Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: greenhouse

[Sandy Thomson (sandy]

Hi Kay.
I'll try to answer some of your questions.
A little history on Heartwood's gardening adventures. We are in SW  
Colorado where the growing season is short and temperatures very  
dramatically due to the high altitude.
We are at 7000 feet.

Even before the homes were built we had a good sized community garden.
We all worked together to fence it and plant it and harvest it.  We  
mainly grew corn, beans and squash.  A few people took care of  
watering and weeding it.  It was fun and very community building.

Shortly after we moved in someone donated a large (13' diameter I  
think) Growing Dome greenhouse.  It was her husband's project and he  
died of cancer.  We just had to go dissemble and then reassemble it  
here on our land.  We formed a garden and greenhouse team.  There has  
been a core of about 4 people who have been on this team since the  
beginning.  Other members have come and gone.

At first it was difficult and we had lots of problems.  Bugs, people  
just didn't have the time they thought they would to care for plants  
(remember we were still in the early phases of living here).  The  
community has given the greenhouse team about $1000 a year to grow and  
take care of the greenhouse.  This covers maintenance, soil  
amendments, beneficial bugs, fish food (we have a tank with fish in it  
to provide mass to heat the greenhouse) ect....  The greenhouse team  
has about 7 members that each have a day where they take care of the  
greenhouse.  Water, feed fish.
The first 6 years we had poor production, but some good greens and  
tomatoes and herbs came out of it.

Now we have a member with vast amounts of experience and members of  
the team have more time and enthusiasm for the project and we are  
getting lots of produce from our greenhouse.  It is a beautiful place  
to go and provides greens all winter.   Now we are even growing enough  
to sell and next year I don't think we will have to have the HOA  
subsidize us at all.

Cost, size, construction? How is it heated, vented, watered, etc.?
Our greenhouse is passive solar heated and supplemented with propane.   
It has automatic vents and fans and still over heats some.  Check out  
the Growing Dome website they are located in Pagosa Colorado.  I think  
they are a great system and I don't think they are too expensive.

What maintenance issues have you had? What cultivation issues?
We haven't had any major maintenance issues.  Clear and frequent  
communication is the key to avoiding cultivation issues.

Has the greenhouse made a difference in what you can grow, or how  
much, or
how easily?
Yes, in our climate it allows us to get starts going and provides year  
round food for the community.

What have you found a greenhouse does well, and what not?
We have tried a lot of different things over the years and we have  
settled on growing herbs and greens year round (both salad greens and  
cooking greens).  We grow much more salad greens in the winter and we  
grow mainly tomatoes in the summer.

Was it a good purchase? Would you do it again?
It was good for our community and it was free.  I feel now that it is  
really going it is well worth it.  Don't expect too much the first few  
years, there is a steep learning curve involved.

If it is a community rather than privately owned greenhouse, how is it
managed?
It is managed by the garden and greenhouse team.

Did you have members with previous experience of greenhouses, hoop  
houses,
cold frames, etc.; a lot of avid gardeners; or people with farming
backgrounds? How important is knowledge and degree of motivation to a
greenhouse's success?
I think this is the key to whether this would be a good investment or  
not.  We went for years with marginal success.  We had people with  
previous gardening experience but not extensive knowledge.  It was a  
lot of trial and error.  Now we have a couple of members that have put  
renewed energy into this project and there is nothing like successes  
to inspire a gardener.  You could get a greenhouse and hope someone  
shows up to utilize it but don't expect much in the way of produce  
until you have a person like that in place.  We have two people Bevan  
and Ted, who have thrown themselves into this project whole heatedly  
and with a passion I have seldom seen.

Have people continued using it after the "new toy" aspect wore off?
It has been fairly constant but slow progress until we found someone  
with the knowledge to make it work.  Now it is incredible.
Check out our website for Heartwood Farms.  A coop owned by many of  
the members of Heartwood Cohousing.
http://heartwoodfarmscoop.com/#
This is an exciting year for growing our own food here at Heartwood.   
If you have any more questions I would be happy to answer them.
I do have 9 years of experience with what has worked and not worked  
for us with an outdoor community garden also.

Sandy Thomson