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| We live in Montana...and wondered if anyone in Montana, Idaho, Washington, etc. has built their own greenhouse and had luck with growing produce year-round? We are on a limited budget and looking for suggestions.
Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Hi there, We're in MT too and we have a nearly year-round greenhouse. See the thread called 'my Riga greenhouse' for pictures of our setup and a rough idea of the yearly growing cycle. The Riga is a kit and was not exactly low-budget. So our latest experiment this year was to build a small poly-covered structure as a season extender. This was nice and cheap but no way will it go year-round. But if you are handy and have access to old windows or something you could probably get by without spending too much. |
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| The problem with living in Montana and trying to grow produce year around is that you would have to spend a very large amount of money to keep the greenhouse heated during the winter to have any production...much more money than makes sense. Your best approach would be to think of it as a season-extender, rather than anything that will allow you to have tomatoes at Xmas. |
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| Another big problem may be snow and wind. However, I want to share my website with you. You can look at my high tunnels. They may work for you too. Check them out and ask any questions. Jay |
Here is a link that might be useful: High farming Blog
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| I had good luck with extenders like a mini-gh inside of the main one. I put a plastic cover over my starts and placed Christmas lights inside with a small fan. The larger outdoor-type bulbs worked well but I used mini-bulbs as well. This way I didn't heat the main part, but only maintained heat under the covered parts. A friend of mine is a log-truck driver. He has all the free heat he can use from salvage timber. He typically has ripe tomatoes in February. -Ed |
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| Hey Jay, I checked out your blog. Looks like besides growing a good crop of veggies, you've produced a bumper crop of girls as well! ;-) -Ed |
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| Thanks Ed! The way I look at it is I have four well trained pickers in a few years. The oldest two are getting really good at picking cherry tomatoes. I am way faster, but together we can shave off my picking time by half an hour. A few more years, I may just be directing. Also, if things work out, I may have lots of "boy" helpers in a few years too! Jay |
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