My Greenhouse Construction Thread (picture heavy)

[MoonShadows]

Somewhere between $3500 to $3600. The greenhouse sells for $4129, but last year I was selling them on another site, so I got it for the wholesale price at about $3000 (I don't remember the exact cost.) I bought the 6 x 6 Tamarack beams from a local sawmill for about $60; the "screenings" gravel cost about $250 for 10 yards but I will have some left over, the gutters were about $120 from Lowes, the border concrete blocks were about $60 from Lowes, maybe $100 in incidentals, and the slate I bought a number of years ago and it was just sitting around.

 

[CJ1]

Ok. That's not too bad. I make good money but am trying to stick to a plan right now.

As you may have already seen in my pics I have a delapadated slab in the fenced part of my yard. Its 18'x14' right now it's holding junk and my little compost bins. I've been thinking about dedicating it to a small greenhouse that I can manage while working.

I was thinking about making a greenhouse over it. Or maybe adapting the temporary greenhouse mentioned earlier so I can move it from the garden to the slab depending on the season. But thought that maybe it would work better to just build something like what you have over the slab with an angled roof and throwing a heater in there. The better built structure you've built would hold heat better during the winter than what I planned.

 

[MoonShadows]

There are lots of free plans on the internet for greenhouses, and I'm sure you could build one for a lot cheaper than I paid even though I paid wholesale.

 

[MoonShadows]

I actually got some work done in the greenhouse today. I abandoned the idea of getting the slate floor down before I build the redwood tables along each side. I got one of the redwood tables finished...24" x 16 feet with a 2 foot "opening at either end for tomatoes. I propped the legs up on concrete blocks. I was going to work on the other side, but by the time I finished the first one, the temperature was 110 degrees in the greenhouse. Tomorrow morning, I am going to try and get the other table done. I want to be able to start a round of seeds by the end of August/early September. The slate floor will have to wait until things cool off a bit.

I'll get some pics and post them tomorrow.

 

[Mini Horses]

Hey, spritz some water and have a sauna!

 

[MoonShadows]

Just an update...

I got the two redwood tables built a while back. They are 24" wide x 16' long and run on both sides of the greenhouse. I also got 1/2 the slate floor down, but have yet to finish it.

I started seedlings for the fall, but like most things, I started them too late. (3 varieties of tomatoes, peppers, egg plants, lettuce, spinach, turnips and herbs. They sprung up fast and were doing so well as young plants, and then this cold weather hit. While the green house can reach high temps even on a cold day, it loses too much heat at night (mostly my fault since I haven't finished the slate floor and the slate border around the outside. I was also planning to put black-spray-painted 5 gallon buckets filled with water under the tables to gather and hold the heat, too.) With most nights now in the upper 30's and a few already below freezing (we had sleet this morning!), the supplemental heater by itself is not enough, and I don't want to run it 12 - 16 hours a day...if I do, the produce will cost mush more than I would pay for organic produce in the store!

The green house will allow me to get my seeds going much earlier in the Spring, and I will work on the insulation factor for next Fall.

So, I have resorted to Plan B. I love fresh salad and herbs all year round, but I hate paying high prices for organic produce in the local supermarket, and I won't eat (or at least try to avoid like the plague) "regular" produce with nasty pesticides and chemicals. I have been playing with the idea of building an indoor kitchen garden for the winter, but realize the winter will probably be over before I get it built with everything I do. I started searching the internet and found an item called the "The Kitchen Garden 365". I looked at many offerings out there, but this one gives the most bang for the buck IMO. It is 39 x 16 (lots of growing space for salad greens), is self watering, and is portable. It retails for $329, but I found it on a few sites for $299, and finally got it for $269 with a 10% coupon just this morning.

Ain't it a beaut! Hope to get a lot of salads out of this!

 

[NH Homesteader]

I so need one of those!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's really nice! Do you supply your own soil or does it use an alternative growing medium?

 

[MoonShadows]

Your own soil...that's one of the things I liked about it.
Holds 45 or 100 quarts of container mix.
You can set the self-watering insert at 5” for herbs and greens, or 10.5” for large houseplants and fruiting crops

Here's the website: https://raisedbeds.com/the-kitchen-garden-365/

If you decide to buy one, put "SAVE10%" (without quotations marks) in the Coupon Code Box and it will take 10% off.

Shipping is free!

 

[Mini Horses]

Very nice. Expensive but, nice....those grow lights cost a bundle! So, I saw this at some website where they put a small hoop house inside their greenhouse....for some extra protection. Just for kicks, you might want to put those plants you have (maybe not doing well) into such and use some temp gauges to see if there is a significant difference.

At least you have a greenhouse to test this for us. Even a small bench setting over the plants with clear plastic on top.

You could even heat a brick in the over & put it in there one day to see if that holds enough.........Just some ideas to give you something to do.