What should I do with my Massachusetts Greenhouse (in Zone 6)?

13 years ago

I am the new owner of a greenhouse. It came with my new home. It is detached and measures 22 by 20 feet. It has about 120 square feet of potting bench surface plus plenty of area to hang plants. These benches can be lowered for taller plants. The roof has vents that open when temp gets near 70 degrees. there are also manually opened windows and doors at each end. The greenhouse has water in it and i have a gas heating unit in there too. THis is tempered glass, lean-to style greenhouse (glass one one side (south-facing side) and half of each end) that is not thermal glass.

I live in southeastern Massachusetts, near the coast. And I am not very experienced.

Here is my problem..what do i grow in there? Do i need to add automatic watering system? Would I heat it in Winter? what could possibly be worth paying to heat a glass building for 5 months of the year?

It can get quite warm in greenhouse during winter days (vents open), but it also can be zero at night. I am in gardening zone 6.

It seems a shame not to use this beautiful greenhouse, but i just dont know what to do with it. IT seems like too much sun is an issue in summer and too cold is an issue in winter.

I wish i had some ideas of what to use it for, that i could get excited about, would bring me some benefit (of some kind) and that is hardy enough that one cold snap when i am out of town wonbt kill everythng...

I would appreciate your ideas? What would you do with a 20 x 20 greenhouse if you lived in Zone 6????

thanks so much, Paul....

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Comments (5)

lazy_gardens
13 years ago
Check your local Master Gardener group:
www.massmastergardeners.org/

If you don't heat it, it can be used to get an early start on warm-weather vegetable seedlings, and to extend your leafy green production to year-round. Lettuces and spinach can grow all winter there.

Shade cloth or shade paint and the vents will handle the overheating.
gmom2-6boys
13 years ago
I agree with lazy.
Grow cool weather crops for winter use. Also a row cover would help for when temps drop. Read a book by Elliott Coleman. His newest book.
Check it out at your library. I loved it and going to try some of his methods in my hoop house in Mich.
Happy gardening
gmom
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poppa
13 years ago
I would get rid of it for free to one of your neighbors in the western part of the state who will gladly sacrifice himself to help you to avoid the frustration of winter gardening. Run before it's too late. Let me know when i can pick it up!

The best advise is to play! See what you can grow. The prior posts are sound. I'm not sure how much more moderate you are than us in the western part of MA, but i imagine that if i can have beets, peas, lettuce and spinnach survive (and sometimes GROW) through the winter you should be able to at least do that.

Good luck and welcome to the state!
poppa
curlygirl
13 years ago
Lucky! My husband and I searched for a house that would work well with a greenhouse attached or (even better) a greenhouse that already existed on a house. We settled for the house we have now and we are in the midst of designing a greenhouse to go with it. We plan on growing tropical fruit trees but we will have a heating system that is very economical to use so it works for us to heat it in the winter. For you, deciding what to grow depends on what delights you. I love fruit and l love being in a lush tropical atmosphere in the middle of a New England winter. You may love growing salad greens and tomatoes early in the season or you may love orchids or carnivorous plants, etc.

Do you have any pictures? I would love to drool some more!

By the way, I used to live on the South Shore and I taught in Duxbury. Now we are in the MetroWest area. -I miss the shore!
brendasue
12 years ago
Hi Neighbor, we're in CT and our greenhouse is 18x10+, have had it for 2 years.

Last year we started broccoli in mid-july and were harvesting through late november early december. Celery overwintered & started growing again this spring (don't pull the roots, just harvest the tops).

We do not heat our greenhouse. In mid winter the celery & broccoli wilt at 0 and straighten up during the warmer days. Kinda neat to watch them survive our winters!

Typically I'm finding the greenhouse is approx 1 month ahead of the outdoor weather. I germinated my warm weather crops in the warmhouse, and transferred them to the greenhouse about a month ago. Nice big plant ready to go in the ground after May 15th.

Good luck to you, experimenting is your best teacher.
Brendasue
p.s. make a greenhouse inside a greenhouse & you'll get your flowers started extra early!

What should I do with my Massachusetts Greenhouse (in Zone 6)?

Comments (5)

lazy_gardens

gmom2-6boys

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poppa

curlygirl

brendasue

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