Our Greenhouse

Last year we decided to build a greenhouse, taking a step forward on our quest to becoming completely self-sustainable. A greenhouse is a building with glass, or polyethelene walls and roof attached to a metal structure used for the cultivation of plants under controlled conditions.

This is a look at the inside of our greenhouse, before it was up and running.

 A greenhouse is transparent so sunlight can shine through in order to reach the plants. Some sunlight bounces off of the plants and reflects back out; however most of the sunlight is absorbed and turned into heat. The temperature is constantly rising, so in order to maintain the perfect temperature for the plants to flourish we install a control system. The system allows us to adjust temperature settings independently for day and night heating and/or cooling. At night the windows cool down significantly but since the greenhouse stays so moist, water condenses against the walls. The water provides an additional barrier, helping trap heat in the greenhouse throughout the night. If it starts getting too hot the ventilation system allows some heat to release, keeping the temperature stable at all times. Pretty interesting stuff, huh?

You'll have to excuse me,  I could talk about how our greenhouse works forever, I'm easily amused. Blah, blah, blah, right? I suspect you're wondering if the thing even worked for us!

In October our greenhouse was finally ready to plant so we made a list of seeds we thought would do well in similar conditions. Swiss Chard, Spinach, Mustard Greens, Kale, Onions, Eggplant, Green Chilies, Serrano Peppers, Banana Peppers, Basil & Parsley.



The day we planted.

A week later. It's working! We have growth!

This is two weeks progress, above is Spinach, Kale, & Swiss Chard.

Working hard.

After a couple of weeks things were going so well we decided to plant wheat grass for juicing.

It took off faster than we could blink!

From left to right- Eggplant, Banana Peppers, Serrano Peppers, Green Chilies & Parsley.

"It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. 1 Corinthians 3:7

The onions are alive!!!!

Our peppers are just starting to grow.  We realized the temperature needed to be set a bit higher for them to take off and that is just what they're beginning to do. Our greenhouse project was a success. We learned so much and can't wait to create another garden in the greenhouse next winter!

P.S. If you come by the ranch please bring baskets, bags, or anything to carry away some of our organic produce- we'll have to eat spinach every night for 10 years to eat it all!