For those of you who have been around these parts for a while, you know I own a Sunshine GardenHouse Mt. Rainier 8x16 redwood/poly panel greenhouse. (
https://youtu.be/BWyeRzS6bLI) I really like my greenhouse and have made a number of modifications to push it to it's limit, i.e.
https://youtu.be/tkNBqZZhO-c.
But, like most greenhouse owners, I have a dream greenhouse in mind. A 22 or 26 foot Growing Dome! (
https://growingspaces.com/). Just ask
@plantmanager who owns one, I have had a number of conversations with her about the growing domes.
I am about to come into some money that could make this dream greenhouse a reality, but after much thought and discussion we have decided not to buy the growing dome. It's a long story, but because of the configuration and slope of our backyard, the only two places to put the dome is in the field behind our backyard once the ground levels out or construct a huge retaining wall on the slope, fill it, level it and put the growing dome there.
This pic will give you an idea of the lay of the land. I am taking the picture from the point where the field levels off.
Here's the view looking down into the field from our small backyard.
Putting the dome down in the field would be a chore in itself since there is no vehicle/tractor/truck access (our entire property has that slope). Any work we do down there is by hand with a cart or wheelbarrow. We even use walk behind mowers to keep the grass cut. So, we would have to cart all the pieces of the dome by hand, and cart all the materials we use to make the base for the dome by hand. Not happening anymore at 63 y/o! Additionally, we have been questioning how much use we would get out of the dome in the winter having to trek up and down that hill in the snow as we get, and the main reason I want it is for year round greenhouse growing.
Building a retaining wall on the slope to make it level with the backyard would make the dome more accessible year round, but the expense of creating a driveway to the field for heavy vehicles, the building of the wall (a semi-circle 30 to 34 feet wide depending on the size of the dome), and filling such a vast area would cost as much or more as the dome itself.
So, loving the dream, but living in reality, we have decided to let go of having a growing dome, and instead have turned to our deck.
This is it right after we first built it in 2015. (I don't think I have any other pictures since we built it.
We are going to take our dome money an expand and enclose our deck making it a 4 season room. Not pictured above is the 425 gallon raised pond we installed two years ago on the ground in front of the deck, in addition to one of our vegetable gardens and our "garden room". We love to sit on this deck and watch the fish as we look out over the gardens and field behind our house. The deck, because of limitations on where the piers could be dug (because of an old cistern and an old well) and because of the location of the pond, only extends 8 feet out from the house and is 10 feet wide. What we plan to do is extend the width of the deck by 4 feet out to the edge of the house so we'll have a 14 x 8 area. We'll relocate the staircase so we exit from the front corner and make it turn on itself with a platform in the middle. We'll put windows on either side, and the front will either have 3 wide triple hung windows or a picture window with attached crank-out windows on either side.
It is something we always wanted but would not be able to afford if we bought and installed the retaining wall/area and the dome. It will, however, allow an area to grow year round (mild weather in my greenhouse, harsher weather in the new sunroom). It is connected to the house so there is no going outside to get there, making it accessible in bad weather and as we get older. I think this is a win-win for us.
So, this decision is bittersweet. On the one hand, I am giving up my dream greenhouse, but I am getting a 4 season room I've also always wanted that I can go to in my jammies to pick some fresh food in the middle of the winter...even when I am an old(er) man.
Just wanted to share this with you all.
