We have a 32' X 24' greenhouse. The structure is pipes with a concrete block foundation. The frame is cypress wood and it is old greenhouse glass. It was given to us, in pieces on the ground, by Dr. and Mrs. Sam Rowell from Herrin, Illinois, in exchange for work that we did, late 1980s and early 90s helping their community try to stop an incinerator on the Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, just a few miles away, that the government wanted to build to get rid of PCB and heavy metal contaminated soil that was on the refuge from past industrial activity. It was a horrible idea, but few people in our region had any experience at the time with this kind of governmental process, but we did. We had worked with the Coalition for Health Concern out of Benton, Kentucky, in trying to shut down the LWD hazardous waste incinerator in Calvert City, Kentucky, and we knew the ropes. While we weren't able to stop the incinerator completely, we did organize a respectable opposition in the community, and the incinerator, which first was going to burn for 4 years only burned about 4 months.

In gratitude for our work, they offered us greenhouse construction materials that they had acquired from an old greenhouse business in Herrin. They had torn it down 25 years before and never reconstructed it. It was stacked on a concrete pad in their back yard. We, with help from our friend Bill Cronin, loaded it up in the back of pickup trucks and drove it to our place and stacked it. We loaded our Mazda pickup so full and so heavily that it broke the frame, but we did get back to our place. It laid in our yard for two years as we thought about constructing it. Finally, we came up with a plan and we did it. It requires a lot of maintenance, but we don't heat it. We grow completely organic greens during the cool season, and basically let it go during the warm season. It grows the most incredible greens. The plants, this time of year, are hearty, perfect, tender, and delicious. It's produce of the highest quality. It all is from our own open pollinated seeds.

Here is a leaf lettuce plant, picture taken a week or so ago, that is a prize winner. We barely have lettuce coming up out in our garden, but in our unheated greenhouse, we have lettuce like this, arrugala, chard, spinach, and broccoraab that is amazing. Our extra goes to Cynthia's restaurant in Paducah, the best restaurant in town no doubt! A few of our friends get some also!