This is pretty cool. My wife made a deal with a neighbor who was wanting to get rid of a greenhouse he made some time ago when he was in the glass business. It’s made with strong aluminum framing, all welded together, and real glass — frosted on the sides and clear in front and back. It’s not really big (about 4′ x 8′), but it was darn heavy, and I had to get six guys to lift it over the rose hedge and carry it about 30 feet to its place. Glad it made it intact!
Now, I need to learn stuff about using a greenhouse! I want to find out how to ventilate it well when it gets too hot inside. I’ve heard that there are solar or other devices that don’t require a power hookup and will open vents when it’s hot. It has a power fan installed, but it’s made for regular house electric power, and I don’t want to run a long extension cord all the way out there. I also need to learn what works well for night time heating.
Anyway, this is awesome! I’ve wanted one for a long time, and since my wife finally prevailed on me to finish our basement, I needed a new place for raising little plants, instead of the handy south window in the basement.
I’m totally jealous! I was a teaching assistant this February in a greenhouse construction and use class at Thanksgiving Point. I have the course packet that I could let you borrow and copy if you are interested. Of the various greenhouse theories, I like the idea of the solar greenhouse..ie those that do not require supplemental heating. This usually requires that you keep a lot of bottled water inside the greenhouse, that both stores and releases solar energy. Send me an email if you are interested in the packet. Good luck!
I don’t have a permanent greenhouse (yet) but I do have a sunroom, and some mini greenhouses in which I start plants and overwinter things (I live in Colorado). There is a company called “Charley’s Greenhouse” in Washington, http://www.charleysgreenhouse.com, who sells the solar powered ventilators, as well as lots of great items for propagation and greenhouse use. They are great, very helpful, and I order from them a lot. Their catalog has great information also. Good luck!