Ever since I started really getting into growing fruits and vegetables, I have wanted a greenhouse. The money never really lined up, so I kept it on the back burner for years. This spring, I started a new job with a delightful salary, so the dream is now a reality!
I HAVE A GREENHOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Things got underway on 9/8/25 with a good pal donating labor to get the site prepped. Those of you who have been to the Not So Seekrit Lair have seen my raised beds. I took two of them out for the greenhouse foundation. Not bad, after 20 some years, but still, unable to be rehabbed.
The greenhouse arrived in three VERY heavy boxes from Costco on 9/17/25.
Then came the foundation from 9/24/25 to 10/10/25! We used concrete blocks in trenches filled with stabilized gravel. The work was supervised by Aca, who is such a good doggo!
Making sure that the base was perfectly level and stable was the key here. Since the yard slopes, we had to do two levels of blocks at the back. Lots of trench digging and graveling.
The blocks were filled with concrete and there were strategically placed pieces of rebar for extra strength. Then mortaring, and then sill plates were laid. All done on 10/10/25!
10/16/25 was Build Day One. it’s like a puzzle!
We had a sweet lady named Aca for a supervisor. She asked me, do you think they know what they’re doing? I said I wasn’t sure, but we would find out!
The front wall was a real pain in the rump that took a good part of the day. The back wall went quite a bit faster! I spent some quality time wrapping the edges of the polycarbonate panels with the fancy tape. We had two walls done at the end of Day One.
The weather was glorious on 10/20/25 so a LOT was accomplished today! No roof, though!
Then we had half a day of decent weather on 10/21/25 and the roof went on! SO CLOSE!
You know I had to dink around inside the MOMENT I got home from work.
One of the truly amazing things about this greenhouse is that it has automatic venting windows. When it gets above 70 degrees inside the greenhouse, the windows (one in the front, one in the back, one on each side of the roof) automatically open and then close as the temperature regulates inside. I was sitting on my couch today and looked outside and texted the dear friends building this for me – OMG IT’S WORKING!
Here’s the super technical explanation from some dude on Reddit: These work by having gas in a cylinder with a piston. Expanding gas pushes the piston which opens the window. If the gas piston fails what will almost always happen is that the window will not open. It can ONLY open on its own from increased temperature (Ideal Gas Law is Pressure times Volume = a constant times Temperature). So when temperature goes up either the volume of gas inside the piston cylinder increases (it’s working and it opens) or the pressure increases (the piston is seized and it’s not working and the window stays closed).
TLDR – it’s magic and pixies. You can also change the temperature at which the lifter activates by unscrewing the cylinder. I may follow the advice of some other Redditors and unhook it for the winter, or not. Right now, I’m leaving it be.
Today, Tuesday 10/28/25, was the BEST DAY EVER.
I could not have done this at all without my friend Tom Wendt. He saw my vision and facilitated the whole thing. He set me up with an amazing contractor, Eric Stucky. He volunteered to do the site prep for me. He watched countless hours of YouTubery on how to put this together. He gave me SO many ideas and perspectives on how to make this happen to maximum benefit.
You’ve heard me talk about Tom before. He’s part of the team that runs the Garden of Edison. They raise organic produce in ridiculous amounts that goes right into the community fridge at the Edison Neighborhood Association. They feed the people for free, and as you all know that is a mission that RESONATES with me, and in light of the times, it’s more important than ever.
They are building a greenhouse over at the garden, bigger than this one, and from scratch using reclaimed materials, including a bunch of windows I had in the garage, and the doors from the Crabtree family farmhouse on Kirby Road. They’re letting me put a little plate on the finished greenhouse that honors my dad, Jon Crabtree. That way, they can feed the people year round. They’re all old (read, my age) people who don’t want to do the extensive digging involved for a greenhouse of that size.
So, they’re fundraising to cover the cost of renting an earthmover and other things to make this happen, and I am 100% on board with that. If you’re grateful to Tom & Stucky for making my dream come true, please consider donating! Every nickel counts. You can donate to me to give to Tom using Paypal to theamyexperience@gmail.com, Venmo to @Amy-Campbell-491, CashApp to $TabascoTrebuchet, or mailing me a check. Tom’s Venmo is @Tom-Wendt-3 if you want to send directly.
Thank you for coming along on this journey, and expect a lot of more posts about the Greenhouse at the Not So Seekrit Lair in the months to come!!
The Amy Experience 