Bubblegum and bandaids

It’s time around the greenhouse to get some spring cleaning done. I’ve finished my repairs to the greenhouse water pump, filled in the hole, and restored the floor and the benches around it. I’ve also repaired a small number of cuts in the plastic.

Town zoning regulations say that a greenhouse is a “temporary agricultural structure,” as long as it doesn’t have a cement foundation. One consequence of its impermanence is that when the ground underneath shifts, it does too. This is normal and expected. The new greenhouse already has large spaces opening up around the doors. The solution—at least until I or a carpenter can retrue the doors—is to attach thick foam winter weatherstripping across the openings.

It’s a bubblegum and bandaid solution that will only last until April or May, but that’s fine because we don’t need to stuff every crack after the season gets warm. Returning members may have noticed this kind of problem-solving around the farm last season. The farmer’s challenge is often to improvise quick, inexpensive solutions because time is short and we have to live within our budget.