As you can see from the first image, the structure is completely overgrown. After removing several old refrigerators, rusted corrugated roofing, and much debris, and several hours of machete and weed whacker work, the structure is uncovered.

Surprisingly, half of it has a concrete floor ! The other half still has some old corrugated zinc and probably much more below, but we decide that this is a solid enough base for our purposes. Note the rainbow in the 2nd image. Always a good sign 😉

The remaining structure is broken, cracked, or has moved over time, so some repair work is needed. In order to bring the two halves level, we use the broken concrete from the demolition work on the house to fill it in. A perfect use for more material that we would otherwise pay to take to the dump.

The first step in creating something sustainable, and a key tenet of permaculture, is to use what you have. Recycle. And so it was that this old ruin on the property became the natural site for a greenhouse. We are told that it was once a chicken coupe, and alternatively that it was a Cocoa drying house. You can see the remnants of the cocoa drying rack columns close by, so it lends credence to that assertion. On the other had, there was much chicken wire in the debris, and a layer of rich soil on one half lending credence to the chicken coupe theory. Perhaps it was both at different stages of existence. Regardless, it seems that it was used for agricultural purposes, and to sustain the property and occupants long into the past. And now it will again.

Beneath the foilage, it was filled with old appliances and chicken wire and plastic bottles and glass bottles and tires and tiles and discarded concrete materials. Almost an archeological dig of refuse over time. Certainly a mosquito paradise. It took several days with help to clean it out.