops could be grown out doors. It seemed to go fairly well the first year, with the only problem being the local deer and rabbit community found the vegetables as appealing as we did.

The year following, his solution to the annoyance almost fooled me in a bad way.

I tagged along for the day with the promise that if I helped him with some tending, he’d help me lug my scuba gear down into the Jordan River valley. I wanted to pan for gold in the bottom of a deep and dark eddy pool I’d scouted. (Unsuccessfully, but I did make the rather macabre discovery of an almost fully-intact dog skeleton down there)

My hands became so muddy that I had difficulty tying the twist ties to the retainer sticks. I reached down to rinse my fingers in one of the cans of “water” that were set about the base of the grow area when my friend stopped my progress with an anxious bark...

Apparently the odor of human urine repels wildlife from crops.

Nowadays we’re both city slickers, but he still caters to his green thumb on his condo balcony. His Jewett-Cameron Early Start Corner Greenhouse Unit goes to show how reaping the rewards of greenhouse technology is not exclusive for those with a large backyard and the freedom to have a permanent structure.

Those who have a patio attached to a ground floor unit would be able to intensify the sun’s generative power without taking up too much space with a Jewett-Cameron 4’ x 8’ Weatherguard Greenhouse. Folks who have the small square backyards that typically accompany a townhouse or similar small single-family dwelling could put any of the larger Jewett-Cameron 6’ x 8’, 8’ x 8’ or 6’ x 12’ Weatherguard Greenhouses to use and likely still have place for a swing set or bird bath.

These greenhouses are easily assembled within two hours, and can be disassembled just as easily for the winter months if you’re so inclined. They’re designed to stand up to most of what Mother Nature can dish out, and you won’t need to resort to disturbing means of wildlife repulsion to yield a full harvest.