BUILDING A GREENHOUSE / COLD FRAME OUT OF OLD WINDOWS.

[Hattie the Hen]

Spring is coming........... ...........I swear! & I am on the lookout for ideas as I need something to grow some melons in. Last year I tried outside but it was hopeless because it was a rotten summer -- cold & very wet!

I was wandering around the web & found this:

http://www.re-nest.com/re-nest/green-style/ideas-from-d-acres-sustainable-homestead-106370

Now I have a few old windows & I might be able to get some more.......!!


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[lesa]

Hattie, I really want a green house made out of windows too!! To be honest I was hoping for something a little more attractive... There has to be a way to put windows together that would be functional and cute...I use my windows now as the tops to cold frames and it works out fine- but I would love to find a way to put them together, so I could walk into the structure... Think spring!

 

[vfem]

Lesa, Mother Earth News had a whole article on building greenhouse from windows and storm doors... some of the greenhouses were GORGEOUS! It can be done. I thin those people wanted the rustic look almost like an original cabin.

I have 28 old windows sitting outside someone gave me last week. I will have my dream greenhouse if its the 2nd to last thing I do! LOL

I think I'm going to start another thread about our windows though and not take over hattie's.

I will post the link to Mother Earth's examples here.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/Build-A-Greenhouse-Yourself.aspx

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Do-It-Yourself/How-To-Build-A-Greenhouse.aspx

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Mode...nomical-Greenhouses-For-Winter-Gardening.aspx

 

[msbear]

I use these windows in all of my coops

http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=10091-The_Nags_Head

And I have some windows set aside just for this. ...was thinking of doing it two different ways.. an elaborate way and an easy way

Elaborate: Build a structure with 2x4 lumber. Have plenty of opening for windows the entire way around. Use barnboard siding (like one board then another window... then a board then another window) And use corrugated metal roofing for the first panel and down low. The middle would all be clear vinyl panels.

Easy: screw windows together to make a box. Make A-frame roof with windows put together with hinges. The very top would get a finished look by adding a metal roofing cap. This long piece of metal is manufactured and bent to cover the top edge of your roof. ($19 at Lowe's) It allows water to run over it and down the windows. Make sure you use the "outside" side of your windows for this and make sure you caulk and seal as needed or the "inside" side of your windows which are wood will rot. The only problem with this is you will have open gables on both sides. I guess you could fill this with a piece of plywood painted white and even add louvered vents...

 

[vfem]

Those are super neat MsBear! Definitely the thing to have in a smaller suburban garden with chickens.

 

[lesa]

msbear, Your coop and chickens are adorable! Great idea to have the whole thing on a cart- good thinking! Vfem, I have that Mother Earth News- all the designs are cool- but... In my mind, I am hoping for something that I can put up and take down with ease. I am in the kind of zone where it would be kind of crazy to heat the thing... I'll keep dreaming, maybe a good idea will come to me.

 

[vfem]

msbear, Your coop and chickens are adorable! Great idea to have the whole thing on a cart- good thinking! Vfem, I have that Mother Earth News- all the designs are cool- but... In my mind, I am hoping for something that I can put up and take down with ease. I am in the kind of zone where it would be kind of crazy to heat the thing... I'll keep dreaming, maybe a good idea will come to me.

Heat the thing? No way!

I read that you do a south facing end green house and paint the back wall black to absorb heat to keep it at good temps at night or during heavy cloudy winters. Also load up that back wall with shelves of milk jugs filled with water and painted black... the water gives off the heat slowly. No need to run electric to heat it.

This I think is what we will do... I think we are buying a 10ft x 12 ft shed and building the greenhouse on the south side of the shed, with an angled roof and we'll use the shed's south wall, as the greenhouse's north wall. I want some of the windows to actually slide open with the screens in for the summer months.

by next year I would like to start seling my extra seed starts and trying to grow some tropical dwarf trees in there like lemon and oranges.

I have HUGE plans in my head!!!

 

[lesa]

You are in the perfect spot- you can certainly make a greenhouse work year round. When it is 20 below zero, it doesn't matter what part is facing north, or painted black!! However, for me a greenhouse extends my season, maybe a month at the front and a month at the end. I would say that is worth it... Attaching it to a garden shed is a great idea. Can't wait to see it....

 

[msbear]

Hey Vfem, I have a dward lime tree... if you could call it a tree It hasn't grown a centimeter in the year and a half I've had it! Im re-potting it again! this Spring and I always use good potting mix. Hopefully, we'll see some growth.. not even dreaming of actual limes yet :/

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hey Vfem, I have a dward lime tree... if you could call it a tree It hasn't grown a centimeter in the year and a half I've had it! Im re-potting it again! this Spring and I always use good potting mix. Hopefully, we'll see some growth.. not even dreaming of actual limes yet :/

Hi msbear

Are you feeding it? When I bought my citrus plants I purchased special food for them. You need a winter feed & a summer one. Mine have been growing well.


:rose Hattie :rose