Greenhouses a waste of energy or a live food storage system?

Discussion in 'Planting, growing, nurturing Plants' started by digging, Apr 2, 2007.

  1. digging

    digging Junior Member

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    I was reading some other pages and a point was made about not having greenhouses and as few machines as possible. Now I agree with trying to work towards a manually cared for garden because in the end that is the most dependable. However In thinking about the greehouse well it seems no matter what we do in the end there is a degree of energy we need to put into our food. If we only rely on the season then we often need to perserve a lot of food over the winter months and that is work which requires energy. Thus perhaps a greenhouse could also be considered a type of live food storage, depending on what and how we grow in it?

    In addition to this I learned that plants tend to give up 25% of thier food energy to feed the soil and in turn the soil feeds them back. I'm wondering that might be a great starting point of reference for us with our time spent giving to our garden??

    Digging
     
  2. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Digging,

    I dunno if you were on the board when this was posted but I found it inspirational and a bit of fun. I am asuming this guy also gardens in a similar climate.

    https://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_vegetables/article/0,,HGTV_3650_2050360,00.html

    A few months I asked about hothouses (I live in the tropics so they are not used here), they would be a huge advantage to anyone who's growing season is restricted by temperature.

    As for storage - can't you just dig a hole/cellar thing and use that?

    floot
     
  3. digging

    digging Junior Member

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    Very interesting link, one question I have is he fermenting like in a methane digester?? What does anyone else think of his 'tea' idea? Seems to have some merit, don't you think?

    As for making a cellar I agree food storage can be done like that, however in considering the freshness of foods held in a greenhouse and of some types that can not be stored very well like greens and even tomatoes and such. It's just that taking time to say can food takes a lot of tiem and energy also so perhaps the energy used to run a greenhouse can be compaired to that? However I am talking about a very energy wize greenhouse that would be solar heated and not burning fossil fuel for heating!

    Digging
     
  4. digging

    digging Junior Member

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    No I see he is using air, humm I wonder how this would work with other types of compost and manuer?? has anyone tried this idea?? The one thing that is the same here is the very long daylight hours during the summer.

    Digging
     
  5. gardenlen

    gardenlen Group for banned users

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    g'day digging,

    a greenhouse could be seen as another man made interference in the growing regime, but as you point out and this one has sort of erked me for a long time preserving/canning fresh produce is both time and energy consuming so maybe the energy a greenhouse takes to maintain is equal or more efficient than the preserving? to me drying would be the most passive form if one uses the sun?

    with a green house you may be able to provide heat say from excess needed for the home, maybe after you bathe run the warmer bath water through poly pipes in the green house to make use of that warmth? dunno not ever having experienced those climes but look to the passive sort of climate control.

    that bloke is making compost tea if we all did that our results could/might be larger, it is another job in the process and he is using power to aerate. dunno if i would want to eat a zucchini that size not to my taste, i like 'em young. i end up with more cabbage, broccoli etc than we can eat now so if we grew them bigger we would have even more and a cabbage that size wouldn't fit in our fridge.

    but reckon he'll be an inspiration to those who have those very short growing seasons.

    len
     
  6. digging

    digging Junior Member

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    Well in looking over his page something I've noticed is he uses very high single row beds and there seems to be no mulch used. I'm going to look around and see what else I can find out about 'tea' I would think his soil will get tired out after a while? Perhaps it would be a good way to feed a mulched garden?? I found it interesting they believe the 'tea' help prevent certain plant sickness?

    Digging
     
  7. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    Brussel Sprouts the size of apples - what a nightmare! At least you can swallow the little ones whole so they don't taste as bad.
     
  8. Jim Bob

    Jim Bob Junior Member

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    There's nothing inherently wrong with "man-made interference" with plants and animals. If it's wrong to have a greenhouse to grow vegetables out of season, then it must be wrong to put on a hat to keep the sun off my head, or wear a wool coat when it's snowing. A greenhouse is just a warm coat for plants, a shadehouse is just a hat for plants.

    Any who disparage greenhouses as unnatural ought to toss away their hats in the sun, and their wool coats in the snow.

    Of course energy always goes into your food, if only the energy it took to bend over and pluck it out of the ground to put in your pot.

    The problem is not with man-made interference, or use of energy, but whether these things are excessive and unbalancing and lead to problems in the long term. So for example crop dusting leads to problems in the long term; a hoe or companion planting does not. A greenhouse using dozens of fluro lights 24 hours a day, powered by a coal station will lead to problems in the long term; a little greenhouse just of glass and water in someone's backyard will not.
     
  9. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    Good points Jim - perceptions of greenhouses depends on where people are. In my neck of the woods veg garden greenhouses don't generally have heating. They are mostly used to get summer seedlings established in late winter (great for early tomatoes). A lot of people use inverted plastic bottles as localised small greenhouses. No harm in that. Other parts of the world heating would be essential - then the equation changes.
     
  10. digging

    digging Junior Member

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    I LOVE brussel sprouts! You know what else tastes really great the growth tip of the plant with all the newest buds, just great, love em!

    I agree with you Jim bob, it's a matter of balance if we give back even a % of what we take than in the end I hope it will balance out!

    Digging
     
  11. bill

    bill Junior Member

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    About the airated compost tea - just an observation it seems similar to the hand stirring technique that boidynamics use. Steiner's theories aside, could part of the success of the method be in the airation of the mix?

    Should I be prepared for a Steiner fallout after that comment?
     
  12. Jez

    Jez Junior Member

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    The success is definitely in the aeration bill.

    And nah, there's a fair bit of crossover between biodynamics and Permaculture...no fallout likely. :lol:
     
  13. digging

    digging Junior Member

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    I was watching a clip on you tube about a monster tomato plant that was grown, like 12-15 feet tall and 1000's of great tasting tomato's. They were saying to dig a hole about 2ft deep and then fill it up with a whole mix of uncomposted foods and manuers some compost was added more at the top, building it all up to a heap of 2 ft tall. They called it biodynamics, however when the guy started talking about the 'stars' and such it almost seems to me to have a bit of 'religion' mixed in? But the growth of plants was very good!

    Digging
     

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