More on hoop houses.
Basic hoop houses can be made of pvc pipe and heavy plastic sheeting.
Benches can be made of rolling fence stock set on cinder block and 2x4s to
get them off the ground (the coldest area). If you are using the hoop house
to replace the nursery aspect and save your $3000 in commercial space, this
might be your best bet. By starting out cheap and using the savings from
those commercial space expenses, by the second and third year you would have
saved enough to build some commercial houses one at a time.
I'll bet someone in your group could put together a fan on a thermostat
mid-way through the house to keep the air moving.
My friend put a metal 55 gal. drum stove together for the cost of some
welding. He burnt scrap wood and newspaper (any home town newspaper has bins
of undelivered newspapers they could get for free) to keep his 60'x22'
greenhouse warm. With some clever use of stove pipe, redirect the heat from
the stove on a shallow grade upwards instead of right out the roof, to
radiate the heat.
Also, running pipe under 6' of ground, set in concrete, and running water
through it up and close under the raised beds if you are using the houses to
actually grow stuff, will keep your beds at about 65 degrees F all winter
long. If you use solar to run the water through the pipes, it's a no energy
cost system once you pay for the solar system. There are DIY solar system
plans out there that would work great. You just need someone in your group
that's handy with that sort of thing, or buy salvage panels (also there are
ways to get unused panels - google). It might take a few weekends of
digging and some work and bucks to make the concrete casings (which actually
increase the efficiency of the system), you can save a lot of money on your
'geothermal' system.
The greenhouses at MSU had little servomotors that ran off thermostats that
rolled the side plastic sheeting up and down, likewise little servomotors at
the end walls which opened and closed louvers for heat accumulation at the
top level, or let in fresh air when needed. All these things have been
worked out there which is why I thought they would be of help to you.
I like Richard's idea of tunnels on the bed themselves in-ground rather than
the expense of the houses.
Using several smaller structures is also a good idea. If you want air
circulation through a hoop house, you wouldn't want to wall off portions of
it for different temperature growing micro-climates. But if you had smaller
houses, as Richard suggested, for each temperature setting to help certain
plants, it would be easier to regulate the temperature in each one. They
don't have to be big - maybe 10x10.
Look around at things like junk yards for really cheap materials. Sometimes
your trash companies find stuff that could be used. I have a client (we
built a garden for him) who works for Waste Management who gets me cardboard
and other things needed to build beds. Making friends who look out for
freebies can save you a ton of money. Many manufacturing companies throw out
stuff you can use but can't give it to you directly. But once it hits the
waste company, it's just a matter of getting a friend to set it aside for
you. I use cardboard - two layers - under box raised beds to insulate,
protect against weed invasion, and kill grass. This strategy can help you if
you get resourceful.
Best,
Diann Dirks
Certified Permaculture Designer, Ga.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Menn" <rtm...@verizon.net>
To: "Jama Crawford" <j...@frontier.net>
Cc: <community_garden@list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 23, 2011 2:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] cost of hoop house
Hello, Jama--
Here are a few quick thoughts and questions, with a promise to follow up
when I have more information:
Are you folks wedded to the notion of using a single high hoop house?
Aside from the prohibitive cost, given your budget, 90 feet seems much too
long for a passive solar system (using no blowers) of the height and width
that you describe: I think that you'd have a great deal of trouble
controlling both temperature and humidity, and would definitely wind up
with stale air near the middle--especially in the dead of winter, when
you'd often need to keep the ends tightly closed around the clock.
If you're set on using a walk-in space, a better strategy might be to
divide that length among several shorter structures, which could then be
used to address different temperature needs for different crops. Remember,
too, that rolling long side curtains up and down by hand on a daily basis
to ventilate your cold frame during transitional periods could itself be
quite a chore. In any case, you'd need to spend several thousand dollars
for your dream house.
On the other hand: Would you be willing to consider enclosing the same
amount of row space, configured a bit differently, with low tunnels
instead, using 4-foot hoops? That would be my preference--and I think that
you could do it quickly with the money you have on hand. I can give you a
list of materials and their cost, if you wish.
Finally, do you plan to cover existing rows with your new cold
frame(s)?--or will you determine the row orientation, width and spacing
based on your choice of the final design?
Let's keep talking (and rereading The Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot
Coleman)--
--Dick
Jama Crawford wrote:
Dear Colleagues
We are considering installing a high hoop house (approx 12' wide, 7' tall,
90' long) for raising bedding plants, lettuce, and tomatoes. We typically
have a very short season although this fall was extraordinarily generous
with its frost free days.
Our garden has $650 left at the end of the season. Unheard of. We are
always broke at the end of the season. So a hoop house is highest on the
list of how to invest that money in future operations. We spend about
$3,000 raising bedding plants at a commercial greenhouse each year, so
reducing that cost could pay for the hoop house (as soon as we master the
greenhouse operations - we can't pretend to know this piece of it yet).
I've looked up the cost of parts in catalogs and on line and have a basic
idea of the cost, which exceeds this small budget, but I'm not sure if a
clever and frugal group of gardeners has come up with a good hoop house
for less. The house must shed snow, of course, so I'm especially
interested in the experiences of gardeners from northern latitudes who
must also deal with a lot of winter snow.
Thanks for your input!!
Jama Crawford
Shared Harvest Community Garden
Durango, CO
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ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and
to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org
To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:
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The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's
services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out
how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
To post an e-mail to the list: community_garden@list.communitygarden.org
To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription:
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