Greenhouse Made Out of Recycled Windows

After I lost my tomato plant to a gopher — I actually saw the plant shake and then slowly disappear into the soil as the little *!@* rodent pulled it down into its labyrinth — I gave up on gardening for a decade. I couldn’t handle doing all that work to lose the fruits of my labor (LITERALLY) to rodents and pests. Trying to re-introduce gardening to me, my husband researched building a greenhouse using metal tubing and sheets of corrugated plastic. Besides the exorbitant material cost, I didn’t want an eyesore in my backyard, so we put the idea on the backburner.

But it didn’t take long to rethink the greenhouse idea because our weekly trips to the farmers’ market to buy fresh, organic veggies started to eat into our retirement savings. I checked out greenhouses that were built using old windows and collected all kinds of colorful designs on Pinterest. Then I went to a local salvage yard where they sell used windows (among other things) to see what they cost.  I flew to LA where my best friend owns Silverlake Yards, a salvage and restoration company in LA, and bought 17 windows and 8 glass doors for a song and rented a Budget rental truck to drive them back to Santa Cruz.

Putting the greenhouse together was like assembling a puzzle.  I laid out various scenarios using the windows and doors that I had. I hired a helper to assist me with building the framework and installing the windows. There probably isn’t a square or level surface anywhere in the greenhouse because we built it using an assortment of window sizes and shapes. I love the fact that all materials were used and that I didn’t use any virgin materials.  This actually saved tons of materials from going to the landfill!

I’m growing microgreens, seedlings, veggies, and fruit trees in the greenhouse.  They love the warm, moist environment, and I love learning how to grow things. We even put our aquaponics system in the greenhouse. My greenhouse gives me a safe place (from rodents!) to grow veggies year round!