A friend of mine sent me these greenhouse plans. These instructions teach you how to build a very inexpensive greenhouse really fast. I thought some of you might be encouraged by this as I was.

"Hello John,
    A neighbor had me put up a frame for a greenhouse--a really simple, hurry-up job.
    I was given 4 4x4's 8 feet long, 2 4x4's 10 feet long, and 6 8 1/2-foot 1x6's.
    A roll of plastic 10 feet x 60 feet is needed.  For securing the plastic, he had a few odd wooden slats in the junk pile.

    Tools used for construction:  Shovel, posthole digger, posthole pick (a piece of leaf-spring welded to the side of a long 1 1/4" steel pipe); hammer, 1 pound of ring-shanked 2 1/2" nails, a level, a pencil, and a Gerber pocket saw.  I also used a dozen staples, but those could be eliminated if a second person could hold the plastic in place for half-a-minute.  And a 12-foot tape measure.

    The greenhouse was 8 x 8 feet outside.  The roof was 2-slope, ridge running north-south.  Posts were burried 2 feet deep--center-posts first, then the 4 shorter posts.
   
     Three of the shorter 1x6's went on top of the posts.  The center posts were trimmed flat, and the first board (pre-cut at 96") put up on the ridge--flat-wise.  It was flush with the post on the ends.  Next, the longest board was cut in the center, at a 3/6 angle.  These pieces were a tad short, but worked.  They were placed on the outside, vertically, running from center-post to sidepost.  The tips protruded above the ridgeboard.  On the other end, I had to use 2 separate boards to do this.  Next, the tops of the sideposts were trimmed off at an angle to match the boards.  Then the two remaining 1x6's (pre-cut at 98") were applied to the tops of the side posts.  Finally, the corners were trimmed (using the saw) to eliminate anything sharp that might puncture the plastic.

    The plastic was put on the top and 3 sides by the owner.  I finished the 4th side, fastening the plastic to all but the right-hand post.  This left a flap for the doorway.  To hold the door open and shut, I found a piece of light rope; a smooth rock; and put a tie on the lower corner of the flap.  This could be tied to the horizontal slat at the bottom of the wall to close the door, or hooked on a head-high nail on the left-hand side of the greenhouse, to hold the door open.  When the door is open and the sun is shining, it is still a hot-house!  Those tomatoes and peppers should grow fast.

    Construction time--about 8 hours, 1 inexperienced person, working alone, with simple, non-electric tools.

    Unfortunately, the plastic will have to come off before much snow accumulates, or else the roof will colapse.

This was a good project.  It challenged my ability to improvise with a minimum of material.  It works.

    On a side-note, the post-hole pick is not a very common tool, but anyone with a torch and welder can make it.  The point can be forged or ground to shape.  Forging with a proper heat-treat would be ideal, but I think ours is just forged and left "as is".  It sure works well in hard or rocky soil.  Makes it possible to dig small-diameter holes."

Christopher

How to Select a Small Farm Tractor: If your considering purchasing a tractor for your small farm or garden, you ought to watch this free video.