Options

It's time to start designing our greenhouse. Before we draw up a blueprint, we need to choose a basic shape. As goddess and guru, we want to do something a little bit off the beaten track. That said, we don't want our baby caving in or blowing away or anything. When we first looked into DIY greenhouses, we stumbled upon some guy's alarmingly celebratory blog post: "Everything's going great!! Lots of wind last night, and the greenhouse only moved nine inches!!"
Wait. Your greenhouse moved nine inches overnight, and it doesn't, oh, I dunno, bother you a little bit?
Yeah, no thanks.
So. We need to find a balance between creative and functional. That's why we want to at least base our design off of a tried-and-true greenhouse. Here's one option to start us off.

GOTHIC ARCH

Pros:

• cheap materials (plastic covering, tubing or lumber)
• easy snow removal (slides right off)
• doesn't waste a lot of space
• very sturdy
• easy to extend - just add more arches

Cons:

• shape is attractive, but plastic covering is UGLY
• expensive to heat - plastic doesn't insulate as well as glass
• curved wood is hard to cut

Are you a fan? I am. I naturally gravitate towards High Gothic cathedrals. Romanesque is too stumpy, Baroque has too many cherubs floating around in frilly outfits, Byzantine feels ostentatious.
Gothic cathedrals are solemn and dark. They echo. While other styles strike me as showy and materialistic, High Gothic seems like a real tribute to God. Even though I'm Jewish, I find that the soaring arches inspire awe and humility. I feel like I'm allowed to feel religious. Which is ironic, because 1) synogogues don't really do it for me and 2) the people who built these cathedrals believed Jews had horns and tails and would probably have loved to burn me at the stake. Cute. Oh and FLYING BUTTRESSES. Such a cool word. Buttress buttress buttress. Okay, I'm done. For your info, on the left is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg, and on the right is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres.