Staying Busy Building a Machine Shed and Greenhouse

I had the best of intentions when starting this blog. Annnd then life happened. We were very busy this last summer. We decided to build a machine shed in order to clean up hubby’s junk, er, I mean farm implements and tools. (I really can’t complain. They do help with all of the farm work around here!)

Being the crazy, glutton for punishment, self-sufficient family that we are, we just knew that we could build this shed on our own, with a little help from friends and family. And, since we were constructing a building anyway, why not add a greenhouse to the end? Seems logical enough, huh? Who wouldn’t think to add a greenhouse to the end of a machine shed? That’s right. Not many people. But, hey, we aren’t normal and we don’t pretend to be!

We are hoping to really be able to extend the growing season with the greenhouse and eventually heat it, so that we can grow things all throughout the winter. I keep telling my family I want a banana tree! We already have a small lime tree that I drag in the house each winter. We have harvested a few limes, and I’m hoping with the proper care, we’ll be able to harvest more in the future. And wouldn’t fresh strawberries in the middle of winter be heavenly? I mean, store bought strawberries are fine and all, but fresh are a whole new level. I think the thing I would enjoy the most is fresh tomatoes. Nothing compares to a garden fresh tomato. Can you even call store bought tomatoes, tomatoes??

We began by tearing down an old grainery that was surrounded by trees. This would eventually become the building site. It’s close to the house, but behind the existing barn, and we made sure it wouldn’t block the view of the sunset from the screened porch or firepit area. The old barnwood has already made some pretty cool decor and will supply us with barnwood for signs and crafts to sell when we grow Koelzer Farms to have its own storefront. Did I really just type that? Our own storefront?! Maybe someday. We’ll see where this crazy adventure leads us.

With the barnwood salvaged, we rented a backhoe to do some cleaning up around the farm, including removing the trees from the building site. Another great tool purchase was the Stihl pole saw. Hubby was able to clean up trees along the fields that we wanted to keep, but cut the limbs high enough for the farming equipment to pass under. We did remove a lot a trees. If we saw a honey locust tree, it was a goner. Those thorns are the worst! Whatever you do, don’t step on one while wearing flip-flops. Yeah, unfortunately that’s experience talking. We also made the decision to take out all trees from the waterway that had become overgrown. It wasn’t functioning properly, and much of the topsoil was ending up down by the highway. This will allow us to re-shape it to manage the water and soil better.

When you take down a lot of trees, you end up with a lot of firewood. Good thing we have 2 wood-burning fireplaces!! Most of it is currently sitting in piles, waiting to be cut and split, then stored until needed. The cutting and splitting will be done in our spare time. Like we have so much of that!! We’ll try to work on this in our slower seasons, and when the weather isn’t scorching or freezing.

With the site cleared, we worked on sizing the shed and creating plans for the greenhouse portion. The main machine shed was essentially a kit that we purchased, but since not many people consider adding a greenhouse to the end, we had to design that ourselves. Once the design was complete, we ordered materials and set to work on leveling the building pad.

Water and power were essential for the greenhouse, and would be nice to have in or near the machine shed. Hubby also thought that compressed air would be wonderful in the machine shed. Since all three of these were already present in the barn, we dug a trench between the two buildings and put all three of them in the new building. Because Mr. Koelzer, aka Hubby, is an engineer, he’s always devising plans to build equipment that we need rather than purchase it. The small back-hoe attachment for the skidsteer was one of these, and it came in handy for digging the trench. It was also used to dig a trench around the perimeter of the greenhouse so that we could insulate the perimeter from the frozen ground outside.

The foundation holes were dug with the ‘new to us’ post-hole digger for the front of the skidsteer. Foundations were installed and posts started going up. God has blessed us with 3 lovely girls, and they can each hold their own when it comes to working on the farm. Most of the poles were set by my husband and the two oldest girls. The youngest is 5 and serves as a runner most of the time. Once the poles were up and braced, it was time to add the horizontal girts to the walls. I don’t think I even had to help with this task!

We knew setting the roof trusses was going to be more than the girls and I could handle, so we enlisted some help from a friend and my brother. Thank goodness for awesome family and friends!! It took almost an entire day to set the trusses, and it was a hot day! I am so grateful for the wonderful support we have! With the trusses set, hubby began adding the roof purlins. Things were going along great!

We added the structure for the greenhouse, then began with adding the metal roof and siding. It seemed to go so fast! I think all of the metal was done within two weeks. We added the plastic cellular panels to the greenhouse to let in light, but also provide some insulation. Some of the finishing touches included pouring a concrete sidewalk along the front and constructing a small retaining wall inside of the greenhouse for a raised bed.

So far, the greenhouse seems to be working well. We haven’t added heat because we wanted to see how well it does without heat first. We have added fans and louvers on a thermostat so that the temperature doesn’t get too high and kill the plants. The basil, green beans, and tomatoes seem to love it! The cucumbers are doing o.k., and the sweet potato vines are doing well, too. I can’t wait to get more seed and start growing even more!

The winter was fairly typical, with a bit more snow…….until we had 2 weeks straight of below zero temperatures. Who’s idea was it to live in Nebraska?!?? That combined with cloudy days meant that the greenhouse temperature dropped below freezing, even with a small heater in it. No more beans. No more tomatoes. And no more sweet potato vines. The cilantro survived, but suffered a bit from the low temperatures. Unless we add enough heat, we will only be able to extend the growing season by a few weeks on each end. I have a feeling one of our next purchases will be heaters.

Christmas tree season is behind us and we are gearing up for gardening season. The greenhouse is coming in handy to house bedding plants that are large enough and free up some space in the small ‘greenhouse’ in the house. We have also planted some cool season crops like peas and lettuce in the planting beds. It will take some time to learn how well each plant does in the different conditions we have, but once we figure it out, we should have fresh veggies all year long!

I’m hoping that with things slowing down a bit, I’ll have more time to devote to the blog. We have so many things we’d love to share with you all. Stay tuned for updates on baby chicks, orchard care, propagating grapes and anything else that our crazy minds come up with!