Pretty cool, huh? I recently interviewed Anna (via email) about her garden & her greenhouse, so I thought I’d share our conversation with all of you. It went kinda like this:

Dave: First of all, tell me a little bit about yourself.

Anna: We are Jakob and Anna, passionate suburban home gardeners in Alberta, Canada. We grow lots and lots of food in our square foot garden, in the greenhouse, and at our friend’s farm. Truth is we do not even own a single square foot of land, but we do what we can and call it Northern Home Garden.

Dave: What’s the most unique feature of your garden?

Anna: It sure is our Geodome Greenhouse.

Dave: Why did you choose the geodome style for your greenhouse?

When we started to plan to build a greenhouse, our expectations were very high. In an northern garden we are dealing with frost, nasty winds and hail and also loads of snow in the winter. Our days in spring and fall are short of direct sunlight, so we need to catch every sunbeam we can. Plus, we live in town and the greenhouse in our small back yard needed to be somehow catchy. In our research we came across the GeoDome greenhouse:

• Very unique, lightweight structure
• Stable in wind and under snow
• Optimal light absorption
• Has the most growing ground space
• A unique hang-out place
• An eye catcher

The GeoDome greenhouse is just what we were looking for.

Dave: How difficult/expensive was it to build?

The most difficult part was to figure out how to build a Geodome, what kind of joints to use, what frequency is right for the size. We looked at dozens of How-To instructions and even bought an E-Book (with very little value). But all together it helped to build the GeoDome we have and love.

For the structure we used untreated spruce lumber, and stained it before assembling. For covering we used greenhouse plastic that was given to us from an commercial greenhouse. So the expenses were not very high, about $200, and it took us about a month to build it. All in all a very good experience, something we would recommend. We do share our experiences ‘How to build a GeoDome greenhouse’ here: http://www.northernhomegarden.com/2013/03/how-to-build-geodome-greenhouse.html

Dave: Do you have any future projects in mind?

Anna: We would really love to own some land to build up a real homestead, with trees, and berries and some animals (dreaming aloud).

Got a unique or unusual greenhouse or garden? I’d love to hear about it. Go to my contact page and tell me all about it!

So if you’ve been looking to build a trellis in your own backyard, let me show you my design:

First of all – my materials list.

• (3) 4 x 4 x 12′
• (1) 4 x 4 x 8′ – (since my one section is under my garage window)
• (17) 2 x 4 x 8′
• (1) 2 x 4 x 12′

The first thing to do was to dig my post holes. I dug 6″ holes about 32″ deep – spaced 4′ apart – about 1′ from my garage wall.

The 12′ posts were too tall to fit beneath my garage eaves (even when planted 32″ deep), so I had to trim a few inches off the tops to fit just under my eaves. I had a window (as you can see in the picture below) that I didn’t want to cover up, so I planned to build that section at half height. Once the posts were in, I backfilled with gravel and tamped them in. You could use concrete if you like, but I think gravel holds it just as well (if it’s well tamped) and it allows the water to drain away from the post so it doesn’t rot.

Once the posts were all trimmed to the proper, level height, I simply attached the 12′ 2 x 4 to the top of the taller sections, and a 4′ section of 2 x 4 for the shorter one.

Next, I ripped the remaining 2x4s in half – giving me 2x2s. (The actual dimensions were 1.5″ by 1.5″)

Then I proceded attach the 2x2s horizontally between my posts. The posts were spaced with 4′ centers, so the actual length of the horizontal pieces was 45″. Underneath each horizontal piece, I attached a short piece (6.5″) to the 4×4 sides to give the proper spacing of 8″ centers. These shorter blocks also provide a ledge to screw the horizontal pieces into.

Once all the horizontal pieces had gone on, I was ready to attach the vertical pieces – and believe it or not – I was almost done! I told you this was simple!

With the posts perfectly spaced at 4′ centers, these vertical pieces attached every 9″ between the posts. That means that the squares of the grid aren’t perfectly ‘square’, but are 8″ x 9″. I made the length of my vertical pieces so that the ends were about 8″ lower than the lowest horizontal piece. (You will have to measure the total overall height of your trellis to find this measurement.)

And that’s it! Your trellis is ready for grapes, kiwis, and whatever else you can throw at it!

This is my final product! You can see my two grapes starting to leaf out. The kiwis hadn’t yet made their appearance. At first, I thought I had made it too massive for those few little plants, but by the end of the summer, the entire structure was COVERED with vines! I even had to trim them back a couple of times. So I was glad that I had made it as beefy as I did.

You can read this post about my grape harvest!

If you’re planning to build a trellis this next year, feel free to use my design! I’d love to see what you build!

Questions? Comments? Leave ‘em below!

I have four different varieties growing in my yard here in central Alberta, but the two varieties that are mature enough to produce are my Valiant Grapes, and my Marechael Foch Grapes. The valiant grapes are larger than the marechael grapes (though still smaller than what you might find in the grocery store) and are packed with flavour! In fact, they are very similar in flavour to the Concord grapes that you buy in the store.

I have them growing on the south side of my garage on a trellis with my Kiwis. (Yes, you heard right… with MY KIWIS.) I’ve found this location to work great for three reasons!

1. They get piles of sun.
2. They are protected from the wind (and they grab a bit of extra warmth from the garage.)
3. They get lots of water since all the rain that falls on the garage roof drips down right in front of them.

The kids love to eat them fresh – though the seed to flesh ratio is pretty high! I enjoy them too, but my wife finds them a bit too tangy for her liking.

However, I’m sure that she’ll enjoy the grape jelly that I made up yesterday. And that was a pretty simply process too.

First, my son and I took our snippers to the grape vines and gathered up about five pounds.

Then we crushed them (stems/seeds/and all) and brought them to a ten minute boil.

Next, we strained out the juice with a cheesecloth, added the sugar and Certo Pectin, and brought that to a boil for another minute.

All that was left after that was to pour it in jars and shortly thereafter, spread it on fresh bread!

And all that to say that it’s really true: Grape growing is not reserved for California or Italy. Not even British Colombia. Grapes can actually grow in Alberta! Try it – I think you’ll like it!

And make sure you click each picture for a larger view – I love the details of the close-up!

This is a bud from my Marechael Grape. Notice the bits of fuzz… That’s awesome! Who knew, right?

Haskap. Borealis, I believe this one is. Again – who knew flower buds were so fuzzy?

This one may be my favorite. It’s from my Brook Gold Plum. (It’s now my desktop background.) Go ahead. You can use it too!

This is another plum. This one is the Pembina plum.

This is a Barberry that I inherited and I’m trying to nurse back to health. I love how their leaves are bunched up in clusters like that.

Crabapple. Big River Flowering Crab to be specific. Love the texture!

Here’s a zoomed out shot of that Brook Gold Plum. I like this one too!

These are the tight little bunches of lilac buds. (But you probably figured that one…)

Not a fruit tree. Actually, not a tree at all, but a Bleeding Heart. I just like them…

Now this is a weird one. This is a Patmore Ash tree. That is some awesome texture and design! I love God’s creativity!

Just a common strawberry. But look close. Notice the fuzzy strands on the edges of the leaf.

This is the Golden Spice Pear. Of all the buds I’ve looked at, this one seems the most… complex.

And finally, this is the beautiful leaf of a blueberry. (You don’t usually see color like that until fall!) So that’s my spring gallery! Whaddya think?

Well, here is what I did this spring: Now this probably isn’t a brand new idea. I’m sure someone has done it before, but its new for me. (And maybe for you too.) I decided to make a mini-greenhouse WITHIN my greenhouse.

It was fantastically easy (it took all of ten minutes to build it) – and completely inexpensive – I simply used materials that were leftover from other projects. Here, let me show you…

I just took six planks (1x6s – about 30 inches long that were leftover from my fence project last fall), and tucked the bottoms inside my planting bed frame. Then I screwed the tops together and attached a long 1×2 (8 ft long) that served as the peak of my greenhouse. It was absolutely simple. Then I just took and threw over some plastic like this…

Then I ran some tests to see just how much of a difference it would make at night. Remember this is with NO additional heat.

On the night of May 2, the overnight temperature got down to 3.1° celsius outside in my garden. The greenhouse was a little warmer, going down only to 4.8° celsius. But inside my mini-greenhouse within my greenhouse, the temperature stayed up at 7.4° celsius. That’s 4.3° warmer than outside with NO extra heat. That might not seem like a large number, but that makes a significant difference in your growing season. That little, inexpensive “greenhouse within a greenhouse” project, according to the weather almanac, could have just added 9 days to my growing season – for FREE!

And of course, if I had wanted to heat that little greenhouse, it would be much cheaper to heat that little space than to heat the whole greenhouse. So maybe I’m over-reacting, but I think this is way cool and will doing this project again next year – nine days earlier!

Click for the full-size picture – but be aware – they are LARGE!

So in the meantime, I thought I’d look back at a few of the photos I took last autumn to remind myself of what I have to look forward to. The first is a photo of my prized pumpkin. I only got one this year – that’s why it’s so prized! This baby became pumpkin pie. And pumpkin pie. And pumpkin pie. And more pumpkin pie.  (I can think of no greater purpose for a veggie!… or a melon… or whatever a pumpkin is classified as…)

Another highlight of my garden this year was the corn! Man, did we get corn! Not only did the kids love “exploring in the corn”….

We also enjoyed eating lots and lots of beautiful peaches and cream corn on the cob!

The kids also enjoyed the wildlife that came through this year. We had an ABUNDANCE of ladybugs…

And a we had our first visit by a salamander. This little fellow was living under our composting lettuce heads.

And of course, we took time to stop and smell the flowers.

Well, I’m afraid all that reminiscing didn’t pacify my longings for spring. In fact, perhaps, it even intensified them a little. But as I look outside, I see the sun shining and the snow melting – and I know that, while it’s not here quite yet – spring is indeed coming. And I shall be ready for it!

So if you’re looking for a more attractive way to extend your growing season, you may want to consider a Victorian greenhouse. These beautiful glass structures are not only functional, but they also add character to your garden and value to your home. When I was making the landscaping plan for my backyard, this is type of greenhouse that I designed for.

Search through several Grow Lights and other necessities for your greenhouse all at an affordable price!

Ideally, I’d like a fully heated, cedar-frame glass greenhouse – about 12′ x 30′. (My current hoop-frame is 12′ x 20′.) It would be great to start my own annuals out there (instead of in my basement like I currently do). And it would be nice to have my greenhouse as a key feature of my garden, rather than something to be hidden in the back corner.    Of course, I’ve been doing my landscaping in phases, (doing small projects as the budget allows) and so that type of greenhouse is still a few years away – but that’s the goal.

Until then I’ll be happy to keep on growing in my inexpensive hoop-style greenhouse and be just slightly envious of those of you who enjoy your beautiful glass greenhouses.

Are you one of the lucky people to have a Victorian greenhouse? I’d love to see your pictures! Feel free to attach them to your comments below!

And it’s only the 20th of August! So needless to say, I’m impressed. And excited. We’re going to be having some major corn roasts this fall!

So what’s been your experience with all this wet, cool weather (if you’re in Alberta)? Has it been a good year?

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