My hubby and I are starting to look into a greenhouse. We want to be able to use it year round not just for starting stuff in the spring. We found one that we are considering but then my neighbor (who raises lots of goats) sent me this link. Any one ever tried one like this. http://www.farmshow.com/issues/29/01/290106.asp I asked about heat and this was her reply: For heat. A large Black Barrel full of water...when the sun shines it heats up, and disperses it's heat at night. during really cold weather you can put a space heater with fan that blows hot air at the black barrel. You use can use a black mesh shade cloth over the top at night to keep the heat in......and grow lights inside also for heat during really cold snaps. manure can also be used to generate heat...I have enough of that........<G> ......or wood shavings mixed with compost will do the same thing. To get heat out in the summer time you install a box fan on one end and it pulls the hot air out.....and instead of plastic you use white mesh to cover the greenhouse...lets light in and reflects the heat of the sun in the middle of summer. I sure would love to see pics of any of your greenhouses and hear ideas of how you handle heating/venting/cooling etc.. We have a space that a 14'X 50' greenhouse would fit, but a limited budget. The one we are looking at falls into our budget and is inclusive of heater, vents, etc. But if we could save some $$$$$ we would be really happy. Any ideas or suggestions?
I wish I had a greenhouse to show pictures of, no room for one at this time. But I am looking forward to updates on which kind you build.
I only have a conventional greenhouse but the one in your photograph certainly looks interesting - especially as you can move it around. I like the idea of keeping heating costs down too and I think I'd seriously contemplate getting one if I had the opportunity.
Nice tips. Thanks for sharing. I've been thinking about building a small greenhouse. I think I would like to start small and then if I think I can handle the maintenance after a while, build larger. The greenhouse at my high school required constant cleaning. Algae and disease problems can get bad in the insulated environment. But it would be such a joy to have a year-round garden wouldn't it? Best of luck to you! Can't wait to see it finished and chock full of plants
So we are still looking into greenhouses. In the meantime I got creative and started some winter squash and some herbs. Look at this. The ones in the white cups/pots have now been transplanted twice. The herbs I just started a week ago. I also started some seed from some Purple Majesty Millet, a burgundy flower that I can't remember the name of and some peppers. This is crazy. All we did was put a flourescent light over them and a little extra heat in the room they are in. Yahooey!!!!! ( photo / image / picture from Newfpaws's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Newfpaws's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Newfpaws's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Newfpaws's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from Newfpaws's Garden ) I love growing things!
great looking starts there newf! our greenhouse was from Farm Tech and is 48 X 26. we bought it about 5 years or so ago. there was a sale on them that they have every year. it came with a propane heater, which we traded, to a friend who was going to use it for his shop, for a pellet stove. the first couple years we used the pellet stove and a little carry about propane heater. then we tried an electric heater. kind of spendy, but not too bad. now, we're using no heat at all, just lots of blankets. it's been in the teens at night on occassion and every thing's done fine. i may, tho, put in some black barrels of water, like your friend mentioned. we may also try heating it with compost. here was a great idea from Farm Show Magazine... here is a pic of our greenhouse now....or earlier this spring...has lots of plants in it now... it collapsed from snow year before last. hubby rebent the frame and instead of two sheets of plastic with air flowing through them by a small fan, we decided to use the hard plastic. we, once again, found a great deal on a unit of it, which covered the frame nicely. i love it! wish we had done that in the first place. looking at the link you posted and the pic of the greenhouse made from cattle panels, i see one flaw. you see the bottom of it? the wooden base? you will want to be able to open up those panels in the summer when it gets hot. that's how most commercial greenhouses are made, so the bottom 2 plus feet can be open during summertime to let air circulate. that reminds me, we need to get a shade cloth this year too! key thing is to look for deals!
Thanks Bunkie! I don't think we will do the cattle panel idea. We have found one at FarmTek we like, but we also found one at Jaderloon we are really leaning towards. It's 14' X 45' which is perfect for the size of area we have. Just waiting to make the budget work and watching for deals in the meantime. You're right - that is the key. Plus, I am still studying up to learn how to grow some of the things I want the greenhouse for. I'm a baby gardener but learning fast. I've done lawns/landscaping stuff for years but growing food is a whole different ball game.
Bunkie - we are looking at the System 1445. Fits our needs, hopefully will fit our budget soon, and comes fairly well equipped. Take a look and see what you think. The fruit stand north of us about 14 miles uses something real similar except they heat with wood. We may do that instead of what comes with it since we have 9 acres of firewood available to us. The hobby greenhouses they have are too small. I want to use a small area on one end of it for "heaven help me" chickens. Never thought I'd hear myself say that. Old time city girl turned country if you know what I mean.
i sure do! we've been without chicken or ducks for two years. ducks are coming soon...not sure about chics yet... that's the one we were looking at when we checked out the site. we liked it. sounds like ours but half the width. good deal!
We have a long space but it is narrow. We could actually go up to 55-65 foot in length. Maybe when all is said and done I will build something on the end of it for chickens. Who knows! I grew up with access to fresh eggs until I was a teen, then moved to city life. It wasn't until about four years ago I had fresh eggs available to me and I totally had forgotten the difference. Fresh taste so different and soooo good! MMMM.....maybe I may just have breakfast for dinner.
mmm breakfast for dinner! we get eggs from our neighbor and they are delish...but duck eggs, oh my! newf, i don't know if you get much snow there, but don't forget to leave enough room to shovel or remove it somehow on the sides.
We are in one of those maybe we might get a ton of snow or (like this year) maybe we won't get any snow areas. The area we have is conducive to snow not being a problem on one side and easy access to shovel on the other side. Sometimes the snow line is 3 miles south of us and sometimes the snow line is 3 miles north of us. It's crazy. Never had duck eggs. I'll have to try some.
My hubby has promised to build me a small greenhouse from materials left here by our place's former owners, and I just cant wait. It will be a lean-to on the south side of our garage. Shading and air circulation is much more of a consideration here in Buckeye than heating, so I am trying to find information about desert greenhouses anywhere I can.
