Are greenhouses becoming a thing of the past? (misc)

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Saw an article today that described the next generation of greenhouse. It was a combination greenhouse/fish farm/rabbitery. The two halves were seperated with a white painted concrete wall with ventilation ducts. Container planting in the south half, rabbits and wormbeds and aquaponics in the north end. The ventilation system was designed to change out the air volume at a rate of once per hour. The article explained it as a semi-closed eco system, designed to minimize fungal problems during the winter months. Also, the greenhouse side was "double paned for insulation.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 20, 2000

Answers

Was the article published? Where?

-- JLS in NW AZ (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), November 20, 2000.

I think it came off the net. The guy that runs our environmental tests at work on weekends had it on 8.5 x 11 paper print out. I won't see him till a week from Friday because of the holiday. I'll email you what I find out. When I read it, it looks like the initial costs would be a little higher, but it would pay for itself in just a few years. What intrigued me was the air exchange and passive heat for the animal side. Another thing that Steve suggested to me was that an enclosed operation as that could benifit from the introduction of honeybees and certain types of birds as insects would naturally become part of the ecosystem.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 21, 2000.

FWIW I'm doing something similar now. 52 x 11 greenhouse with attached 18 x 11 chicken coop. Chickens will be building beds in greenhouse via chicken tractor methods. Drain tile with holes beneath beds with big muffin fan to move air from coop into beds. This helps to scrub the ammonia from air, deposits heat, CO2, and ammonia (nitrogen) into beds. Also will be taking heat from apex of greenhouse ceiling via drain tile and depositing it in beds for heat storage and thermal mass. Once I'm a little further into it and have some results I'll be writing it up for CS.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), November 21, 2000.

Fish in greenhouse

-- Steve Belanger (csymag@tds.net), November 21, 2000.

Thanks for the site, Steve.

John, Look forward to seeing it. I am going to try getting my raised beds covered with wire to be used for both greenhouse and critter barrier in warm weather. Then build an attached rabbitery/aquaponics unit.

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 21, 2000.



I am interested in this set-up for my greenhouse. Please forward any info to me as well. Thanks for the question.

-- Derrick Comfort (dcomfort@crosswalkmail.com), November 22, 2000.

John, I too am planning a greenhouse with rabbits, worms and garden area. But I would be concerned about the chickens, especially with the fan. Breathing dust from chicken manure is not good, it can cause heath problems. If the chickens scratch around the floor and the fan blows the air into the greenhouse, won't it be dusty air full of chicken manure particles? I always wear a mask when cleaning out the chicken house, have for years. I would love to have my chickens in a warm sunny area for the winter like that, but was worried about the dust in an enclosed area. Just some thoughts. I don't like fish too well. Love rabbit.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), November 22, 2000.

The fan sucks air, heat, CO2 and ammonia from the coop and puts it in the growing bed in the greenhouse. The bed I suspect will do a very good job of filtering any dust particles there may be.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), November 22, 2000.

John, I'll be interested to hear how well your fan system works at keeping the chicken dust down. I'm afraid that I agree with Cindy that chickens are probably too dusty to have in a greenhouse. My husband wants to do one of these ecosystem greenhouses, too, with rabbits, worms, fish, and chickens. My thought is to leave the chickens out, as they would cause health problems for the rabbits. We could do as Cindy mentioned and wear a mask, but that would be hard to do for the rabbits. So please do keep us posted on your progress.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 22, 2000.

Kathleen: Fwiw, the chickens will not be kept in the greenhouse per se but in the coop which is attached, but entirely walled of from the greenhouse.

-- john leake (natlivent@pcpros.net), November 22, 2000.


I would love a greehouse but the closest I will ever get in having one is a closed in, heated , backporch... We put in a wall mounted gas heater so I can control the temp. but just won't be the same..Oh well, at least I can keep my plants out there and start my seeds too!

-- Lynn (mscratch1@semo.net), November 27, 2000.

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