So I want to buy a greenhouse

I think if *I* were doing a greenhouse, I'd start buying a lot of vintage windows. Then just put them together on some sort of frame. I have three windows I rescued from the alley when the neighbor remodeled the garage apartment. I saved them in case I wanted to make cold frames. Which I just might do this winter.

 

Knowing that you've got 46 acres to play with, one of those prefab units seems kinda, well...puny. And deep in your heart you'd really rather build your own, wouldn't you?

If it were me in your position, Jim, since you're asking, I think I'd do something a little different. First, I'd find a good Southerly spot with no trees in the way, and excavate a big square greenhouse-sized hole about 4 feet deep, piling the dirt to the north end. After figuring out the ideal sun-absorbing angle based on your latitude, I'd shape the dirt to that angle on the sides, higher at the back end, and cover the pit with clear panels. Leave a hole in one side for a door, and there you have it, a walk-in earth-sheltered greenhouse. You could run a hose out to it and fix up an automatic irrigation system, and maybe an extension cord for some lights. If you happen to have some earth moving equipment around - bigger than a shovel - and contributed the labour, you might make your budget...B)

 

This is an interesting idea, but while you have that big earth mover out there, you'll also have to get creative about your drainage so you don't end up with a swimming pool in your 'greenhouse' hole.

Regarding your two choices, I would have to side with your wife. #1 certainly looks very nice, and I like the wide opening with the double doors. Also, it's taller than many others you see, like on CostCo.com. Having said that, though, the one thing that stands out for me about the Harbor Freight greenhouse is its weight... At 159 lbs., it's a good 100 lbs lighter than a comparably sized greenhouse like this slightly smaller one at CostCo. I would wonder if the lighter construction might not withstand your weather as well (wind, weight of snow, etc.).

Another positive with Harbor Freight is the availability of accessories, also reasonably priced. My luck has been good with the stuff I've bought from HF over the years. If you decide to go with this one, I would very much like to hear of your experience after you receive it and set it up.

Good luck~!

 

You're right, although I was thinking the roof panels would cover the whole thing, to keep the rain out. It wouldn't take too much to dig an extra trench around the inside perimeter and fill it with gravel for drainage. If needs be, a sump pump could always be added later.

I like the idea of combining a greenhouse with vermiculture and fish farming, so if starting small makes that happen sooner, just ignore my pie-in-the-sky ideas for now.

 

Jim,
I've built a few, of various sizes, over the years.
We've currently got a largish one, aluminum frame with glass panes, which I built from a kit. Its very nice.

I've had lots of fun building them from scratch though, very inexpensively too I might add. I've used PVC pipe to build frames in whatever shape I like. Use standard connectors to join straight bits, and heat the pipe to bend it into graceful curves of whatever shape you want. Use short sheet metal screws to attach corrugated UV sheets that you can cut to fit. You can even get make hinges by making a 3 in split in one end of the PVC pipe, heating it, and bending it around a section of the pipe where you want a door or window. Fun for the whole family! (and very cheap)
Make sure the finished house is securely anchored to the ground, but that's no different to any other greenhouse.

 

Ah. Well if that is the case I wouldn't even bother with something smaller, cheaper or half-a$$.

I'd go all of the way with building an actual greenhouse. Pour a foundation. Frame it. It would have water and electricity, ventilation, operable windows. I saw a really nice one like this that was a do it yourself but very green friendly. I'd probably try to make it more architecturally interesting. If I could I'd turn a commercial gazebo into a greenhouse somehow.

The Harbor Freight is downright ugly and there isn't much you can do about it. The hoophouse is fine if you live on a farm and also have goats and chickens or are going for a HeeHaw theme.

Site

Site

Site

This is a nice starter.

I know you said you just wanted to get your feet wet and not spend a lot of money, but I think of it this way. If you decide to really do it, you'll end up replacing whatever you started with and so the money spent is bascially wasted. So why not just put that toward something nice to begin with?

 

Hi Jim,
here's the glass greenhouse we are currently using (this is a web image, ours is nowhere that tidy!) The floor is exposed earth that we have divided into slightly raised beds. The corners are anchored by wires attached to solid concrete blocks (cinder block size) sunk into the earth.


Here's another schematic view. Its expandable, but we haven't needed to yet.


Now, your other questions:

In the older greenhouses I built, I secured a material called permaglass to the PVC tubing via sheet metal screws using washers between the two and at the screw heads. Never had a bad reaction, but after 5 years or so, the roof pieces can become brittle and may split at the screw heads in a high wind. Then I just sink an additional screw in another location. No chemical reaction from the two materials that I ever noticed.

The sheets I used are corrugated polycarbonate sheeting (comes in tinted colours as well as clear)

They're not quite "cheap as chips" but frequently on sale in spring and tougher than glass when it comes to sheep and children frolicking nearby. I'll have a rummage and see if I can find a photo of one of our old ones (which are now in various states of disassembly under the shearing shed, at least what's left of them having bits recycled for other projects over the years).

If you're using sheets of glass in an aluminum frame, the answer is definitely yes. I replace about two glass panels a year due to various types of incidents and accidents around the glasshouse.

 

Godiva! I do live on a farm, with goats and chooks, etc. Nothing HeeHaw about it (Green acres perhaps) I believe CarolinaJim has 46 acres also.

Are you insinuating something you ought not? Its not like we are slobs or anything, we just have a greater ability to see potential and appreciate functionality as its own aesthetic...

Besides, with things like this, half the fun is building them. Get to rebuild, great, twice as much fun!

 

Heck yeah. Farmers are some of the most down-to-earth people I know. Tough, smart, practical, with an eye for stuff too fancy for it's own good. I'd be one myself, but I've only got a few thousand square feet to play with, and I keep getting outvoted on acquiring more animals. Apparently we agreed to stop at two teenagers.

 

No, not insinuating anything. I saw you had the land for just about anything. You said the wife was having a say so on design and I assumed that meant aesthetics. Even if you do live on a farm with goats and chickens....is that the landscaping design the wife is going for? If so, I can see the wagon wheel and hand pump and the whole bit. But if she's saying she wants to see what you're doing because she's concerned about a look, I have reservations about putting money into the little red barn thing when you may end up chucking it for something bigger later on.

I'd go with one of the nicer, more permanent designs that is expandable. You can start with one of the smaller sizes, and then add on when you're ready. Seems to be a bigger bang for the buck and much more likely to pass the wife's critical review.