The wind began to switch . . . The (green) house, to pitch

As you may have heard, the wind blew the Kitchen Garden's greenhouse into South Church's driveway circle on July 8.  Even though I had staked it into ground with 4 ten inch stakes.  The wind was just too strong.  

Several of the windows were blown out and the frame was twisted and damaged, with at least one of the vertical metal pieces sheared off completely.  Dave Person and I inspected it the next evening and repaired the fence temporarily.  We moved the greenhouse back behind the compost bins.

The greenhouse was a generous donation by Chris Cole Olsewski, but it is may be more of a liability than a help at this location, with the exposure to the wind.  Windows keep blowing out, and once they do, the whole house is vulnerable to getting picked up and moved by the wind.  It would require quite a bit of work to fix, and we could have the same problem again.

Next spring we will need to start seedlings in homes and/or with our partners at Children's Village, and not use the greenhouse at all.   

  

--Mark Pennington

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Dorothy: It really was no miracle. What happened was just this… Dorothy: [singing] The wind began to switch / The house, to pitch / And suddenly the hinges started to unhitch / Just then the Witch / To satisfy an itch / Went flying on her broomstick, thumbing for a hitch! Munchkin: And, oh, what happened then was rich! Munchkins: [singing] The house began to pitch / The kitchen took a slich / It landed on the Wicked Witch in the middle of a ditch / Which was not a happy situation for the Wicked Witch!