5 incredible DIY cold climate projects Plus4Zone greenhouse, in-ground figs indoor orchard food wall
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ค. 2022
- This video presents a series of experimental green projects developed in cold climate zone 5: a simplified version of the ‘indoor orchard’ for growing temperate-climate fruits, an improved Plus4Zone unheated greenhouse, a ‘year-round subtropical’ unheated greenhouse experiment, a solution for growing figs in the ground, and an affordable 'food wall' structure for growing fruits and vegetables in a limited space in cold climate.
Previous video:
DIY - How I built the Plus4Zones greenhouse, the Sun Terrace and other unheated greenhouses
• DIY - How I built the ...
Good Day Sir
It is a true joy to see you back and with a series of new projects and successes. Your calming, soft spoken voice along with descriptors and explanations are easy to follow and show what is possible. I wish you many more successes and our humanity is that little bit better as a result of your wisdom and sharing! I trust your favourite God will shine down on you and your family!
Thank you so much for your kind and humbling thoughts! All the best to you and your dear ones!
Who knew you could grow fruit trees in a greenhouse, I desperately want this, thank you for bringing this to us. Pure genius.
I am very glad you like it. Best success in your future indoor orchard project!
Wow wow wow!!! Your videos by far have been the most thoughtful, detailed and clever ones on the area of greenhouse and thermal protection. I can't get enough of it.
Also it has come in so timely at the time when I'm exploring on buying a tunnel house kit but now I'm thinking maybe there's a cheaper and better system.
I am very taken be your thermal planting wall. Its so clever!!! I'm still trying to wrap my head around how you built.
Thank you for your kind thoughts. If you will have any specific questions that I can help with, you can send me an email at hw@humanwisdom.ca
I wish you best success in your green project!
Thank you for very inspiring videos. For one living in the arctic (North of Norway), for me, you are living in a warm climate 😄. Having no sun for 2 months gives my greenhouse no heating from the sun and plants no light. Nothing grows those months. I am however growing a cherry tree in a pot ( as the ground is frozen solid for at least 5-6 months). Last summer I got 4 cherries!! I realize the little tree need larger soil volume to produce fruit. I dont heat the grøeenhouse between november -end of march. From then on it needs to be heated as our summers are cold and short. I still grow tomatoes, cucumbers, chillies and peppers.
With pleasure. Congratulations for your admirable 'green performance' in a very cold climate! I can imagine the immense joy those four cherries brought to you! I would think that you have already explored a few/several heating options… I have not tried it yet, but, if possible, I would try bringing a few animals in the greenhouse, and using manure and compost heating. I imagine you have already tried digging your greenhouse a few feet underground and maybe insulating the underground perimeter. I wish you all the best!
@@HumanWisdom Bringing animals in, that's genius!
the idea of the boxes is superb but i think i will have to watch the video several times to see if i get the construction of it...the back support and front support is very clear however the shelves or boxes are difficult to figure out (for me)...but i will get it eventually LOL thank you so much for sharing such an amazing set up and plenty of good information. blessings to you and yours.
With pleasure. If you have any specific questions, I will be glad to answer them. Thank you, all the best to you and your dear ones!
Thank you for the update on your projects. Have rewatched your videos several times true the years.
With pleasure. Thank you for your heartwarming note!
👍👍👍👍👍 Thankyou for the update and new information discovered since the last video. Your videos are always well thought out with many if not all of the details meticulously explained.
Thank you very much.
Hell yeah!
Exciting!!! Ever since I’ve seen your previous video, it’s all I’m thinking about. I’m saving money, as it’s my dream to build one on my best friend’s property in Colorado (Delta county).
Thank you for that!
I am so glad to hear that! I wish your dream to become true as soon as possible!
@@HumanWisdom thank you ♥️
Excellent work ! What are we waiting for ? This design should be implemented everywhere right here in Quebec.
Merci beaucoup!
@@HumanWisdom s
Thank you for the update.
With pleasure.
I really enjoy your experiments. They are very inspiring and I look forward to implementing some of your ideas into my own garden. Thank you for making these videos.
I am glad to hear you found this useful. I wish you best success with your green project!
You Sir, are a genius!!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
You are very kind - thank you very much!
Thank you to share all your great experiments!!!!!!
With pleasure! I am very glad you find them useful.
Thank you so much for blazing the trail and sharing the information. I so appreciate it.
With pleasure. Thank you for your kind thoughts.
lovely to see the update..
Thank you.
Hi again Mr Wisdom. Ive been waitting for this video with joy cant wait to see it.
(My actual name os Dan Bostan :) )
Thank you for going in detail over Archie's build.
With pleasure.
I enjoyed the compilation of almost all of your projects. Thx for doing this, filming it and sharing it with us. 👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you very much!
Wow .. I can’t thank you enough !!
That's very kind of you!
Thank you for these they are quite inspirational
With pleasure.
I saw the video and great work improving and great to see more ppl are coming on bord. For me and my family we have now put it in to our budget for the new house we will buy that there must be possible to make a all year round fruit tree greenhouse. But while we wait on moving and finding the right place i couldn't help starting some small scale planting to learn more.
I am very glad to hear about you getting ready for your green project, and I think starting on a small scale is a very wise solution. I wish you best success!
Beautiful work, great experiments.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you. With pleasure.
Such inspirational ideas, I love the thermal efficient food wall, brilliant!!! Thank you ❤
Thank you! I am very glad you find these ideas useful.
Great job, keep the good things up
Thank you.
Amazing video. Thanks and kind regards from the Netherlands.
Thank you. Greetings from Canada!
I hope you continue in good health throughout these years so you can share more ideas and results. =) Thank you.
Thank you. We will try the best we can...
Bravo domnule, felicitări! Omul sfințeşte locul... să fiţi sănătos si vesel!
Va multumesc! Numai bine si dvs!
Hi neighbour Finaly I found actual real experience from my region Keep sharing Great work and highly apreciated
Thank you very much!
I wish you sir. Great success in your journeys as well. Great info.
Thank you.
Very Nice!!!
Thank you!
Your updates don't have to be a documentary. Just a few snippets here and there would be a joy to watch. Please do upload more videos in coming grow season. Thank you ! )
Thank you for your suggestion - well noted!
Good day from the Netherland. Very inspiring project the large greenhouse.
Already start thinking , many questions on how to build. Mainly how to place the polycarbonaat plates / connect to each other whiteout leakage. Would be great to have the technical plan as far as it exist.. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP
Thank you. We are in Europe right now, working on a couple of new 'green projects'. If you have specific questions, you can send us an email at hw@humanwisdom.ca and I will be glad to answer.
Bravo
Merci.
tellement inspirant!
Merci beaucoup!
Hi, I’ve read in one of your answers to a comment that you choose SELF-POLLINATORS and DWARF VARIETIES in trees.
I would strongly recommend you the book GROW A LITTLE FRUIT TREE.
Thank you for your insightful videos.
Thank you very much for your recommendation! I will search for that book.
Thank you for sharing. Your green houses are very nice and inspiring for us cold weather plant lovers. Any thoughts on what you would improve with your experimental semi tropical zone 5 greenhouse?
I am currently working on an improved 'subtropical' greenhouse in a temperate climate and hope to present some good results in spring.
This is a follow-up long awaited for. Bravo on all your experiments. What's the purpose of the drench at 20:45? I hope Archie could share the design plan of his greenhouse in more details.
Thank you. As I mentioned, these are experiments… and I thought that trench (particularly with some additional side insulation) would be useful for some cold-sensitive perennials, such as grapevines.
Archie's greenhouse was designed for his specific conditions (adjacent to the existing shop). I think a 'stand-alone' greenhouse of this type would not need to be that wide or high.
So it is definitely theoretically possible to grow things like citrus and avocado,and possibly other warmer climate fruits and veggies in Colorado in climate zone 5.
Yes, it is possible.
Thank you for replying! We're planning on moving somewhere to off-grid soon,and I need to figure out the proper way to build the greenhouses to grow the things I need to keep from having to eat meat products in a colder climate. Idk where the land will be quite yet but I wanted to use elevation and zone as an example. How low of a zone could you live in and still grow tropical fruits and veggies? And does elevation matter? Those two answers will help us greatly in where we decide to settle.
I am glad to hear about your plan for a green project. I do not know much about 'elevation and climate zones', but in principle, I think the minimum winter temperatures in a certain area (in other words, the climate zone) is what determines what plants can be planted in that area... Although I did not try it (yet), I personally believe that we can grow food year-round in climate zone 4, and we can also manage to become 'food self-sufficient' in zone 3.
Thank you for your videos! Would you happen to have detailed plans for your thermal-efficient food wall? Does the earth fill against the back wall with your 1x6 planks, or do you place something there to displace that much earth/compost? Would you use composting to provide heat to the greenhouse?
With pleasure! I do not have plans for the food wall, but if you want, I can email you some detailed pictures (my email address is: hw@humanwisdom.ca)
If I understand your question correctly, the earth/compost fills the space between the 1x6 planks and the back wall - which allows the natural 'heat' of the earth to rise up into the food wall. In order to enhance the thermal efficiency of the food wall, you can install polystyrene sheets:
- in the ground all around the perimeter of the food wall base, and
- as a 'thermal liner' on the interior of the back wall plywood.
With regard to compost heating, the answer is a bit longer... In principle, compost heating is indeed a great ecological solution to heat a greenhouse. I have learned as much as I could on this subject a few years ago - starting with the works of the admirable Jean Pain.
That said, to answer your point there would be a few things to add on this subject:
1. I decided to first finish my 'digging' and learning about the unheated greenhouse solutions to see how far we can go by simply storing the solar energy into the greenhouse earth walls and floor, and by minimizing the heat loss thru the greenhouse roof...
2. As a result, I learned that we can easily grow temperate-climate fruit trees and grapevines in a greenhouse located in a cold-climate zone; and I am about to experiment how lucrative would be to grow reliably subtropical-fruits in an unheated greenhouse located in a temperate-climate...
The big challenge comes when we try to 'jump over' 2 major climate zones - like for instance growing temperate-climate fruits in a very cold-climate, or growing subtropical-fruits in a cold-climate... And there, compost heating may be a good solution...
3. Compost heating has also a few 'sensitive' aspects, such as:
- it would take quite a lot of compost to generate some substantial heating in a medium or large size greenhouse throughout a long winter in a cold climate - which requires quite a lot of work every year, and also to have relatively easy access to that large amount of compost...
- compost emanates certain gases, which, if placed within the greenhouse, would affect the air quality... A solution to that would be to place the compost pile outside the greenhouse - which then requires some plumbing installation to transfer the heat from the compost pile into the greenhouse...
All that said, I would like to reiterate my belief that a well-conceived compost heating system could be a very lucrative ecological solution for a greenhouse.
I would love to come see this in person if you are open to a local visitor. I am currently taking a Permaculture Design Course and this is a great example of design.
It would be a pleasure to receive you as we did with many people ever since we published this video, but we have recently sold our house and greenhouse. We are presently in Europe, working on a few new green projects. I wish you best success on your green path!
Should I build a greenhouse outbuilding after an unheated fashion, and put my home server computers in there? It wouldn't be an unheated greenhouse, but as long as the temperature stays above freezing by doing so, it would consume no additional energy that I don't already consume, and I'd have the advantage of further extending the season, and no longer polluting my living space with the noise and nuisance of loud server equipment, and still being able to benefit from the convenience of having a home server (which could also have connected USB dataloggers (which would consume additional energy) to register the temperatures and humidities of the air and earth inside the greenhouse).
In principle, I think this is an interesting idea. With regard to maintaining the temperature above freezing level, I would say it depends on the thermal efficiency of the greenhouse and also on the climate zone you are in. Another element to consider would be the humidity level, so not to cause any damage to your computer equipment - a good (natural) ventilation may be a solution to that.
Did you let the snow cover the roof of the warehouse greenhouse in the winter - like your previous backyard example you showed us - to retain heat? If you did let the snow cover the roof in winter (which would block out all the sun) did you add indoor lighting to make up for the loss of natural sunlight?
The first winter, I pushed the snow off the roof as I was not sure how the plastic will resist... The following winters I became 'curious' to see if the plastic and wood structure will resist and I did not remove the snow anymore.. and everything was fine. All the fruit trees and grapevines in that greenhouse go dormant in wintertime, so the amount of sunlight they receive is not essential for them.
Such an interesting video. Thank you for sharing.
Where did you buy all the fruit trees? Wholesale? And what kind of trees were they that they produced fruit the first year? Isn’t that unusual? Don’t the trees need a few years?
Thank you!
Thank you. I bought most of the fruit trees from the Niagara region in Ontario, and the cherry trees from Washington State, USA. Most of them were grafted on (semi)dwarf rootstocks, which in general start producing fruits (much) earlier than fruit trees grafted on ‘regular’ rootstocks.
Do you by any chance remember the farm name in Washington? Looking to by 20+ Cherry trees and a lot of other fruit trees.
Thanks!
@@somewhodoit274 Here are the coordinates of the nursery where I bought our cherry trees from:
C&O NURSERY
PO Box 116 Wenatchee,
WA 98807 USA
Phone : (509) 662-7164
Toll Free: (800) 232-2636
www.c-onursery.com
да это же суперарка)
Спасибо.
@@HumanWisdom не, я ошибся
есть просто проект теплицы Суперарка
сзодец конструкции, но вроде как менее материалоёмкий
Is there any chance this is open for visit ? This experience is amazing .
Over the last few years, we gladly received many people who came to visit. Last year we had to sell our house and greenhouse... so that is no longer possible...
@@HumanWisdom Oh no... I'm so sorry. May the LORD lift you up and give you strength to build again. Today is the fist time I've seen your videos and had to thank you! We live in north Idaho, USA. This winter is is extremely cold already! I believe your answer is one for many...as you have said! Thank you!
You also have protection from birds and squirrels eating your harvest. I'm wondering about your watering system and if you water during winter? Maybe you have spoken on that, I've only watched 4 or 5 videos so far. Thank you again for great inspiration!
@@joycedecker6880 Thank you for your heartwarming thoughts! We are currently working on a few new 'green projects' and I will prepare a few videos about them shortly.
You are right, there are indeed multiple benefits from growing fruit trees and grapevines in a greenhouse.
All our fruit trees and grapevines go dormant in wintertime, so there is no need for watering. In case you will decide to build a year-round greenhouse, then you will need to install a cold-protected water supply system.
Hello Dan, I have watched all your videos and love the idea of growing Cherries. An indoor orchard sounds so beautiful and delicious. I have suggested putting up a greenhouse over the footing of an old horse barn. A massive horse barn that now only has an outer footing that is approximately 180 feet long and about 75 feet wide. Within this area are three cement pads ( each approx. 12 feet wide and 180 feet long) separated by 12 feet of sandy rocky soil. I was thinking that there would be enough room to plant the trees and have concrete pads in between the rows of trees. In the first barn video, you removed all the concrete. Then in this video, you said an improvement would be to put insulating styrofoam on the outside of the concrete footing. Does concrete affect the greenhouse climate? Would having these concrete walkways between the trees affect the trees and cherry harvest? I really don’t know if the cherry trees would grow here at the foot of the rocky mountains (Alberta) in a greenhouse. If the concrete would be useful for a greenhouse I would like to try to use it. Thank you for your research and videos. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Carrie
Hello Carrie, our barn converted greenhouse had a concrete perimeter foundation with no insulation - and yet, it worked very well for all the fruit trees and grapevines inside. In this updated video, I mentioned that an 'improved' greenhouse model should have some insulation around the foundation so to minimize the freezing of the ground inside the greenhouse.
I would need to see some pictures to better understand the setting of the concrete pads on your site... but in principle (given that you can have winter temperatures that can drop to -40 Celsius) if you will build some good earth berm walls around, I think you should be able to grow cherry trees successfully. If you have any further questions you can send me an email: hw@humanwisdom.ca
Concrete, stone and water all can gain thermal heat from solar during the day, and though not a massive amount a dark color helps this process. Every little bit helps. Then as temperatures drop the heat is released slowly. If you have enough mass doing this, sometimes it is enough to prevent your plants from freezing/dying.
@@blueupgreendown6402 Based on my experience, using water tanks as heat storage would be a solution when day and night winter temperatures alternate above and below the freezing point. But in cold winter regions, where the minimum winter temperatures can drop to -30 Celsius / -22 Fahrenheit, and both day and night temperatures can stay constantly below the freezing point for a few weeks, and the sun may not shine for days... the water tanks would become a solid ice block sometimes in December and would not melt until the end of February... actually becoming a 'cold battery' inside the greenhouse, instead of a 'heat battery'...
great ideas! Gives me a lot to think about here. have you ever considered incorporating plastic coke bottles filled with water as thermal mass and solar heat gain? I find they are pretty tough and last in the sunlight at least 4 years. Buried I think they would last indefinitely.
Thank you! Based on our experience, using some sort of water tank as heat storage would be a solution in a temperate climate where day and night winter temperatures alternate above and below the freezing point. But in cold winter regions, where the minimum winter temperatures can drop to -30 Celsius / -22 Fahrenheit, and both day and night temperatures can stay constantly below the freezing point for a few days or even weeks, and the sun may not shine for days... the water tanks would become a solid ice block sometimes in December and would not melt until the end of February... actually becoming a 'cold battery' inside the greenhouse, instead of a 'heat battery'.
What was the winter temperature in your little fig arch next to the shed? What cultivars did you grow in there and how cold hardy were they?
I did not measure the actual temperature inside the 'fig-house... but I think the condition of the young fig plants was a good indicator... I do not know our fig variety, as we got the cuttings from a friend who did not know that either... The figs are brown, medium-size, delicious, and a bit late-ripening. I would say this variety is relatively cold-hardy.
How do you pollinate such a large indoor orchard during the middle of winter when bees are clustered for the winter? These projects are amazing - thank you for sharing!
Thank you! Most of our trees are self-pollinating. A few years ago we also bought some bumblebees, but the air draft of the natural ventilation does most of the job.
One of our TH-cam friends here also suggested placing a beehive within the greenhouse wall with 2 trap doors: one that we can open towards the greenhouse when the trees are in bloom, and a second one that we will open to the outside for the rest of the spring, summer and fall.
@@HumanWisdom That would be a very interesting experiment! (I'm a beekeeper, hence my curiosity.) You'd have to monitor the temperature in the hive - too cold and the bees will stay clustered tightly together and won't fly out to forage and pollinate your trees. Also, you'd probably need to monitor the levels of nectar and honey in your hive closely - it's possible they'd stay warm enough to pollinate your fruit trees, but that the fruit trees would not provide enough nectar to support the higher than normal level of activity in the hive, so you might need to feed the bees to keep them active and prevent starvation.
@@abigailjacob4043 Thank you very much for these important notes!
Hi Dan! Can you explain the last design in this video, in particular what was the reason to dig the trench?
Hello, the reason for that trench is to create an area that would be a bit warmer than the rest of the 'food wall' in the middle of winter. If the sides of that trench are properly insulated with some polystyrene boards, the warmth from the bottom of the trench would be beneficial to the plants.
That explains! Thanks! It would also be good if you share your planting techniques. I do have a small greenhouse in a slightly cold but mild climate of Denmark, but I can not grow tomatoes and cucumbers. Plants are weak, so your experiment expires me.
@@oleksandrzaslon5367 With regard to planting, it is essential to ensure the young plants have adequate nutrients. For example, the compost that I used in the food wall contained quite a lot of mature horse manure. We also use comfrey tea on a regular basis (diluted in water 10:1). I learned that nettle tea is also very good for young plants to grow strong, but I have personally used only comfrey so far.
Also, when we plant tomato plants, we bury most of the plant body (trunk) in the ground (not only the root area) - and the plants a growing very strong roots, which will nourish the entire plant abundantly. I wish you best success and enjoyment of your garden!
Looking for resources to plan and build a temperate climate greenhouse in Zone 7b North Carolina. Concerned more about greenhouse overheating than maintaining heat in winter. Please help.
I zone 7b, with a thermal-efficient greenhouse, you can create a real 'fruit paradise'! Any greenhouse must be adequately ventilated! I do that through natural air draft (no fans) by providing LARGE windows all along the long walls AND also on top of the end walls (or ideally directly on the roof, if possible).
I wish you best success in your green project!
Is it possible to grow a fodder for your animals in a system similar like this ? I am thinking about sprouts for the cows to have feed for them year round.
I am not a 'specialist' in cultivating animal food, but I think your idea deserves at least a small-scale experiment to see how it works, the productivity, and the production cost.
@@HumanWisdom I think if the temperature stays in 15 to 20 degrees you can raise BSF larvae recycling waste to produce chicken feed. I am thinking that if we are creating something like this to keep chickens, but the greenhouse is half underground with lots of water filled barrels to keep that heat of the day for the night. I think an air pocket is a best idea. I was just visualizing something like this for colder climate to produce large scale BSF operation.
Do you have anything for people who don't have room for a greenhouse?
I think the 'food wall' would be a solution to consider.
How do the indoor orchard get pollinated? Do you remove the roof in the summer?
I have many fruiting plants in a sealed sunroom and I have a few honeybee colonies none of them go in there and the plants pollinate themselves when the pollen shakes out and goes to opposite sex flowers to fertilize each other among the plant
You can also do it manually pretty easy and not that much time
Most of our trees are self-pollinating. A few years ago we also bought some bumblebees, but the air draft of the natural ventilation does most of the job.
One of our TH-cam friends here also suggested placing a beehive within the greenhouse wall with 2 trap doors: one that we can open towards the greenhouse when the trees are in bloom, and a second one that we will open to the outside for the rest of the spring, summer and fall.
@@HumanWisdom Thank you.
Can anyone give me an idea how much is the cost to build this sort of setup??
I am not sure which 'setup' you are referring to - the indoor orchard, the subtropical greenhouse, the food wall, or the fig house… Moreover, the cost of any construction depends on the cost of construction materials and labor in each region… I think once you would decide on the type of project you would consider building, you could make a list of necessary materials and then calculate a budget.
can you please email me your detailed video on how you built your sunroom on the back of your house? If you give me your email address, I can send you an email to send it to. Thanks!
Here is my email address: hw@humanwisdom.ca