| Author |
Garden Gate:  My Greenhouses  |
|
|
DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 14 2009 : 09:59:04 AM
|
These are the greenhouses I built this spring. I've finally had a chance to post the pics. I wish these tomatoes would hurry up and ripen!
|
|
|
gramadinah
True Blue Farmgirl
3557 Posts
Diana
Orofino
ID
USA
3557 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2009 : 10:06:26 AM
|
WOW They are so cool. I wish I had those in my back yard.
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #273 |
 |
|
|
1930sgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
233 Posts
Joyce
Alberta
Canada
233 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2009 : 10:08:57 AM
|
Diane-those are some lovely looking tomatoes!
I envy the way you can grown things so well on Vancouver Island. Around here, we're lucky if we get our tomatoes as ripened as yours are at the end of the growing season.
Good work, girl!
Joyce |
Edited by - 1930sgirl on Jul 14 2009 10:20:41 AM |
|
|
|
jpbluesky
True Blue Farmgirl
6066 Posts
Jeannie
Florida
USA
6066 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2009 : 10:11:24 AM
|
Those are wonderful greenhouses! And great looking tomato plants! If more folks with a big enough yard, did this, it would greatly increase our food supply in this world. When I drive around our area, and see the beautiful big yards, I think, what if everybody had a vegetable garden? So much of our land is not being used to help feed us! Even on a small scale, it would be so great.
Farmgirl Sister # 31
www.blueskyjeannie.blogspot.com
Psalm 51: 10-13 |
|
|
|
DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2009 : 10:18:30 AM
|
Diana these weren't that expensive to build. Just 2x4 framing and covered with 6mil vapour barrier which should last roughly 10 years.
Joyce, I can't grow tomatoes here unless they are in a greenhouse because of our cool marine air at night. They will get blight something awful if they're not covered.
Thanks Jeannie and I totally agree with you. So much wasted space that could be converted to growing food. I can never understand how folks will plant ornamental flowering trees when they could plant fruit trees! Maybe that comes from growing up on the prairies where a crabapple tree was something to get excited about. haha
Di |
|
|
|
gramadinah
True Blue Farmgirl
3557 Posts
Diana
Orofino
ID
USA
3557 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2009 : 10:27:09 AM
|
Do you get any snow? What type of plastic cover is that to last 10 years?
Diana
Farmgirl Sister #273 |
|
|
|
DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 14 2009 : 10:50:27 AM
|
While we don't have snow throughout the winter months like most places, we do usually get a snowfall at least once or twice through the winter. And it's very heavy and wet. I find it usually slides off, sometimes with a little gentle coaxing from the inside with a soft broom.
The plastic I use on these is a 6mil vapour barrier that I get at building supply stores by the roll. It should last at least 10 years (but we don't get really harsh cold here and I don't know if that would make a difference). The plastic is attached to the greenhouse with strips of cedar lath.
|
|
|
|
Bear5
True Blue Farmgirl
13055 Posts
Louisiana/Texas
USA
13055 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2009 : 3:48:49 PM
|
Wow, how nice. You'll have food year around. With the hot sun in Louisiana, the plastic doesn't last long.
Marly
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." Elisabeth Kurler-Ross |
|
|
|
DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 15 2009 : 4:51:09 PM
|
Marly you can get a UV rated greenhouse plastic that will stand up to the sun. Do you have a wholesale nursery or garden supply in your area that could bring it in for you? If memory serves me right, it even has a warranty. I've used it before, but found it wasn't really necessary for our climate.
Di |
|
|
|
farmmommy
True Blue Farmgirl
500 Posts
Kelley
Texas
USA
500 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2009 : 1:53:06 PM
|
Oh, Diane! All I can say is AWESOME!! want to come to my house a build a few???...lol....Or how about I just come live with you???..ROFL!!! But seriously...your greenhouses are really great!! Those tomatoes look so yummy!!
http://cockadoodledewberries.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2009 : 4:02:37 PM
|
Thank you so much Kelley and if I lived closer, we could have a great greenhouse building party!
My ignorance may be showing here, but do you really need greenhouses in Texas??? I think of Texas as hot and dry.
Di
|
|
|
|
farmmommy
True Blue Farmgirl
500 Posts
Kelley
Texas
USA
500 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2009 : 09:05:51 AM
|
Oh, you aren't ignorant!! I'm in zone 8...so we do get heavy frost ocassionally and sometimes a pretty good freeze or two each winter...so yeah, we would need greenhouses if we wanted to have yer round veggies....and sometimes we go into spring aound here with hot summer type weather for weeks on end, just to be surprised by a couple of late spring cold fronts and frosts. This last winter, we had several spells of 5-6 days of the high being in the high 30's and high teens at night....BUTTTTTTT....oh yeah....hot and dry too!! We had record rainfall this spring, now having near drought type weather ( but we did get 1 1/2 inches of rain last night with more on the way today)...and this isn't even what us southerners concider "deep summer" yet. We have had 12 solid days of triple digit temps! Needless to say, despite watering the garden 2 times a day....alot of our veggies have just Fried!! It's funny, because down here, we have to plant alot of our "Full Sun" plants in the shade, else they will fry! And I have noticed that despite my hostas being in full shade with no direct sunlight, they are looking a bit fried already....so yes....Hot Hot Hot down here!
http://cockadoodledewberries.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
brightmeadow
True Blue Farmgirl
2045 Posts
Brenda
Lucas
Ohio
USA
2045 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2009 : 5:32:19 PM
|
Diane, I am sooo impressed! Where did you find the plans for these? They look pretty professional. Do they have automatic venting?
I had a prefab greenhouse last year that I left up and it collapsed due to snow load. We live in the suburbs and I've been debating whether or not to try again, DH doesn't want anything that looks as trashy as that collapsed greenhouse ever again...But I also wasn't happy because of no venting and temps went up over 130 degrees during the day, down to 40 at night...needless to say I didn't get much of a crop.
Yours look great, and it looks like you've got a bumper crop of tomatoes coming on. What do you do with them? Sell at farmer's market? Can?
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
Visit my blog at http://brightmeadowfarms.blogspot.com ,web site store at http://www.watkinsonline.com/fish or my homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~brightmeadow |
|
|
|
DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Jul 20 2009 : 10:17:07 AM
|
Thanks Brenda. I didn't have plans for these. Like most projects I undertake, I fly by the seat of my pants. This would also explain why the first greenhouse in the back is about three feet taller than it really needed to be! It's that angle thing...who knew cutting 2 feet off the roof "trusses" would change the shape so much! lol Now you know why I drive my poor dh crazy! I just built the first frame on the ground, with two anchored string lines so as to get the angles the same on both sides of the peak of the roof. Once I got the first frame built, I just aligned and then built the remaining ones on top of the first. The hard part (and probably most hilarious for anyone watching me) was standing those frames up and bracing them with blocks and rope so I could attach them together. I did a lot of running from side to side...haha.
I don't have automatic venting...I can't really justify the cost. It's just part of the morning routine to open the windows and doors and then close them up at night. I have to go down there to let out the chickens and ducks anyway.
The tomatoes will sell like crazy. I have people coming weekly to see if they're ready yet. I will have to reserve some for us so I can can some!
Di |
|
|
| |
Garden Gate: My Greenhouses |
|
My Greenhouses
