We built the greenhouse the summer of 2008 and Lois was literally planting under Bryan working on a ladder trying to complete it. Lois was determined to get a fall crop in and the cutoff for planting, in order for good root establishment before shorter days, was September 15th. Lois wanted to experiment with the cold weather season. In the photos below, you can see the pieces Bryan put in place for what is called a “subterranean heating system”. We excavated an extra two feet of dirt, cut holes in two 55 gallon plastic drums to accommodate 4 inch french drain pipe, a bunch of them and laid this perforated pipe along where all the growing beds would be then buried two layers of these pipes. Blowers (fans salvaged from old forced hot air heating systems) were to be placed on top of the blue barrels to move the daytime sun heated air down from the greenhouse through these tubes to store the heat in the dirt, charging up it’s thermal mass. We also found and placed fifteen 55 gallon black metal barrels, filled with water, along the north inside wall of the greenhouse which act as additional thermal mass storage, storing the days heat and slowly releasing this heat at night. We are also using an automatic (wax filed piston) vent opening device to add venting to the greenhouse. For the greenhouse covering we used Solexx™. Solexx™ is a unique twin-wall greenhouse covering material. Solexx™ comes in rolls and can be shipped in. Other greenhouse covering products come as flat panels and must be freighted in. Check these costs in your area.

If you have not read elsewhere on this website we are located at an altitude of almost 9500′ in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Having fresh greens to eat in the winter without traveling to the store can be a challenge… but to our surprise this ‘challenge’  not a road block. Incorporating a subterranean heating system into our high altitude greenhouse has been a wonderful success.