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GREENHOUSES FOR GARDENING Yes, we have greenhouses for gardening, 2 of them. One is a 12 x 12 ft greenhouse that my wife uses mostly for orchids and delicate plants. The other is 12 x 28 ft, and that I use for over wintering plants, starting plants in the spring, one bed (10 x 10) is for chard, which grows all winter here (nice for fresh greens). Yes, I built them myself, using 2 x 4's on 2 ft centers for the walls, and 2 x 6's on 2 ft centers for the roof, with 1 x 4's crossing parallel every 2 ft, which makes a firm foundation for the greenhouse fiberglass panels covering the whole thing.
On the South side of each greenhouse I built tables, then had a sheet metal shop build a tray with 3" high sides and a 3/8" drain at one end near the bottom. That way I can simply flood the tray to water the transplants, let it sit for several hours, then drain out the water. Over the trays I put up a 4 foot fluorescent fixture with grow lights, hanging by small chains at each end. The fluorescent shop light can be lowered to provide additional light to spur growth of seedlings in early spring, and raised when watering or not needed in late spring. Thus with greenhouse gardening you can easily start your own transplants as well as grow a variety of edible greens year round, which may well be a necessity in the turmoil to come in the New Millennium.
The easiest way to heat large greenhouses is with kerosene convection heater - never a radiant heater, as they can burn the plants. I can heat the big greenhouse with a wood - burning "trash burner" on nights below 32 F as an alternative, but the firebox is small and will not hold a fire overnight, which means setting an alarm clock and getting up to feed the stove. The small greenhouse must stay above 37 F, as that is the freezing temperature for orchids, so I use one 300 watt light bulb when below 40 outside, and 2 bulbs when below 32 outside. This works for most winter nights when electricity is available. For temperatures below 32 F but above 20 F, I use a 14 wick Butterfly Model 2628 kerosene cooker with a concrete block on top in the large greenhouse and several kerosene lamps in the small one. When the temperature drops below 20 F, then I use a 10 wick Butterfly Model 2457 with a concrete block or thick steel plate on the cooking rack in the small greenhouse, and they produce enough heat to easily keep the temperature inside above 40 F all night long.
BUILDING A GREENHOUSE Building a greenhouse yourself is not too difficult. One can be made to attach to a side of the house, for example, leaving only 3 sides to construct. They can be covered with plastic sheeting and then lattice on the side and ends, thus reducing the amount of UV-b radiation impacting directly on the plants. The roof is covered with 2 foot sections of corrugated fiberglass panels. The greenhouse construction shown in the photo's is the 12' by 28' greenhouse I made about 8 years ago.
In Photo #1, the long wall opposite the end of the house is raised in place and held by bracing boards. While the wall itself is 28 feet long, the header is 30 feet in length, as I wanted an overhang on the roof. Note that the vertical 2 by 4's are notched every 2 feet (I used a router), so a 1 by 4 will fit flush. This not only adds greatly to stability but also provides additional support for the covering material. I simply lined up a half dozen 2 x 4's on edge, held them in place with large "C" clamps, then cut all the notches the same with a router set to 5/8" depth. One of the notched 2 x 4's was then used as a template for the next batch to be notched, so when I was finished all the notches lined up perfectly.
Photo #2 shows the long wall up and covered with plastic sheeting and lattice panels. The roof is ready for covering at this point.
Photo #3 shows the completed greenhouse. The end walls were constructed to allow the lower 6 feet to be removed in 3 sections (two 4 foot and one 2 foot section in the middle), so a rototiller could be run in one end and out the other if needed. The doors were built with 1 x 4's to fit, with cross brace 1 x 4's every two feet, and hinged to swing away from the house.
Photo #4 shows tomatoes and peppers going nicely inside the completed greenhouse. It works!
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