Tuesday, October 20, 2009

The Potager Phaze II - The Greenhouse

The Potager has been a total success. We love it. We have already gotten so much more out of it than we were out of our regular garden. Having an out door living space dedicated to food and beauty has been perfect for us. With the arrival of Fall we have been cleaning up, planting, and starting to plan next years bounty. We have also had some sharp reminders that we are not finished. The plan for this project included a small greenhouse to finish enclosing the north side and to provide a winter home for the plants we have added that can't take the winter temps here. We have a collection of citrus, olive, avocado, banana, and bay trees as well as some potted herbs that we love and need to protect. We will be building a small greenhouse on the southeast end on the shop. We have a space that is 14' x 14'. The northwest wall joins the shop building, so it is solid. We need to provide enough heat and light to keep the citrus trees going all winter and hope to add in some peppers and tomatoes for our own use. I've been playing around with design ideas, but would like to throw the project out there for suggestions. The limits are 14' x 14' and an fairly small budget. We'd like it as self-sustaining as possible, and need it to stay warm enough to keep our tropicals alive and thriving through the winter. We would prefer site generated power and heat as much as possible. I'll be posting some of my initial ideas next Tuesday along with any suggestions made by readers. If there are people who would like to take this on in a serious way I'm sure we could have a design contest. Let me know.

2 comments:

our friend Ben said...

Wow, Alan!!! Congrats on the potager and we're in awe of your tender edibles! Tell us where you bought your olives, please! We're desperate for one but the ones we've seen cost $$$!!! Also, which bananas did you decide to get and why? We'd like to grow them, too. We also have a lemon, lime, and coffee plant, and are hoping to get a tea bush, cinnamon tree, and vanilla orchid soon. We also have cardamom and lemon grass and are planning on trying ginger again this year. Our greenhouse is 16 x 16', but the North side is devoted to wood storage and a hayloft, providing insulation on the cold side, so the working greenhouse is 16 x 10'. I could provide interminable details, but won't do it unless you really want them!

Barbee' said...

WOW!! I'm impressed - as always!

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