Greenhouses by Ortho Books

The growing season in Idaho can be quite short, with late frosts in May and early frosts in October, which can devastate a home garden. I've fought the frost at both ends of the calendar, and considered off and on building a greenhouse to extend the growing season. So, I picked up this book at the library just to learn a little bit more.

The book is not much over 100 pages long, but quite thoroughly covers the subject, complete with illustrations and even some design plans for building your own greenhouse, advice for installing a "kit" greenhouse, or letting the professionals do the work.

This edition was published in 1991, so I'm certain there have been some developments in materials used to build and cover greenhouses by now, but at least it gave me a good idea of how I might want to start. For my purposes, just keeping the frost from killing my early starts and the full-bloom garden in the Fall, a simple tunnel greenhouse, which I can put together myself, either from materials purchased at the home improvement store, or by buying a kit, will probably do the trick. I just can't see a greenhouse becoming a full time hobby for me, at least until after I retire in some far away future.

A good book for a quick intro to greenhouse basics.