We have one 7 x 12 foot greenhouse that was built years ago using cattle panels. It has held up great and is still in use today, but it is packed full of plants, and we have run out of space for more. So, we bought a 10 x 20 foot greenhouse kit from Amazon for under $300. It includes everything needed to install it on a flat piece of ground, but we have very few flat areas. We live in a holler that forms the start of Miles Creek, which flows to the Tennessee River. We needed to build a level foundation for the greenhouse kit before assembing it.
The greenhouse is built such that it’s splitting the garden fence line. The foundation is 4×4 treated posts and 2 by’s screwed to the posts. The greenhouse frame bottom had to be setup and measured first, because it was actually a couple inches shorter than the advertised 10 x 20 feet.The greenhouse frame sits on treated 2×4’s, which I think of as a sill plate in normal house construction. The metal tubing from the greenhouse kit is attached to the sill plate using conduit clamps and 1.25 inch deck screws every few feet.The greenhouse frame is all 3/4 or 1 inch metal tubing and went up pretty easily. All the nuts and bolts were kept loose during assembly and were tightened once all the tubing was installed. The old greenhouse can be seen in the background.This greenhouse kit included 2 doors, one at each end. Since this is built on a slope it wasn’t possible to use the included door on this lower end. Two 4×4 posts were added that align with the door jam tubing on both ends. This added a lot of stiffness to the entire greenhouse.I added two 12-volt DC fans – one intake and one exhaust – at each end of the greenhouse. The 12 inch fans are used in cars for cooling the radiator, but are readily available and inexpensive. They are rated at 80 watts each and are directly wired to 100 watt solar panels.This 8 foot long bench was built in place because the ground is sloping, but the shelves are level. I used treated 2×4’s and deck screws. Both shelves are covered with 1/2 inch hardware cloth and attached using poultry staples.Sarah wanted a big potting bench, so this is what we came up with. It’s 8 feet long like the other one, but the top shelf is treated 3/4 plywood. There is a large opening with hardware cloth attached to the underside. The potting mix is stored in the blue tub. So, we can make a mess on top while potting up seedlings and just slide any potting mix back into the opening and it falls into the tub. The bottom shelf is treated 5/4 deck boards.
Some future improvements will be building solar panel ground mounts. Currently they are just propped against the side of the greenhouse…so, that will get fixed asap. Also, I want to add thermostat controls for each fan. I have two inexpensive W1209 digital 12 volt temperature controllers already, but haven’t tested them yet.
Wow! You are CRUSHING the homesteading, guys! ❤️
I really like the potting soil/tub setup.
Thanks Abby!