Ferndale is in hardiness Zone 6b, maybe almost a cool 7. That means that in order to keep food production going 12 months per year, I need to account for at least 50 F degrees (but really more like 60 F degrees) of heating capacity within a greenhouse to grow greens and peas and plenty of other cooler-weather-lovers. The potential for all kinds of greens and other projects are really too much to pass by.
I'm going to use the blog to mentally doodle about this worthy experiment. The whole thing really rests on whether or not the project can be cheap and easy to dismantle to sell if it doesn't work out.
I WAS INSPIRED BY THIS!!!
I'M NO FAN OF PVC, BUT THIS REALLY REDUCES THE CONCEPT TO IT'S MOST BASIC DISTILLATION.
I've been having good luck on craigslist lately with sourcing out free to very cheap materials. All the wood chips and wood shavings for the raised beds were were free. I bet I can source out some cheap or free old windows. I already have a sliding patio door that had broken runners on a curbside near to our house. It doesn't seem impossible to piece together 2x4 studs to frame in old windows. I have plenty of patio stones to provide a base for a green house.
But, with Michigan the temperature requires that the greenhouse be heated in winter. There's no way to avoid it. Conceivably, most heating would need to go on at night and then sustain the temperature into the day. An option might be a Rocket Mass Heater. This design concept is supposed to be really, really efficient. It also seems to fit within my price range for materials costs. Then again, if I were able to find a very cheap old wood burning stove, that would be hard to pass up.
It might be time to change around the chicken coop run to along the entire east garage wall and build a greenhouse on the southeast corner of the garage where the chicken run and compost piles currently are housed.
How much food could you grow in your own yard? We're about to find out...
I'm loving reading about your garden project, Sam! Keep up the good work. I can't wait to see it in December. :) -Jenna-
ReplyDeleterocket stoves are great, but don't assume you'll have to heat a greenhouse. have a look at Mike Oehler's Earth Sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book and look into ideas like "solar closets" and placing ponds south of your structure. heating with critters is also a viable option, and including substantial thermal mass will definitely help, too.
ReplyDeleteimagine me making the south 1/4th of the garage and turnign it into a green house. i'm going to rip off siding and frame in salvage windows.
ReplyDeletethere is a large other part of the garage that i would like to heat.
plus, i'd just like to try to build a rocket stove and this seems like a good excuse.