A grand day for a greenhouse

October 3, 2008 5:42 pm
Neal Noorlag shows-off the abundance of green tomatoes growing in the newly constructed greenhouse at the NAS Youth Activities Center. The young plants sprouted from the seeds he donated from his home garden.
Neal Noorlag shows-off the abundance of green tomatoes growing in the newly constructed greenhouse at the NAS Youth Activities Center. The young plants sprouted from the seeds he donated from his home garden.

A dozen adults and twice as many children gathered at the NAS Youth Activities Center on Friday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the installation of a new greenhouse.

The structure may be new to the children’s master garden, but in fact, it’s more than three decades old.

Denise Bowden’s father bought the greenhouse 32 years ago, but never used it. Instead, it remained unassembled on Bowden’s farm, until she discovered that the children’s Master Gardening program was looking to add a greenhouse to their garden.

WSU Master Gardener Jane Adams, who has worked with children’s program for 10 years, longer than any other volunteer in the programs 12-year history, told the excited young crowd a story of how the greenhouse came to be:

“Starting in February,” she said, “it has taken dozens and dozens of hours and six whole months of work.”

There were some tomato plants that kept sneaking inside before it was finished, she continued, and “we kept having to put them outside until we were through,” adding that now the structure is complete, the plants are happy to be inside the greenhouse.

“It’s nice and warm in there,” Adams said.

George Peterson played a large role in the construction and planning of the greenhouse, she said, but Peterson was more modest about his involvement.

“We had lots of help from the kids,” Peterson said. “They did a lot of the work, really.”

Both Dick and Sally Peterson invested many hours in the research and construction work to bring the greenhouse project to life, said Master Gardener Program Coordinator Stacey Neumiller. Support from Skagit Farmers Supply also contributed to the realization of the project.

Adams also commended Neal Noorlag for his help with the project and his donation of tomato seeds.

“It was in hundreds of thousands of little pieces,” he said of the greenhouse. Noorlag stored the pieces in his shed before it was moved to its current location at the NAS Youth Activities Center, where it was assembled.

“It was thrilling when the Petersons were able to put all the pieces together,” Noorlag said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for kids to see how seeds grow into plants that produce fruits and vegetables.”