permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

grow, grow, growgrowgrow
http://pikkufarm.org/projects/greenhouse/

*greenhouse*

Hillary used to work for some folks who used to own a nursery business.
they quit that and had a bunch of greenhouses to get rid of. we hauled off
some of the steel water pipe the greenhouses were built out of and have
been sanding and grinding off the rust and painting them to build a new and
better greenhouse. the pipe is bent into semi-circular hoops sixteen feet
in diameter. the glazing will likely be
Solexx<http://www.greenhouses-etc.net/glazing/roll_covering.htm>or,
more likely, double or triple wall
polycarbonate <http://www.greenhouses-etc.net/glazing/twinwall.htm>. it'll
be earth-sheltered, as suggested by Mike
Oehler<http://www.undergroundhousing.com/greenhouse_book.html>.
there will be a solar
closet<http://www.ece.villanova.edu/%7Enick/solar/solar.html>for heat
on cloudy winter days, and animals for a little more heat and
plenty of carbon dioxide and pisshit. a pond to the south will reflect more
sunlight to the greenhouse, especially during solar winter. solar
vents<http://solarventworks.com/index.html>and perhaps a solar
chimney <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_chimney> will provide cooling
when necessary. a pond inside the greenhouse will keep humidity high,
decreasing temperature fluctuations. deciduous vines and trees planted
outside will provide a bit of shade to keep things reasonable in the
summer. plans will change as the project goes forward and we learn more
about what works and doesn't. if the whole thing is reasonably successful,
we'll use the experience to build a larger greenhouse in the future.