Have you ever thought about building a greenhouse in your backyard?  Ed has.  A lot.  From inexpensive yet effective materials, to  passive heating and vegetable yields, this greenhouse in South Denver is more than a casual hobby.  Stepping through the sliding glass door out of the snow, Ed welcomed us into his world with socked feet, standing on a small patch of grass.  The warmth enveloped me and I immediately began planning my own backyard greenhouse in my head.

Sliding glass doors line the sides and south facing wall of the greenhouse.

After entering, I looked to my right and saw…..vegetables!!!  Yay!  That’s the arugula monster, from last week’s post, in the corner.

To the left, there were koi fish, snapping turtles, more veggies and a young mango plant.

See the black containers toward the back?  These are dock floats filled with water.  They line the entire back side/north wall of the greenhouse.  During the day, the heat from the sunlight warms up the water in the tanks.  At night the heat from the water helps the greenhouse stay warm.  It’s rare that Ed needs to add another heat source, only on the coldest of nights.

With our finicky Denver weather, we get warm days sandwiched between cold ones in the winter.  Ed has one of his sliding glass doors rigged to a thermostat that triggers a door opening mechanism to keep the temperature from getting too high.  In the summer, he throws the doors open with abandon.

And now for the veggies….

This is a tomatillo plant!!  I’d never seen one before.  If you look close there are a handful of tomatillos in their husks.  I would have gotten a close-up, but I might have trampled a turtle. 

Ahhh….herbs.  A healthy bunch of rosemary.

Spinach.

Tomatoes.  With some ripe ones!  It was February, people!

Ed had recently harvested the broccoli, but  there were a few small stalks left that he was saving for his chickens.

Peppers.

Lettuce.

And the greenhouse cat.  I’ve decided that this is the long lost twin of my cat.  They have exactly the same coloring, eyes………. and they’re both big-boned.

Have a great week!

Want more veggies?  Check out last week’s veggie story: Arugula-gate?  New veggie stories every Thursday.

Did you see last week’s market photos?  Click here for Monday Dose of Market:  Vendors at the Denver Indoor Farmers’ Market. New photos every Monday.

New to The Weekly Veggie? Read how it all began with My Childhood Vegetable Nemesis.