Greenhouse Dreams

[Missourian]

I don't know. I was talking to the builder who built the homes in my neighborhood and he gave me the impression that it would be prohibitively expensive. But there seems to be a local phenomenon of folks just not wanting to spend money. Everybody rolls their eyes about how warm I keep my home, but my gas bill is far lower here than it ever was in Washington. Maybe it's a Midwest thing. I could look into the actual cost farther and not rely on anybody else's perception of what "expensive" means.

We've been considering putting in a horizontal loop ourselves.

Ground Loop Geothermal System Installation Videos & Diagrams

We provide quick to follow tips and tricks in the form of diagrams and videos that would help you with installation and performance of DIY geothermal kits.

www.123zeroenergy.com

 

[beautress]

Google's campus was built in 2015, and I just now found out that it bases all on greenhouse environments...

Google is building a giant greenhouse utopia for it’s new campus in Mountain View, California. The campus will feature giant biodomes covering the huge expansive office spaces and will be covered in greenery, shrubs, trees and plants. Google already supplements their power usage with solar power. There are hundreds of solar panels on the roof of their current office buildings. More pictures here: Google's New Campus is a High-Tech Greenhouse Utopia​

 

[beautress]

Oh, my! Doors of stained glass with nature's interior of plants...

 

[beautress]

And in Montreal, the largest rooftop greenhouse in Canada? What a wonderful use of space in cold country winters.

 

[beautress]

Ottawa Greenhouse has a lovely architecture.

Credits: Ottawa announces Architectural Conservation Awards | Ottawa Construction News
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[beautress]

I ran across this odd sky shot of Ottawa greenhouses search--
The three-phase plan, outlined in a planning application filed at city hall, details how 549,000 square feet of greenhouse space
would be converted from food production to marijuana production. A second production facility would also be added to the property.

They're testing the production of marijuana in there?
So of all places in Canada where they could go, the truckers are driving to Ottawa? lol

Greely-area greenhouses could become Ottawa's first legal grow-op

Greenhouses on a property in rural south Ottawa could become the city’s first legal marijuana grow operation if council approves the location and the company…

ottawasun.com

 

[beautress]

I don't mean to swiftly go from the world's larger greenhouses conveniently placed on old or new factories, to the smaller ones, but I thought if one wanted to profit from their green thumb, having a portable greenhouse might be the ticket to paying for the high prices for meat and potatoes these days of unheard-of Congress' agressive spend-a-thon. making or investing in a portable greenhouse as a sales tool for a community plant sale day... Here are some ideas others have executed well:

This guy has a great page of how his design evolved into a portable greenhouse that was blown over in the wind to one that works better by just making one change:

Greenhouse on Wheels - New and Improved

Last winter I built a wheeled greenhouse/coldframe/potting bench hybrid. My goal was to build a mobile cold frame with the performance of...

gardenvariety-hoosier.blogspot.com

Last year's homemade greenhouse:

He said:​

Last winter I built a wheeled greenhouse/coldframe/potting bench hybrid. My goal was to build a mobile cold frame with the performance of a greenhouse. Empty, it should be light enough for one person to move. It also had to be well insulated and with some stone or water inside able to maintain temperatures above freezing for one or two cold sunless days. It performed well enough to keep the inside above freezing for at least one day following a sunny day, although last spring there were often several consecutive cold and cloudy days. This picture shows the unit with the door propped open. There’s an earthbox inside and a block of stone to absorb and store solar heat. The little box held a remote temperature sensor.

The one that blew down due to being too tall, and the change that made it sturdier, then the changes that made it more efficient:

Now all he needs to do is equip it with a portable light.

On my land, I'd need tractor wheels because of the mud in the winter's rainy season, lol!

You must visit his website above to see all his amazing ideas for life on the land. It's an experience!

Mike's Bean Patch

Growing vegetables in raised beds. Wildlife habitat. Building things. Location: SW Indiana.

gardenvariety-hoosier.blogspot.com

 

[beautress]

Here are some other search engine finds on mobile greenhouses:

Cozy The Dream Of A Small Mobile Home With Greenhouses Is ...

And if you prefer that someone else do the work, here's one place that does mobile sized greenhuts: Outsunny Greenhouse backyard small mini portable hoophouse cheap walk in greenhouses kits sale | Aosom​

 

[beautress]

Seattle's decorous Biodome Grreenhouses:

Plan, things to come, skeletal beginnings of the downtown Seattle Biodomes

First plant arrives, Getting Biodome open for guests, Grand Opening Crowd at Dedication

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[beautress]

Oh, somebody loves flowers around themselves outside the greenhouse. I so love this one's aesthetic floral artistry:

I want this one out by my lake. *sigh* It's so pretty it must be in Heaven, though.​

 

[beautress]

Half my dream orchids in a place like this one would have to be vanilla...which comes from "beans" that grow inside the blossoming orchid part of the plant

Dec 04, 2018 · For 300 years, no one was able to get the orchids to bear fruit. Then, in 1836, it was discovered that a miniscule bee (the Melipone) was the sole pollinator of the vanilla orchid.
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Everyone knows the scent and taste of vanilla… at the very least we smell it in perfumes and enjoy it in ice cream! But did you know that all vanilla comes from the fruit of an orchid? Of the tens of thousands of orchids known to the world, Vanilla planifolia is the only orchid to produce an edible fruit and what an amazing fruit that has turned out to be…

Ok, ya can't get vanilla beans if you don't have the right bee...the Mexican Melipone Bee, to be exact. *sigh*​

Some of the earliest known use of vanilla was in temples around the Gulf coast of Mexico. The Olmeca people were perhaps the first to use vanilla as a flavoring in drinks. The Totonaca people of the Gulf coast of Mexico were likely the first to domesticate vanilla. The plant and the spice continue to be a sacred and important part of their culture as they consider it given to them by the gods.

In the 1520s, vanilla left Mexico on ships bound for Spain. It was originally imported as a perfume and later it was discovered to also be an excellent flavoring for beverages and sweets. For 300 years, no one was able to get the orchids to bear fruit. Then, in 1836, it was discovered that a miniscule bee (the Melipone) was the sole pollinator of the vanilla orchid. Outside of their native habitat of Mexico, vanilla plant flowers must be hand-pollinated in order to produce the fruit. This means all the vanilla coming from other countries is hand pollinated. You can understand why vanilla is the most expensive spice after saffron!

Each orchid blossom lives for only one day before the next one on the stalk opens. So even though you have just a day to pollinate a flower before it dies, don’t worry, there will be another the next day. Once a flower has been successfully pollinated, the petals don’t fall off but wither to a dark brown (see blog header photograph). The former flower stem elongates into a 6-10” skinny green bean-like fruit. The fruit then matures on the vine for the next 6-9 months before it is ready for harvesting. When the pods are firm and fully formed, they are picked and cured. Some producers prefer to just let the pods dry in the sun, but many growers scald the beans in hot water or steam before the drying process.

The Vanilla Bean Orchid - Gulley Greenhouse

Everyone knows the scent and taste of vanilla… at the very least we smell it in perfumes and enjoy it in ice cream! But did you know that all vanilla comes from the fruit of an orchid? Of the tens of thousands of orchids known to the world, Vanilla planifolia is the only orchid to […]

www.gulleygreenhouse.com

Sweet dreams are made of this....

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[beautress]

Yea! A video about a greenhouse in Colorado.

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[beautress]

And another...

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[Captain Caveman]

I really wish I could afford to put in geothermal tubes to heat a greenhouse. My neck of the woods has been down to -15° at night lately and I'd love to grow some little citrus trees.

Thanks for the great photos beautress

I use heaters that run off paraffin to heat my greenhouse.

 

[beautress]

Wow, Pool, greenhouse...everything.

 

[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Wow, Pool, greenhouse...everything.

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I was going to look at a house that had an indoor pool with a glass roof, which would have made a spectacular greenhouse, but I had a realtor investigate it and it was on swamp land, so it was a no-go.

 

[beautress]

For someone who wants a greenhouse seed planting area, and shared with a garden tools kit, I found the do-it-yourself building plan at Ebay for under $30. It looks ideal if you're just growing a family-sized garden and want to do your own startup planting before the freezing weather ends, this would be a nice addition to yard or small acreage to get things moving. If you were to plant a citrus tree, though, you'd need a lot bigger building.

 

[beautress]

I was going to look at a house that had an indoor pool with a glass roof, which would have made a spectacular greenhouse, but I had a realtor investigate it and it was on swamp land, so it was a no-go.

Yep you need to watch out for swampland and hurricane areas if close to the coast or wherever a swamp prospers.

 

[beautress]

This looks like really cold country, and they're overwintering perennials inside. Every cold country farmer has a few problems with plants...

Found this at the BBOG (big blog of gardening)

How to Overwinter Perennials in a Greenhouse

With proper planning and light study, you can succesfully overwinter perennials in a greenhouse during winter, even in the northeastern U.S.

www.bigblogofgardening.com

They had on the same page this if you have an indoor with not much sun: "Supplement winter sun with grow lights."
One of their pages broght back memories of the 35 years I lived in Casper, Wyoming, and this is about the time crocus and hyacinths come up:

I just loved the people in Wyoming. They were so wonderful.
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[OhPleaseJustQuit]

Yep you need to watch out for swampland and hurricane areas if close to the coast or wherever a swamp prospers.

This was odd. It was in Wisconsin, on land that had a little creek and I would never have guessed if I hadn't had someone experienced doing the research.