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Joe surveying the stability of the greenhouse. |
Three Plaid Farmers kicked off the season with a formidable task: building a short-term greenhouse. Later this year, we plan to build a permanent structure using reclaimed windows, which have already been graciously donated to us. This is a time- and design-intensive project, so we are saving construction for this coming fall or the following spring. Meanwhile, this year's happily growing spring seedlings needed to get into a greenhouse, so we had to build a temporary structure that would withstand 30+mph winds. We were reluctant to use plastic as our main material because it does not break down and needs to be replaced every couple of years, but time was of the essence, so plastic it was. We have identified uses for these materials once this structure was replaced: the PVC pipes will be used in trellising structures in future years, and the plastic will be used to increase heat in our compost piles. We can also reuse the PVC and plastic for mini hoop houses used in winter greenhouse farming. We at Three Plaid are striving to think carefully about the materials we use, and to find multiple uses for the ones we pick. Check out our "
Mission: Greenhouse" photo album on our facebook page!
