Northeast Gardening: SHARE YOUR POT PLANTINGS FOR PORCH AND PATIO, 1 by bbrookrd

bbrookrd wrote:
Drops. Doc, I got it...now, a little slow. Thanks for all the compliments all.

The green house was built in 1981-2 when we built the house. The result of the last fuel crisis.

It is first a heat collector for the house. When it is sunny during the winter we open the doors when it is warmer than the house, when colder, we close them. It has an 8" walls parged with gray stucco along the south side of the house with a brick floor set in sand to collect the heat and then radiate it out when wanted. It is below grade along the south exterior wall for 20 feet of the 36 feet or so to help insulate it from the cold outside.

Second it is a greenhouse to hold and grow plants that can tolerate the wide swings of temperatures between 90 degrees down to just above freezing. We have a wood stove in the house that we ran a length of duct through the GH before going up the chimney so we could utilize some of the waste heat to heat the GH. We have no other heat for the GH. The venting for excess heat when not wanted in the house is by end door and windows, plus a run of windows at the top that are operated by an old pulley with a chain. The windows are actually insulated glass doors set in recycled cypress wood from an old Rheingold brewery in NYC. There are built in beds in the greenhouse to also act as a mass to collect heat.

The last function of the GH is as a space to eat and hang out in. But that space has shrunk with all the plants I have out there in the winter. Now it is mostly empty of plants except a few in the beds and an old Hibiscus tree, which loves the heat. Plus some jades. Here are some random shots when it is full

Forgive me for the hijacking of this thread. Patti