Every Micro Farm needs a Greenhouse - Part 1

Every Micro Farm needs a Greenhouse - Part 1 

February, 2017

If you look back on some of the previous posts you will learn that an important part of our micro farm is the ability to extend the growing season for our location in Northwest Pennsylvania.  While we have lots of ideas, who isn't short on money.  

The objective: a cost-effective greenhouse which can allow us to start seeds in the early spring, expand our micro grow zone in the summer, and extend our grow season into the late months of the year.

We also, with our desire to produce our own super foods, wanted to be able to eat a fresh highly nutritional diet year round.  Don't get me started on out-of-season veggies that come from the other side of the equator and are "ripened" in shipping containers.  Anyway . . . .

It was the cold snowy months of winter when we first started dreaming about our own micro farm. The first thing we learned was: that greenhouses are expensive.  OK, time to get creative.  Functional, but affordable.

We saw these little baby greenhouses on Amazon for couple hundred dollars.  We ordered the 6 foot by 8 foot version for $300.  I attempted to set it up in my living room. Yikes!  Horrible instructions, translation issues, missing pieces, and angle cuts all backwards.  Send it back.

*Now that it is summer, I have since learned that these same greenhouse kits are $600.

 

Then one day, a circular advertisement came in the mail.  The same, somewhat questionable, greenhouse kit was on sale at Harbor Freight Tools for $200.  What?  We jumped in the truck and got the very last one.  Knowing that other one was a nightmare of quality control, I decided to view the kit as material and toss out the instructions.  Another issue was that the original design would never hold up to the fierce winds and heavy snow fall of the lake effect weather.

So, I used the free version of Google Draw to design a precisely scaled version of a more practical version.  A wooden wall would shield the structure from the wind and the polycarbonate panels and aluminum frame would be supported by a 2x4 skeleton. All while trying to keep the costs down?

To the Rescue - Purple Dots

One of the Big Box DIY stores has this practice of culling the wood which has been sorted through and passed over by the average Joe.  I guess if you are going to pay full price for the dimensional wood, you only want the most pristine.  Great for me because I work around the flaws through careful planning.  Frequent trips to the local DIY and we amassed all of this for 30% of the original cost.  With hangers, screws, and lumber - another $150.

With our background in education, we also wanted the project to be able to be used as a demonstration piece.  This included the mobility to transport the entire system to an elementary school parking lot or the country fair. The floor of the greenhouse is built on skids so that the entire unit can be loaded into U-haul.






This was a February weekend and it was sunny and 75 degrees.  We built the floor in my car port in the city. Decking was added from various random purple dot, re-purposed wood sheeting, and all saturated with wood stain bought from the miss-tint section of a paint store.

Another $5.

Disassembled and loaded up in the truck for transport up north to the micro farm.












Safe and secure, strapped in for the voyage.

Selecting a location for the micro farm.

In early February we selected a location for the micro farm. Plenty of unobstructed sun for a south facing installation.

Prior to reinventing the idea of developing a tiny house on the property we had chosen a location on the eastern side of the property to be the home for a tiny house.

In this image you are facing south towards the pond.

While it would have been a scenic and private location, the lack of a full days of sun would have hindered our ability to grow high yields of produce. So, for a couple of days we watched the sun.  Like a couple of lost souls we stood in the middle of the old cow pasture turning in circles.  I am sure the neighbors and a few passing motorist thought we had lost our minds.  We saw that the early morning sun would crest the treeline and better melt away last night's frost if we relocated about 100 yards (91 meters) to the west.

For a tiny house this spot would have been ideal, as it is well shaded by the tree line. In the summer the tall trees to the east and south would have shaded and cooled the tiny house for most of the day.  Years earlier, in anticipation of the tiny house build, we had even planted sapling pine trees to block the cold northern winds of Northeast Pennsylvania.  For a greenhouse and grow zone, however, not so good. 

About Us

Situated among the rolling hills of Northwest Pennsylvania, the Greenleaf Organic Micro Farm demonstrates practices of permaculture and homesteading.  The tiny profile (approximately 1/16 of an acre) was previously just a mowed lawn. 

While there are multiple reasons for farming or gardening, if you add them all up, the benefits to our mental and physical health outweigh the bug-bites, sweat, and tears.

The Goal

100% Organic -  That's right.  No synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.  We use organic practices from the soil to harvest.  Raised bed planting insures that any remnants from earlier farming of the property are not absorbed by our produce.

Fresh & Local - By eliminating the transportation issues associated with commercial produce imports, we provide fresh vine ripened vegetable and fruits often picked the same day the food is served at the family table.  Unlike big box grocery stores, our fresh produce is not ripened in shipping containers as it makes it way from far away lands.  We are a "Product of Pennsylvania".

Superfoods - Our choice of crops focus on healthy and yummy food your family will actually enjoy. Our micro farm focuses on nutrient-rich food considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being.  From Kale to Tomatoes, herbs and greens, bok choy and apples, asparagus, spinach, strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, raspberries, and blueberries; there is something fresh for families and foodies.

Off-grid - The grow zone, greenhouse, and tiny house all are powered by photo-voltaic solar panels.  A rain capture system provides the water for the tiny house and vegetables, but not before a complete filtration system including the removal of sediments and micro contaminants, reverse osmosis, and finally, ultra-violet light.  Passive solar offers winter heating for the greenhouse and tiny house.  While at the same time, the tiny house is constructed using LEED technology concepts to ensure the greatest efficiency.

Composting - food prep materials and garden waste goes full circle. A closed-cycle system takes organic nutrient rich waste through the composting process, which is then used to prepare the raised beds for the next generation of organic vegetables.