Geothermal Greenhouse upgrades to our "Greenhouse in the Snow"
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Today we update some upgrades we've made to the exterior including a retaining wall and plans for a "Live Wall" on the North side of the Greenhouse. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions. We appreciate your feedback!
Greenhouse Kit: Greenhouse in the Snow (Alliance, NE)
Shade Cloth, Vents, Fans: greenhousemegastore.com
Excellent video. Keep us updated
Brilliant use of the north wall! I hadn't thought of that, but now I will be doing the same and put some blackberries there! Thanks for the idea!
I'm not sure how much sun it's going to get on that North side. You'll get some morning and late afternoon sun, and maybe that's all you want.
@@harrymills2770 I AM sure how much sun I get there, because it's my greenhouse. Thanks for the unsolicited opinion though.
Afternoon from snowy Saskatchewan (Zone 3a). Just happened on your channel today and have started going through some of your videos. Fascinating. Love to see another approach to Passive Solar Greenhouses. We built a very modest one this fall, a somewhat different design and without the subterranean heating and cooling system, . We were not able to get everything completed before the snow came but plan on getting some early veggies transplanted into beds after starting them inside. Wishing you much success moving forward. Thank you for sharing your experience.
Have you visited the chinese passive solar in Olds, AB? He has that spot dialed in. No costs to run it.
@@toowongfoo5479 We have not been to Olds to see Dong's greenhouse but we have been following it with great interest. It is definitely "dialled in", as you say, and demonstrates how we could all be growing vegetables instead of importing them and doing so with a very small carbon footprint.
@@RodMcLaren , I've been there twice. We would like to get his concept over to the milder weather in bc. I believe we could feed quite a few people with a few of these greenhouses.
@@toowongfoo5479 Food, and particularly food grown close to where it is consumed, is the way of the future. The Chinese passive solar greenhouses like the one which Dong is using in Olds is certainly well designed to fill that need. One only has to look at the number of them in production in China to see the design has proven itself. I will soon be 75 so I am not personally interested in pursuing the idea here, but I definitely encourage others with the energy and the interest to do so. British Columbia would be an ideal place for one, and if you go that route I wish you much success.
Fantastic job on your green house. Also, great idea about adding fruit/veg to the back wall and thereby maximizing otherwise wasted space.
We're just about to finish up our Kit in Southern Indiana. I plan on having grapes on the North Wall as well. Thanks for the videos, they've really been Helpful.
Keep us posted on how things go. Would love to see pictures. Always nice to see what others are doing.
I am just about to start my build, I'm also in southern Indiana, just outside Evansville.
We had grape vines on our property in Maryland and man do those things attract wasps and hornets as they love that stuff for food. Just expect A LOT of them if you don’t already some some about.
Good job!!
Great update, love em!
I think I'd plant fruit trees to shade the Northside. Any fruit that drops would roll down. I think it would be difficult to pick vine fruits hanging down and away from you on the trellis.
Thanks so much for your videos. I'm in zone 6b also and look forward to building one of these greenhouses soon.
Nice stonework also boss
Interesting build.
That is fantastic thanks!
Melons would really benefit from the heat created on the north facing wall
How about trying to grow climbing cucumbers? People love them, super easy to grow, are fast growing and easy to clean up the vines after they have produced for the season. Just a thought.
Some states have agricultural laws exempting farm buildings from permit rules/requirements, plus that 1985 building was likely built under farm exemption laws too. Law of the land (common law as provided in Constitution , with rights/duties of life, liberty, property and pursuit of happiness gifted to humanity by our Maker-Creator)
Unfortunately now The Corporations of city, state and even federal governments are all about making money for the Corporations in the name of keeping us safe. 🤔
Love the videos though! I've shared with a like minded group.
Starting a project in southern Ontario spring 2023. Time lapse follow up
Hardy kiwi is another option for that north wall.
Thanks for the video and the information you've mentioned , We just purchased our GHITS kit here a few weeks ago in Jan 2021 and looking forward to starting our project. Great idea for that living north wall....I hope you get enough sun for those grapes....I like the idea that one of your commentators mentioned about blackberries and raspberries. Any tips before starting my project, what not to forget and what to watch out for etc??
I really like spraying the north wall 2.5 inches of insulation or more. I'd also do more geothermal pipes in the suction room. Maybe double up as it would be better to pull air from ground tubes than from hot summer air (vents) like I'm doing. Take your time and do it right. Its a journey.
Oh so you do use shade cloth 😉 use a different color maybe green i read that it is most efficient 👍
@Trail Break Farms
Very interesting thank you! We're looking to maybe work with Greenhouse in the snow. Overall would you say you are satisfied of the experience?
I hope your steel sheeting does not rust away.
We are hoping to build one of these kits in Eastern Kansas. Would you mind sharing how much the excavation work cost and if you hired someone to do it?
I built one in Virginia... I rented the backhoe and dug it out myself. Cost was approximately $1300 for a little over 3 days rental. Next one I do will be 100 foot and I WILL hire a pro to do it, as they will do a much better job than I did (on the main greenhouse, I will still do the ditch for the tubes myself). I would imagine that if I still rent the excavator that it will cost me about $20-$30 an hour to hire a pro (I work in construction and know plenty of guys that would do it on a Saturday).
A pro can dig that greenhouse in 1 day, so about $250-$300 for the operator and $350 for the excavator for 1 day. Then 1 day for me to dig the ditch for tubes, another $350. So roughly $1000 for the total excavation.
We hired a friend to do the Excavation. Excavation and Electrical are the two things we hired out. Way above my pay grade! We paid $7500 but it included all excavation, gravel and rock to backfill a good portion of the trench, water line installation (including material). If you are comfortable doing excavation yourself you could save a bunch of money.
@@trailbreakfarms Thank you for the response. You have done a great job! Your videos are very helpful and informative. Please keep the updates coming. It is looking really great!
@@basedbear1605 Thanks for the info! How is the greenhouse working for you?
@@papadabanjo1206 I'm about 95% complete... still finishing up my retaining wall and the outer wall & building (will hold my fish for aquaponics).
What about blackberries? I love what you are doing. Hopefully some day we’ll have something like this too.
I like blackberries. I'll throw some of them in there as well. I've noticed my Blackberries seem to come in after my Raspberries so it might be a good idea to do them both.
Planning on doing this in North Dakota... we'll see how it goes. I think going into the ground a good 4 ft like you did is going to help a lot. For the tubes run in the ground, do they all run in a bunch the full 260 ft or do they branch out at all? Thanks a ton for the videos!
There is a set of 12 pipes that run together. they leave the NE corner of the greenhouse, run 230 feet and enter into the NW side of the main grow room of the Greenhouse. I also have a separate 12 pipes that leave the Greenhouse from the suction room. They run 50 feet in the same trench as the main pipes but exit come out of the Ground outside the Greenhouse. These are pipes used when the fans come on and take air out of the suction room and push that air into the main growing room. And I have 12 more pipes in the SE corner of the Greenhouse that exit and run 8 feet and exit outside the Greenhouse. These are vent pipes to release pressure from the GH when the fans come on. North Dakota would be a great place for one of these.
@@trailbreakfarms ah I see, thanks for the response! I don't have much land, but am hoping I can eventually get something setup..
Is there any backdraft from the vent pipes?
@@TheBorgCollective surprisingly no.
If your wanting productive. Maybe asparagus. Or berry varieties
Or just some really lovely wildflower seed mixes from american meadows, or high country gardens. That would be nice to look at, low to no maintenance and so.ething for the bees
You can make everything productive with the right methods. Rock dust. Biodynamics. Sonic bloom. Electroculture. Etc etc.
On one of your videos you showed your leaf cutter bees you planned to use for pollination. Has this been successful? Do they stay active during the winter months? I'm thinking about doing this in Idaho at a school greenhouse. I just can't find any evidence that it would actually work. Any feedback would be helpful. Thanks!
I have mason bees and leafcutter bees. I get them from Crownbees. I can definitely hear them buzzing around but they do tend to leave as well. I open the vents up in the Spring to encourage pollinators and have noticed I am getting other bees from outside. I also have a bee house inside the GH and two outside. I would say I am having partial success with the Bees I bring in but have very good success with overall pollination with the help I get from Critters coming in.
Can we see inside
Might have to copy your design when I have at least 5 acres.
Why did you not put the geotermic under the greenhouse?
we had a high water table so we chose to run the geothermal tubes thru the yard.
I think it's may be a bad idea to put grapes on your north wall. They will be too rampant for the structure. I think Blackberries would be a better option.
@The WG he said in the video that this was only for a short time during the year (note he’s talking about the outside of the greenhouse, not the inside)
I like the idea of having Blackberries there. I think I will try both and see what happens. Thanks for your feedback.
@@trailbreakfarms Kiwis are shade tolerants an would quickly create a secondary green wall that would help cooling the greenhouse in the summertime. The produce an insane amount of fruits towards the end of the season. You need to have a male and a female plant.
Did you guys use the High Tunnell Initative and do you know if the Greenhouse in the Snow qualifies for that from USDA?
I'm not familiar with it. Don't know if it qualifies.
I’m in 6b, consider hardy kiwi vines!
Absolutely! I planted one a few months ago and it is doing great.
What state are you in?
how much did this greenhouse in the snow cost?
$35K including all the bells and whistles. Some of which I haven't shown yet. I think you could do this kit for $25K
Thanks for your transparency!
How much was the kit?
About $11,000 for the kit. You could probably build one of these for about $25,000.