My Giant $160 A-Frame Greenhouse
As of today, phase one of my giant A-frame greenhouse is complete. It stands about 12 feet high, 24 feet wide, and 48 feet long. I have a single layer of 6mm plastic on the north and south sides with the ends currently open. I plan to enclose them before the frosts this fall (that’s phase two), but I’ll leave them open throughout the summer.
The entire structure is built on top of fence posts. I did this because my lumber wasn’t treated – this way the wood won’t sit on the ground a rot right away. The lumber for the structure is just rough 2×6 boards that I got for a real deal. It’s in pretty rough shape (warped and cracked), but it’ll do for this purpose. It’s cross-braced by some wire my father-in-law had, and the the plastic cost a total of $80. The raised beds are made with 2×10. All said and done – it cost me about $160, plus a good chunk of my time. I’m glad I’m done this far – it was a lot of work. Now I get to do the fun part – planting, growing, and enjoying!
Originally I was going to have a water trench down the middle to for heat storage, but with small children around I opted for a compost trench that should let off quite a bit of heat anyway. Well, see how it goes.
I’m not sure how well the plastic will stand up, but I’m hoping it’ll last the year anyway. If it doesn’t, I’ll have to pay for the more expensive (but much better) 11 mils woven poly.
May 24th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
Great job! I can’t wait to see your garden growing.
May 25th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Now I know where you’ve been….working outside…lol! Good JOB!So, you are going to use this for the summer months, correct?….what are you going to plant in the raised beds?
May 25th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
The primary purpose of this greenhouse is to keep the hail from destroying all my tender crops. I live right in the center of Alberta’s “hail alley” and we’ve had bad hail every year I’ve lived here. So, this is one one I can try to keep them a little safer.
If it works, phase two is to add ends and be able to get things going earlier in spring and keep them later in the fall. I won’t try to heat it though – just passive heating.
I’ve got tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelons, a couple Dill’s Giant Pumpkins, and some peppers ready to go out there. I’ll likely experiment with a whole lot of other misc things too.