Some of you may remember David, from the porch restorations we did recently here at Abbington Green Bed & Breakfast Inn. I showed David the old greenhouse and asked him to work his magic–to build a real greenhouse with temperature control and something I could actually stand up inside. These are the greenhouse before pictures:

I always thought that at one time this was the cellar door to the basement, like the one in the Wizard of Oz, and someone just built a greenhouse glass cover over it. 

It was time for a much needed update and David did an amazing job. Here are a few pictures from during the construction:

The new greenhouse is much larger, and it vents in fresh air from outside with a temperature controlled fan that can also blow out the air if it gets too warm inside. In addition, we’ve installed a heater to keep it warm inside on cold nights, to protect the tender plants.

We still have another month or so here in the Southeast where I can enjoy our herb garden outdoors, but we will be ready when winter comes to move it inside. What is great about having the Greenhouse is that we can just bring the herbs in, right in their pots, without disturbing them. Here are some pictures of the finished greenhouse:

And, I can stand up in it!

It’s important to me that we provide our guests with as much local and organic North Carolina food as possible during breakfast, and having our own herb garden is a huge part of achieving that goal, giving us the ability to season our breakfasts just right…during any season, right from our greenhouse garden!