We Are Building a Low Side-wall Polytunnel (Greenhouse)

[DRAGON64]

We ordered our greenhouse kit with a 20'X25' 40% shade cloth. Idealy, the shade cloth should be installed on the outside of the green house, and secured to the hip boards. However, we liove in the south, and we have indigenous pine trees that are a bit of a nuisance.





The tree just so happened to be located on the only piece of our property that we could fit and work a greenhouse. The problem is, the constant sheeding of pine needles would get lodged in the shade cloth, and over time, the wind would cause the pine needles to vibrate and start digging holes in the poly cover.

 

[DRAGON64]

Solution, install the 40% shade cloth inside th greenhouse, between the hoops and poly roof...





The shade cloth, as its name states, reduces the incoming sun/heat by 40%. If the temps in the greenhouse reach above 130 degrees, the plants will start to die/go bad etc. So with the shade cloth and side vents, we should be able to alleviate that issue. When summer gets here, we will know if we need to add an exhaust fan system.

 

[DRAGON64]

In my off time I have been collecting pots and building raised beds...







The big white buckets in the last image are mineral buckets that cattle farmers use for their cows. They are great for growing tomatoes or potatoes in.

 

[DRAGON64]

Last weekend my wife and I went to a greenhouse business and purchased 31 bags of growing mix for our pots and raised beds. And today we have another beautiful day to get to work inside the greenhouse...

 

[DRAGON64]

Not so sure this wallyworld thermometer is working correctly... it was 50 degrees outside...

 

[DRAGON64]

I dumped the bags, and my wife spread the soil as we filled the raised beds...





We only managed the five raised beds, before we got tired, se we closed up for the day...



Notice the thermometer in the back pushing 85+ degrees inside, while 55 and windy outside.

 

[Sandy H.]

My wife has been doing a lot of planting this year. We're also doing a few raised beds. Your set-up looks awesome. I'm glad she doesn't browse the rocket forum or I'm pretty sure next year's budget would have less rocket budget and more greenhouse budget!

Keep up the good work!

Sandy.

 

[DRAGON64]

Seemed like the right place to put this... It's not easy, but it is necessary...

 

[Hobie1dog]

planted anything yet?

 

[DRAGON64]

Some items yes; potatoes (golden and sweet), carrots (Dragon carrote <grin>), garlic, onions, sweet peppers, lettuce (Romaine and various other colorful blends), peas, watermelon and strawberries. We needed to get past the last freeze, which was last weekend... unless the "chem trailing" brings more cold wet crap out way.

We have plans and space for okra, green beans etc. In the house we have lots of seasonings/spices growing in trays, as well as tomatoes.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Some items yes, watermelon as well as tomatoes.

that's the only 2 things I would grow.

 

[Sandy H.]

Some items yes; potatoes (golden and sweet), carrots (Dragon carrote <grin>), garlic, onions, sweet peppers, lettuce (Romaine and various other colorful blends), peas, watermelon and strawberries. We needed to get past the last freeze, which was last weekend... unless the "chem trailing" brings more cold wet crap out way.

We have plans and space for okra, green beans etc. In the house we have lots of seasonings/spices growing in trays, as well as tomatoes.

My wife's garden so far is strawberries, asparagus, spinach (started inside from seed, not purchased like the first two), a handful of herbs from seed and some fruit trees and berry bushes she started on a few years ago. The deer around here pretty much eat anything if it isn't protected, so this year we're trying to protect better. She has a few other things she is working on, but we're out of space and need to build more raised beds. No greenhouse or anything like that, just in the yard stuff.

I would like various pepper plants, but won't argue or ask her to plant stuff if I'm not willing to maintain it myself and with various schedule issues, I don't think I could maintain the plants effectively. I do think she's planning for tomato and some form of beans and cabbage, but I'm only part of the raised bed crew, not part of the planning crew.

Again, your set-up looks well thought out and well made. I hope you get a bounty!

Sandy.

 

[DRAGON64]

We are getting low on greenhouse funds, so the rain harvesting plan is on hold for now. Insted, we are trying to filter out hard water supply with an in-line RV filter.



We added a water regulator to an outdoor faucet, then the supplied hose protector, followed by the filter, and a new 100' hose. So far so good... but I am headed to (s)Lowes tomorrow to pick up a water testing kit to see if we have done any good.

 

[Hobie1dog]

We are getting low on greenhouse funds, so the rain harvesting plan is on hold for now.

Can you tell us about your rain harvesting plan?

 

[DRAGON64]

We planned on getting some totes like those pictured below, and connect them to a gutter system... which we do not have. We need to get the gutters on the house, then plumb in some totes to harvest water.

 

[Sandy H.]

My wife visited the NC Agricultural Center (or something like that. . .) this week and they said she should put in a rain barrel. In concept, its similar to what you've shown (which I didn't know, we just talked about it). Sure, they were 'purpose built' barrels instead of old 55 gallon oil barrels or the Roundup (or similar farm chemical containers) in the pic you posted, but same concept - rain from roof to container.

Were you planning on doing the roof of your house or the roof of the greenhouse? Are you on a well or city water?

I'm curious, because we are on a well and the house is somewhat far from the garden. It doesn't seem logical for our situation, but if you're using metered water from the city, it could be very logical. If you're using water from the greenhouse roof collection, so it is local to where the water fell, that too seems very logical.

Hope this isn't too much of an aside. It seems like good information for discussion, just on the wrong forum. Then again, a couple of people can walk a journey together when it is on a rocket forum, but if this were a rain barrel forum, people would be judging your choice of PVC glue, most likely.

Keep up the cool updates. We're getting new ideas each time you show progress.

Sandy.

 

[DRAGON64]

We are looking at doing the roof of the house, and either plumbing totes at each end, or both at one end. Room at each end of the house needs careful consideration as there is not much of it.

After last nights rain, we could have filled both... when we stepped into the greenhouse today, muddy water was seeping through the floor. For the first time ever, we are literally standing on our water table!

 

[Sandy H.]

We are looking at doing the roof of the house, and either plumbing totes at each end, or both at one end. Room at each end of the house needs careful consideration as there is not much of it.

After last nights rain, we could have filled both... when we stepped into the greenhouse today, muddy water was seeping through the floor. For the first time ever, we are literally standing on our water table!

Wow, I never thought about the rain outside of the greenhouse leaching in, but if the ground is saturated, its not leaching in, its rising from the dirt. . .

We started some drip irrigation today on the raised beds. I mentioned it a few days ago and next thing I know its priority one. I've got to watch my mouth. . .

Step 1 is to make it work in each bed manually (water hose and quick disconnects). Step 2 is to figure out a controller to make sure we have some zone control and can tailor to whatever her plant plan is (i.e. don't just water everything for 10 min twice a day, focus on what the plant group needs for water volume), still on a water hose as source. Step 3 will be to tap into the main header of the sprinkler system and make it automated enough that we can leave the house for a weekend vacation between July and September - without automation in this part of NC, I think you're committed to full time maintenance during those months. . .

Ignorant question for sure: why aren't you trying to catch the water off the greenhouse first vs. the house? If its a new construction, maybe it would be easier to re-direct water to the barrels and the barrels would be right next to where you wanted to use the water. I'm ignorant about water collection and know that our house is a big water diversion (i.e. water doesn't get to Earth anymore because of the roof), but when we get a good rain, I think we'd fill huge barrels in minutes, not hours. We're on a good well, so 400 gallons of water only costs pump energy vs. city water, but I'm assuming that's the volume you're talking about-ish and in spring and fall here, it would fill in minutes, but during summer I speculate it would be dry for weeks. No testing or proofs on my end, just general feelings.

Hope you're still enjoying your project and the process involved. Here's a pic of the asparagus bed. I never knew how asparagus grew. . .

Sandy.

 

[DRAGON64]

Finally got some GoJo in my step and finished the greenhouse; we installed the door on the west side of the structure... BQQM! Done!! Finally!!!

 

[Hardline]

fresh lettuce in next to no time!

 

[DRAGON64]

Here are some pics of what is peeking right now...

Turmeric:



Various peppers, including sweet and Jalapeno style:



Three v ariants of lettuce on the right, cauliflower in the middle and broccoli on the left. Plants we started imn the house for the Broccoli all dies in the late freezes save one, and only four cauliflower plants servived. We seeded new plants to suppliment:



Two variants of carrots on the right, onions (white) in the middle and garlic on the left. Onion and garlic are seed plants:



Tomatoes awaiting a transplant: we have Tommy Toers, Cherry, Beef Steak and Roma:



Potatoes planted in cow mineral bucket:



More mineral buckets awaiting more potatoes and tomatoes:

 

[DRAGON64]

Part of the journey has led us to preservation; we have picked up a pressure canner, and a vacuum sealer. Here we tried our hand at vacuuming some crackers and rice:



We also vacuum sealed some pattied hamburger meat. With the supply chain collapsing and shortages coming, we are actively trying extend the life of what we have...

 

[DRAGON64]

One more new venture we have started, and the is trying to ween ourselves off of T-Fal or any teflon coated cooking product. Last summer we made a trip to South Pittsburg, TN to visit "the Lodge" a factory that still casts cast iron cooking pans and ducth ovens etc. And recently I found an old stash of her (my wife) mothers cast iron pans that I baked all the old gunk off of, and started back "seasoning" the pans... Soon we will have enough to dump the teflon poison...



I still have two small frying pans and a dutch oven to restore and season back into use.

 

[Peartree]

One more new venture we have started, and the is trying to ween ourselves off of T-Fal or any teflon coated cooking product. Last summer we made a trip to South Pittsburg, TN to visit "the <Lodge" a factory that still casts cast iron cooking pans and ducth ovens etc. And recently I found an old stacsh of her mothers cast iron pans that I baked all the old gunk off of, and started back "seasoning" the pans... Soon we will have enough to dump the teflon poison...

View attachment 515874

I still have two small frying pans and a dutch oven to restore and season back into use.

We have a collection of cast iron pans that were/are my grandmother's, my mother's, ours, yard sale finds, and probably a few others.

 

[DRAGON64]

A quick greenhouse update; we keep plugging along, with a little time everyday spent working a little to keep plants growing along. Tomatoes have really taken off with the warmer weather, nd were moved outdoors. The outdoor rains really kicked the tomato growth into high gear:



We bought a number of food grade buckets for tomato transplants... one of the larger Beef Steak tomato plants was transplanted into a red cattle bucket...



The beans were smothering the okra, so my wife and I acquired some bamboo shoots to build some natural (AND FREE!!) structures to support the beans...



We managed to get the peas put up with another make-shitf bamboo structure, and still need to get the cucumbers up, but we need more bamboo...

 

[DRAGON64]

Potatoes are rockin!! We have 3 cattle mineral buckets loaded with 5 seed potatoes each, and they were all "mounded" 3-times each. This may be quite a cool harvest in the not to distant future...




We have two watermelon vines that have made the journey, and are real slow starters... pictured with a bucket of Turmeric...



This next bin is fiull of spinach, sweet peppers and Jalapeno peppers... The blue swimming pool was going to be for strawberries, but none of the stawberry starter packs we bought from Walmart ever grew...



Speskin of rockin, the sweet potatoes, picture in the red cattle bucket, had to be segregated from the rest of the plants, as we found out they are a vine plant, and they got tangled up in a bunch of other plants. We added bamboo to try and get the vines to stay in the bucket...

 

[DRAGON64]

3 kinds of lettuce, some cauliflower and some broccoli...



last bin is full of carrots, onions and garlic...



A shot back through the north side of the greenhouse at the bamboo structures...



My wife trying to describing how she sees the structure we still need to start to support the cucumbers...

 

[DRAGON64]

We leave the doors open to let the little critters in that fly, so that they might do a little pollinating action for us, her is one of the larger bumbles that spent the night in the green house...



Not sure if there is any benefit to a Dragonfly being in the greenhouse, but we get a lot of them...



A small sampling of a number of spices, too many to name off at the moment...



And yes, we did get all of the tomatoes transplanted into the foof grade buckets...

 

[Dipstick]

Thanks for sharing, you are doing great!

 

[mo2872]

It all looks fantastic! We have moved all of our plants from the cold frame to the garden. I'll have to get a pic tomorrow......