Real food? - Mini vent.

[Denim Deb]

My greenhouse is just the plastic sheeting. We got the frame work for free, and managed to find a place that sold the plastic. It has been up for several years now w/out a problem. My problem has been heating it. I used to use a kerosene heater and it did a great job of heating. But once the price of kerosene went up so high, it was just too expensive. I couldn't start plants for as cheaply as I could buy them.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I looked up the climate of Ireland.
Mean daily winter temperatures vary from 4.0 °C (39.2 °F) to 7.6 °C (45.7 °F), and mean daily summer temperatures vary from 15 °C (59 °F) to 20 °C (68.0 °F). from Wikipedia
So you really won't have to add too much heat to keep stuff alive. What are you wanting to grow in the greenhouse for the winter?
Tomatoes and peppers may be a problem, because they like HEAT! but lettuce, spinach, carrots could all be grown there with a little added light and minimal heat. Just enough to prevent freezing.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I personally would just do a greenhouse plastic sheeting. I used it in Wyoming for the growhouse and it works great. It is a little more expensive that plain old plastic, but it is worth it. The stuff I used has a plastic mesh embedded into it, so it won't rip out like regular plastic. But on second thought, for Ireland, where you are concerned about sunlight, you wouldn't want that stuff because it only has 85% light transmittance. But most plastics have a 90% transmittance or less. For light concerns, use glass - very high light transmittance, but it has very little insulating value.
And, just like chickens, don't forget the ventilation.

 

[sumi]

@wyoDreamer You're a star! I would like to grow as much stuff as possible over winter, but I'm worried about the colder nights. Nighttime and sometimes daytime temperatures drop to below what the wiki article said and we had some snow while we were there as well. And did I mention it rains an awful lot in that place? we were there for 7 months and we had exactly 10 days without rain. I'd like to grow some tomatoes and less hardy things if possible, or at least get an early start and be able to protect my young plants when needed. That and control the amount of water they get, which is why I'm thinking greenhouse.

I've seen some basic little greenhouses for sale over there, made from plastic and I am wondering if they'd work. I think I should get a small one and give it a try. If it does a good job I can "upgrade" to a larger one or build my own from scratch.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I guess it is all perspective. I am wondering how to keep cool season crops - spinach, kale, lettuce - alive in my winters here in northern Wisconsin. Looking at surviving at least one week of -30 degree temps in February.

 

[Britesea]

http://www.amazon.com/Four-Season-H...2092734&sr=1-1&keywords=four+season+gardening

I highly recommend this book! These people live in Maine and manage to grow a garden in an unheated greenhouse. A lot of it has to do with choosing the right crops, but he even has fig trees in there...

If you want to start out cheaply, try a hot bed. It's like a mini greenhouse, and you can warm it with just fresh manure.

 

[baymule]

@sumi, since you are looking at fixer uppers in Ireland, here's a link about rocket stoves.

http://www.richsoil.com/rocket-stove-mass-heater.jsp

I got the link from permies.com

 

[Denim Deb]

I might have to ask for that book for Christmas.

 

[WendyJ]

@wyoDreamer You're a star! I would like to grow as much stuff as possible over winter, but I'm worried about the colder nights. Nighttime and sometimes daytime temperatures drop to below what the wiki article said and we had some snow while we were there as well. And did I mention it rains an awful lot in that place? we were there for 7 months and we had exactly 10 days without rain. I'd like to grow some tomatoes and less hardy things if possible, or at least get an early start and be able to protect my young plants when needed. That and control the amount of water they get, which is why I'm thinking greenhouse.

I try to use what ever is available at the time, and from what I remember about Ireland, there are lots of rocks around. Rock walls and fences, almost more rocks than dirt
Using a rock wall as the back wall of a greenhouse might give off some lovely heat at night.

 

[sumi]

I try to use what ever is available at the time, and from what I remember about Ireland, there are lots of rocks around. Rock walls and fences, almost more rocks than dirt
Using a rock wall as the back wall of a greenhouse might give off some lovely heat at night.

GREAT idea!