Garden shed greenhouse project

[JohnDeere4300]

Very nice!!!

You really did a great job on that.

Me & my wife have a big garden every year, and we do a lot of canning... We have been talking for years to build a greenhouse, and you have gave me some good ideals on how to build it....Everything in our garden is Heirloom...except corn.. and when i start our plants from seed i have a garage full of plants...I plan to build one by next spring.

I just showed my wife yours & she likes it!

Are you going to leave the plastic on all year?

With the wood frame could you put panels in it?

Thanks for sharing your project!

 

[TBDonnelly]

Time, effort and energy spent is abundantly clear from your pictures. It's looks sooooo inviting! Now you won't need to have all the plants hanging off the back of your tractor.

Great, Great work! I'm tired just from looking at all the fine pictures.

Awesome.......

Don

 

[jinman]

Jim, you've not only been working on that greenhouse, but you've sure spent some time making great looking planting beds out front. That should be an awesome garden; very impressive, but most importantly, very productive. I can't wait to see how it looks with everything green and in full production.

In your area, something like an attic fan with louvers that open when the fan turns on is probably sufficient. Put some intake louvers around the bottom of the greenhouse that can be opened in summer and closed in winter so the heat will be trapped in the top of the greenhouse when you need it. Make it thermostatically controlled and you will be in business.

I like your stainless work table. Is that from a restaurant? I will probably build mine out of CCA treated lumber and 1/2" square galvanized mesh, but if I could find tables like that at a reasonable price, I'd sure be tempted to buy them.

The planter boxes look nice. It sure gives it a dressed up and "finished" look.

 

[jimmyj]

Thanks everybody for your kind words. I have to say we are proud of it so I don't mind the appreciation!

I also have to mention that my wife was a huge part of this, she attached the plastic, laid the interlock and did all the garden beds up as well as cut all the trim pieces on the chop saw. The whole thing was her idea actually, shape, size, etc. I'm just the cheap labor!!

The plastic does stay on all year - we figured out how long the last plastic on the old house lasted and it was 7 years which is darned good for the price. The design is such that once we can afford it, we can replace the plastic with glass or lexan but the cost will be high so we're going to wait a while on that.

The stainless steel table is from a computer factory - they were throwing it out! (I'm a major league opportunist, that table didn't even have time for dust to settle on it before it was in my truck).

I like the louver idea. We also were thinking of an 'outdoor' ceiling fan in the peak but they are kind of expensive. I got a number of 2 foot by 4 foot lexan panels at an auction sale cheap and think they'd make good windows if set in a frame.

As for tired, yeah, it was a lot of work but it was a labor of love. We love the outdoors and gardens and stuff.

Special note: I kept track and that shed took me 72 cans of beer to build!

 

[jimmyj]

Yesterday I puttered in the greenhouse. It was cold out, about -10 or colder (Celsius) but sunny. The GH was about 58 degrees from the sun and then I fired up the stove and it got warmer. It was kind of neat.

 

[jinman]

I would say, "Cool!" But from the pictures, that's obvious.

 

[TBDonnelly]

Yesterday I puttered in the greenhouse. It was cold out, about -10 or colder (Celsius) but sunny. The GH was about 58 degrees from the sun and then I fired up the stove and it got warmer. It was kind of neat.

Perfect time of year for 'Iceberg' lettuce!

Don

 

[JB4310]

Yesterday I puttered in the greenhouse. It was cold out, about -10 or colder (Celsius) but sunny. The GH was about 58 degrees from the sun and then I fired up the stove and it got warmer. It was kind of neat.

Very nice, I put a GH/sun-room attached to and accessible from the house.
It's all glass but it has the treated glass so it doesn't get to hot in the summer, unfortunately in the winter even on those sunny days I get very little zero solar gain

JB.

 

[dave1949]

Very nice greenhouse JimmyJ!

Do you have any experiences with hoop houses or tunnels? I know I need to provide some warmth to extend my growing season. I think we have fairly similar weather.

I am wondering if folks begin with tunnels and 'graduate' to greenhouses? I am sure the tunnels work somewhat, but they look awkward to use and maintain.

Any thoughts or experience to pass along?
Thanks, Dave.

 

[jimmyj]

Do a google search on "Elliot Coleman" and "Barbara Damrosch". They are the gurus of hoop tunnels. We made one out of lenghts of galvanized electrical conduit bent into a U and covered with plastic to grow peppers and tomatoes and cucumbers. It was 2x10ft pieces joined together so each arch was 20 feet total. That way I could stand inside of it. The ends were stuck into the ground but they were inside other larger sleeves of steel conduit so I could remove them. It worked amazing but man was it ugly. Ha ha ha. I lived in a subdivision then.

I want to do mini hoop rows out of cinder block ties with platic over them next year. Our growing season would be like yours and it's frustrating to say the least. For cool weather crops though the hoop tunnels work good at getting an early or extended crop and for the heat loving crops they seemed to be good. A bonus was less Vwilt and Fwilt on the tomato plants when we mulched them and soker hose watered them.

We love our fresh produce and the satisfaction of growing it. I can't wait to use this hot house to full advantage next year. I'm getting hungry just thinking of it.