The Greenhouse from Old Windows thread was getting too long, so I started this one to post pix of the Big Greenhouse my DS and DIL made for me -- converted my old pony stable. Here is a picture of the pony stable. Yes, it looks like a girl built it! (That would be me.) My son insisted that it needed to be reinforced before he would work on it.
Anyway, here is what they started with.
Here is DS reinforcing the structure with the 4x4s -- we got two pickup loads for about $100 -- had to pick out all the old nails but it was worth it. Obviously, they had removed all the old plywood & tin siding. Left the roof on until the sides were totally rebuilt.
While DS was still working on the 4x4s, DIL began painting. She got two gallons of brand new green paint at the local trash compactor, free, but later we had to buy several gallons more! I think this is about the stage we were in when I got appendicitis. I had been helping paint, started having stomach cramps & headache, had no idea what was going on.
The next day Son rushed me to the emergency room, 1.5 hours away, and by the time the ER got around to scheduling surgery (7 hours later!!!) my appendix had burst and I spent the next week in the hospital, then the next month at my son & DIL's house in Heber, back & forth to the hospital & Dr. due to various complications. I had no idea a burst appendix was so serious!
Meanwhile, work commenced on the Big GH with DS & DIL coming out here to work on it while I was out of commission. So I missed most of the ensuing work.
So glad you got through the appendix bust! Can be bad stuff.
So, where is the building at now? Has it been completed yet? What are they going to cover the sides with?
Hope you've recovered from your emergency surgery. Looking forward to more pictures.
Thanks for the kind wishes! I am doing much better, am up and around and getting my energy back. Still have occasional pain but it is getting less and less.
Meanwhile, I was planning on putting up lots more pix but my satellite connection went down! The isp says it looks okay on their end, and after several calls (my cell phone goes dead frequently, living in the Outback is not easy), it now is back up. I suspect a bad cable on my 'puter but will have to wait and see if it goes down again.
Lost my connection again -- I went to town yesterday and bought a new USB cable, today the system came right up. Was that it? I'll keep trying!
Hopefully I can put up another picture now. The 4x4s are necessary due to our psycho winds, 45 mph is common, we have hit 90.
This is a picture of the south side, construction finished and (surprise!) hot pink & taxi-cab yellow paint applied!
This message was edited Nov 20, 2009 9:04 AM
I have left out of lot of pix of the in-between stages, but here are pix of the finished product. This is the front (more or less north) side.
This is a closeup of the front door. Believe me, the hot pink was a total surprise. My son kept asking me what color I wanted the trim painted, sid it should be bright to cheer me up. I wasn't in shape to really think about it, so said breezily "oh, hot pink or purple, maybe." He took me at my word and brought back the pink, plus a can of yellow!
Now they want me to paint a colorful flowering vine growing up and over the door. Jayrunen suggests a kokopelli or a lizard. They might be easier to paint!
Wow, nice big space! That's really great. So the glass side is due South? Or is that polycarbonate?
(Back online after connection went down, again -- reloaded driver software and maybe I can stay connected for awhile! This is very frustratingl.)
The south side is mostly the free double-pane windows we got, with polycarbonate filling in the spaces. The ceiling/roof is all polycarbonate, cost a $700 with all the connecting stuff, even though it is a single thickness. The north-south orientation is only "sort-of", as I originally built the stable for protection of the winds, which come usually from the south-west. So all walls get some sun. Mostly the south & west, though.
Here is the east side:
This message was edited Nov 21, 2009 12:13 PM
And here is the west.
I intended to put bubble wrap under the ceiling and on the south side where the polycarbonate is, but DS doesn't think it is necessary. Hey, I remember last winter and when it gets down to 4 or 0 degrees, I THINK the greenhouse will get colder than it does now, when nights are only down to 20-odd! So far the temp at ground level has been 20, up high about 30.
We have hooked up 100-watt lightbulbs to a timer on an inverter, connected to a solar panel rack and 8 ea 6-volt batteries, hopefully to add heat. The batteries hadn't been used for awhile so we are trying to get them up to speed. So far we can only keep one of the lightbulbs on from 4 am to 7 am, to try to keep the greenhouse temps above freezing, don't think we are there yet with our experimention. I may have to give up on the ight-bulb idea and go to 12V auto heaters, dispensing with the inverter.
I have three dwarf citrus eagerly awaiting being planted in the Big Greenhouse, but I'm afraid to put them out there until I know the temps will not be below 32 degrees.
The overall size of the greenhouse is 10 x 24. I have planted the south side with various lettuce, chard, etc and it is all doing great, directly on the ground. On the north we have seven 55-gallon water barrels and five 35-gallon trash cans full of water. (all have lids.) On top if the barrels we have plywood shelves with pots of tomatoes, mostly seedlings but one big one we transplanted from outside, which so far are doing okay. Seeds of broccoli and beets are coming up. I am SO looking forward to not having to go to town to buy (yucky) lettuce & tomatoes.
I also have planted green beans and peas, and lots more tomatoes, in flats in the Little Greenhouse. I will transfer them to the Big Greenhouse when they are big enough. This time I have marked the flats with the variety names!
Looks like you have been busy too. I finally got a greenhouse up grammie. Take a look under greenhouse out of old windows or I finally got a greenhouse!
Linda (Curvesarein)
Grammie,
that is some greenhouse! I am envious of the size, mine is only six by nine. But we only have about $300 or less in it. Works for right now, but when I get all my palms in it, not much room for a chair to sit and drink my coffee in the morning. It is nice and warm out there, in fact it was getting too warm and I had to put up some temporary screening on the South side. The north is protected by the house, west is the storage shed and east gets some protection from direct sun now. I am sure I won't be using it in the summer. LOL Maybe a tanning booth!
Wow! What a great GH, AZ! I love the colors... if that don't perk you up, ya oughta just plug yerself into the inverter... LOL
I know about those winds... same thing happens here. Yesterday the weather liars predicted 25 mph, which is just a little breezy around here (don't you just love when they post a wind advisory at 15-25 mph... puhleeze. I don't get interested till it gets up to 40 mph) but it was a heck of a lot windier than that. Got the panels on our metal stalls to rattling and vibrating, the guttering to the rain cistern shuddering against the house.
How are you planning on shading or cooling that in the summer?
Jay, right now I'm still trying to heat it, so far so good but snow is expected Sunday with a HIGH of 40. In the summers we'll just open all the windows -- all have screens -- and I do have a 12 Vdc ceiling fan I can put in, maybe that will help. Yesterday I put bubblewrap on all the corrugated polycarb parts & the doors. It seemed to help. My DIL reminds me today that two small windows are single-paned so I need to do them too, but will have to drag a ladder over there. Still no bubblewrap on the polycarb ceiling. The lettuce & swiss chard are doing great, they like it cool.
Curves, your greenhouse is a beauty -- it looks so lady-like and dainty! Mine is really rough and rugged. Dirt floor, the better to soak up the drips from condensation on the ceiling. I had no idea there would be so much! I also have a little 6x8 greenhouse that is all corrugated polycarb & bubblewrap. It makes a good antenna for the cell phone (it has a steel frame) and also a great sauna! I think I have about $1,000 actual money in the Big Greenhouse, not counting what I have promised to pay my DS & DIL later. Some day.
My internet connection is totally caput. I am using my son's computer right now. I spend most of every day on the phone with my satellite isp and so far they have not found the problem. My cell phone only works on the front porch and goes dead frequently, usually right after I have explained my problem to whichever tech I got on the line -- then I have to call back and wait through 5 minutes of recorded junk and then am on hold for up to 15 minutes, at which point I get disgusted and hang up and start over. They want me to sit by the computer while they trouble-shoot, of course, but when I set the phone down to go back inside to the computer, usually the call gets dropped. Bummer. Also it is getting cold here!
Happy Thanksgiving to everybody!
AZgrammie aka Lois
I've read that putting down plastic ground cover, even on the paths, will cut down on the humidity in the GH. I think you could probably also use layers of cardboard on the paths, like fridge boxes, etc., then cover with wood chips (we have log strippers here, so they're easy to come by) for attractiveness and to help absorb the drips.
Just for yucks and grins today I checked soil temps... 38º in the high tunnel, 34º in the outdoor raised bed (after I pushed through the frozen layer).
LOVE the colors on your GH. And am so glad you are doing better. Do you think you might be able to raise your catfish in the GH?
Grammie,
I saw it wa 3 degrees in Heber this morning. It was 21 here in Kingman at Dawn, 31 at 9 am. An hour ago around ten it was 55 in my greenhouse. But I lost a couple starts of more delecate plants like Coleus and I love Coleus. I put xmas light up a couple nights ago, the clear large ones, Going to look for more today. I bought these for 25 cents at a flee market, passes some up in Prescott at a thrift store and now I am kicking myself. I expect snow here on Monday or Tuesday or freezing rain. I hope hubby can get up the other part of the under roof inside, that will leave an airspace and that will make it warmer right? It is a good thing I put my greenhouse where I did. Yesterday I spent 2 hours in there, nice and cozy and warm in the sun in my wicker chair at around 80 degrees. Hubby said I looked happy sitting in there and I was.
Not time for it today though.
Linda
(Computer got well, I reloaded the satellite modem software, two cds and lots of time, and finally am back online.) Went to sunny Apache Junction (east of Phoenix & Mesa) for a week or so and just came back yesterday.
DS & DDIL said it was actually -2 degrees at their house in the hills above Heber night before last. Sometimes it is warmer here, sometimes colder, no way to guess which it will be! I refer to the weather.gov website that I have tuned into my almost exact location, 10 miles NNE of Heber. But it is wrong sometimes, too. We are expecting snow all week next week.
I am so sorry about your coleus, Linda -- they must be very delicate. I have been concentrating on edible fruits & vegs, wanting to become as self-sufficient as I can out here on "the ranch". Cajun, maybe I will try moving my fish tank (300 gallon horse trough) into the GH next spring and try catfish again. Right now it is a solid block of ice -- wonder if the "mosquito fish" I have in it will survive.
Meanwhile, since the 6 tomato plants and the baby fig tree I had in the big greenhouse froze while I was gone (but the cool weather crops: lettuce, chard, beets, etc were fine), I will have to put bubble wrap on the ceiling. DS was sure the single layer of corrugated polycarbonate ceiling would keep the heat in -- and I am equally sure it does not! The ceiling is 10 feet high, so I'm not looking forward to doing it myself. I am not afraid of heights but have a healthy respect for gravity! Also I need about twice as much water as I have out there. DS doesn't seem to believe me about the water, but there is a formula, 2 gallons of water per square foot of glazing. Right now we have about half that. If I keep adding 55-gallon drums there won't be much room left for plants, boo hoo.
I had one coleus I found alive in there and brought it in the house. It got to 38 and 4:30 and was 47 in the greenhouse. It is 46 now and 72 in the greenhouse. Warmer than in here. So I am going out there and have a cup of tea. I posted picks on my thread starter of what we did to the roof and walls.
Grammie, That is a very nice greenhouse.. and I can only hope that when my children are older they love me as much as yours love you. That was a lot of work.. and the fact they care about what "matters to you" is very important as well.
Enjoy that green house.. and if ever you decide you don't need it.. Just let me know the cost of shipping it to Alabama... LOL!!! ; )
Grammie,
Must be buried in deep snow by now, they got 2 feet. So wonder how her greenhouse is doing? It was in the 40's here today and getting down in the 20's tonight. Our eleveation is 3,500. Grammie is much higher in the White Mountains of AZ. My greenhouse has stayed at 50 all day, hope it doesn't drop too much at night. The bubble wrap and insulation plus xmas lights helped. A friend ordered a Harbor Freight kit and has been heating it day and night. But no time to put insulation on the walls yet. Here is what I have been working on inside. It will be the cealing in the greenhouse to go over the insulation in previous pic.
Daisy, yes it was nice of my kids to build the GH, and they are coming out tomorrow to put the bubblewrap on the ceiling. I think it would cost too much to ship to AL!
Curves, that is really pretty for your celing. I expected a foot of snow here but actually only got about half inch! I am 10 miles as the raven flies north of Heber, about halfway between Heber and Holbrook. Haven't heard yet how much Heber got. Winds were supposedly 70 mph overnight, sure sounded like it from the deck furniture blowing back & forth. The sun is out now which is good because being off the grid, I need all the sun I can get! Both my GHs were about 50 all day yesterday, too. I put my little Buddy propane heater in the little GH for a couple of hours and it only raised the temp 3 degrees so I took it out to the big GH and just left it there. I covered the plants just in case it might help. It is supposed to get down to 12 degrees here tonight. My son called me twice yesterday to remind me that propane heaters use up oxygen and emit carbon dioxide. (GEE, big surprise.) I said first of all, my little Buddy uses those small propane cannisters and only runs for 6 hours, plus I was just going to set it in the GH and leave. Which I did! I haven't gone out yet to see how things did.
I need too get those thermometers that record high & low temps. The FarmTek catalog shows one for $10.95 -- think I'll get 3 or 4!
Oh, that catalog was a year old. The price probably went up.
Just went outside. Everthing in the big GH looked okay except for the fig, which froze a few nights ago.
The door to the little GH is frozen shut. That's where my most tender plants are, the 3 citrus trees and the tomato seedlings (counted 38 yesterday) and the 3 older tomato plants that actually have tomatoes on them. Guess I'll have to wait until the sun hits that side and melts the icy door.
The door to the barn is also frozen shut. I knew it would be because it was so drippy wet yesterday. I have water pipes in there that can feeze -- I put electric tapes on the ones that go to the water tank from the well (I do have 110 AC current in the barn) but am depending on a 100-watt bulb to keep the temps above freezing. Having trouble figuring out the timer -- it is one of those new-fangled ones where everything seems to be backwards.
Well Grannie,
Nice to hear from you, doesn't sound much colder there than here. The wind has been terrible. Blew my door on my potting bench and broke it. The wet rain ruined some of my decoupage projects I used white glue on, so will have to use a different medium. If it kept up we soon would have needed an Ark. It is sunny today but cooler, no ground cover. Last I checked my greenhouse was 48 after dark. It's already 31 out now, so I better check it again. Didn't think of covering stuff in the greenhouse, but I could.
Supposed to be 8 degrees here tonight. Brrrrr. Hooked up a NEW 12-volt deep draft battery directly to the bank of 12Vdc light bulbs in the Big GH, will go out and turn them on about 8 pm to see if they'll stay on all night without zapping the battery.
The kids came out today and lined the ceiling of the Big GH with 1" bubblewrap and it looks great, I am hoping it will help lots. Was supposed to have been 12 degrees last night and the temp in the Big GH was just above freezing when I went out there at 7 am.
On Friday I will be buying 2 or 4 more 35 gal trash barrels to fill with water. No room for more than that. Druther use 55 gal drums but can't find any around here.
The bubble wrap must help, it is 32 here now and my greenhouse is 48, I think it was able to soak up a lot of sun today at almost 80 inside. The cloud cover left. The insulation in the ceiling helped too and those larger xmas lights. It is supposed to be in the 20's tonight and was last night, but hubby said my greenhouse was in upper 40's. That is really amazing.
Upper 40's, that's wonderful, curves.
The battery didn't work out -- the GH looked gorgeous at 8 pm when I first turned on all the lights, but sometime during the night the battery went dead, or at least too low to run the lights, so they went out. The outside temperature was 12 and inside it was 25, so day before yesterday the low must have been a lot higher than 12 -- I can't believe it got colder with the bubblewrap than before we put it up! Still below freezing so I need to think of something else. More water seems necessary. The battery had not been charged recently as it is inside and I can't lift it --- needs to go out where the solar panels can be hooked up to it, and an insulated box built around it.
My son pointed out that I have my government weather map set a few miles too far north and a couple of hundred feet higher elevation. I'll try to dial it in better. Also I found another source of high/low temperature monitors, 14.95 at Charley's Greenhouse -- not too bad but the shipping charges are a killer.
There is always a catch. Do you make your own solar panels?
No. I started buying them back in 1988 so they are all different physical sizes. Got a little one first which we used with an RV battery. Then bought a set of used "Carrizzo mud flats", then gradually started adding more, larger panels -- largest are 120 W. Bought a set of 6 each 85W panels from a guy who was giving up the frontier life, and 6 or 8 really old ones from the the daughter of a man who died, and got another 4 old ones when I bought a neighbor's trailer.
Sorta looks like Dogpatch around here with all the mismatched solar panels I put them on the barn roof, the shed roof, and out by the Big GH, all in a fixed position because it is such a bear to move them. They are pointed south and set for winter.
Needless to say I have upgraded my controller, inverter, & batteries.
Unfortunately, it's all Greek to me. :( I love the idea of solar but we'd be in bad shape with it here. the sun doesn't hit our house til about 10:30 am and we lose it about 4pm.
