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Comment by Harry Larsen on June 26, 2009 at 12:41pm

Caleb,

You may not have to look far for old windows. You can try the window replacement folks. Mostly, they break out the old windows in the process of replacement, but some may be able to provide you with windows if you give them some advance notice. Unfortunately, most houses don't have windows all the same size (or nearly the same), which (in my opinion) is critical to building something without a lot of hassle and that will look nice when completed. If you get random sizes, you might use them for cold frames.

Otherwise, check your yellow pages. If you're near a larger city, there are often salvage companies that specialize in doors, windows, moldings, lighting, etc., etc. Look under Salvage. We have one called Second Use Building Materials. They don't carry many single-pane windows because there's little demand--unless it's leaded or stained glass. But they do carry a large variety of double-pane windows and it may take a few months to get enough of a usable size. They aren't free, but I believe they're reasonably priced.

Even if you're not in the market for windows, they sometimes carry "interesting" architectural features that would--with a little imagination--look great as garden accessories/ornamentation.

Good luck!

Harry

Contributing Gardener Comment by Patricia Valdez on June 5, 2009 at 6:53am

WOW, that was simply amazing. If more people could recycle like that. Amazing.