Will's Mini-Greenhouse
Building a small wooden structure for plants, including diagrams, materials list, instructions.
October/November 1997
By the Mother Earth News editors
 |
ILLUSTRATION: WILL STENTON
|
Mother's Woodshop
RELATED CONTENT
Find out how to build your own greenhouse using free and recycled materials. This versatile greenho...
From North America to Italy and back again, heirloom grain corn ‘Floriani Red Flint’ packs a rich, ...
Building a greenhouse can be inexpensive if you use recycled doors or windows. And a small greenhou...
An analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists concludes that consumers’ energy costs would act...
Bills in the House and Senate are proposing a federal standard that would require utility companies...
Materials
1-4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood
1" x 2" x 25' fir stock
2-4" hinges
1lb 6D galvanized nails or screws
1 small tube of caulking
1 small tube of waterproof
carpenter's glue
2 pints primer/sealer
2 pints paint
2 screen hooks
3' x 5' sheet of 5ml plastic film
My wife, Vivian, has been using the sill of a south-facing window in the kitchen to start seeds and for her small herb garden. She remarked one morning over coffee that she wished she had a little more window space to grow a few more things. Well, she must have caught my brain in "receive" mode because I started thinking of ways that we might be able to gain more shelf space without it turning into an expensive and time-consuming project (like each weekend project that takes me a month to do). So here is what we came up with and built in a weekend. .. really!
— Will Shelton
Our window is the standard wood double-hung variety. Take the wood-framed screen off the window and attach a sheet of five-ml clear plastic film over the screen on the outside. I use thin strips of wood and staples. If you have storm windows, you can probably use them instead of covering the screen. If you have modern aluminum screens, you may be able to substitute the screen fabric with the plastic film using the splines to hold the film in place. Or make a simple frame using 1" by 2" stock. In any event, attach the outside top of the screen frame to the window frame using hinges. (I used 4" hinges from my storage box of salvaged stuff too valuable to throw away.) Prop the screen open at about 35 degrees.
Next, cut a piece of 3/4" plywood as wide as the window opening and 2 1/2' deep. This will be the shelf for all the "new" plants to sit on. Tack this temporarily in position on the sill allowing 2"-3" or so to stick out of the window.
All the dimensions will naturally be related to your particular window, and slight modification of this plan will be necessary for your individual application.
You will need to extend the bottom of the screen frame so it can reach the end of the shelf unless you make the frame from scratch. To do this, cut a piece of 3/4" plywood as wide as the screen frame and 10" deep. This should give you a little extra wood that you can trim to fit later. Attach the extension to the bottom of the screen frame with a simple board and batten joint. Cut the batten so it is 1 3/4" shorter than the width of the screen. Use the 1" by 2" stock. Center and attach the batten on the inside of the screen frame. Lower the screen frame until it touches the shelf. Trim off any of the extension that protrudes too far below the shelf.
