Framing

There are lots of pieces and the greenhouse is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle.

Assembling the end gable wall.

Burr attaches the side wall to the end gable while Polly and Will hold the walls in place.

Burr screws the frame to the base.

Greenhouse Delivery

I've been really worried that the delivery truck would be too big to drop everything off near the site. I was prepared to shuttle things up the driveway in Big Red (my pickup truck). But we got lucky! The rig was only a 25 footer and he made it up to the garden area with out any problem.
Burr, Polly and I opened the crates and unpacked everything. We plan to start constructing the frame tomorrow.

Ready for Greenhouse Delivery

The trim is ready for the greenhouse to be delivered on Wednesday.  From this photo you can see what the size of the structure will be.  By raising the foundation just over two feet, I will be gaining a bunch of height and volume.

Burr has bolted a 2x4 to the top of the block wall.  This is where the bottom of the greenhouse will be screwed down to.  A piece of flashing will be installed between the wood and the greenhouse frame and will stick out a little bit over the brick to keep moisture from getting through.

This is a close up of the flashing on top of the trim on the wall.  Burr put this in like a surgeon.  The wood trim will be primed and painted to make it all blend in.

Picking from "the patch"

I have been investing a considerable amount of time into researching aquaponics over the last six weeks. While there is hardly any information about the topic in traditional media, there are a number of great resources on the internet. Generally they fall into two categories: aquaponic supply businesses and individuals blogging about their own experiences.
It seems that there are more aquaponic gardeners in Australia than anywhere else. I am guessing that this might be because of water limitations for outside gardens, where in Europe and the US, water usage is generally less restricted. There are a number of good resources in the US as well, but it seems like it is more "experimental", although I am not sure if Australians would describe aquaponics as "mainstream".
The above blog, Picking from "the patch" is an excellent blog by an Australian family documenting their harvest from their backyard aquaponics garden. I have learned a bunch from this site and have enjoyed reading the daily progress of their garden.

Planned Layout of the Greenhouse

I have been working hard for the last six weeks at figuring out a layout for my greenhouse.  I have gone through a number of iterations, figured out the obvious flaws to my plan and then processed the revision.  This is a scan of the iteration that I am currently going with.

The layout in the center is the floor-plan of my 12x16 foot greenhouse.  I started with a plan that had a door from the greenhouse going outside, but I jettisoned that plan when I realized how much area that eliminated from my plan.  Now, the only way in and out will be through the existing building, which is ok.  I am planning on partially burying two 250 gallon fish tanks on either side of the door.  The door as drawn is not in the right spot, as you can tell from the photos it is centered more.  The green rectangles are 2x4 grow beds, and there are ten of them.  There are two black grow beds of the same dimension of which I plan to use soil to experiment with some different types of root vegetables that seem to grow to a better shape in soil. 

On the sides of the center layout, I have drawn an elevation of each side of the greenhouse.  I am planning to build a two foot high stand to place the grow beds.  Under this stand will be the fish tanks and the biofilters and sump tanks, which are colored in red.  At the end of the center section of grow beds, I will be building a structure to place a couple of smaller aquarium tanks.

I am sure that there will be several things that I will figure out as I go that will cause me to tweak this layout.  My plan is to construct everything in a way where I can change the layout without any serious problems.  This is why I am not pouring a cement slab on the floor, in case I want to change the layout and bury any plumbing or tanks.

Greenhouse Door

Burr caught in the middle of taking out the window and installing a door.  He is also working today to prepare the trim where the greenhouse will attach to the building.

Brick Facade

I am planning to have the brick exterior painted.  The greenhouse will sit on top of the block wall.

Block Wall

The masonry wall went up today.

Concrete Footer Poured

I'm committed now. Concrete footer is in. I am going to put gravel in on the floor of the greenhouse rather than concrete. That will give me ability to bury plumbing etc.

Foundation for Greenhouse

Burr Williams is helping me with the foundation for the greenhouse and yesterday he started by digging out a trench for the concrete footer.  On top of this there will be a two foot masonry block wall, with brick on the exterior that will be the base for the greenhouse.

I decided on a 16' x 12' greenhouse from BC Greenhouse Builders based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was not the cheapest option, but in order to get a building with a width greater than 8 - 9 feet, there are fewer options.  I just received confirmation that my order has been shipped and will arrive next Wednesday, August 25.  By that time, the foundation should be built and the door into the attached building will be installed.

This is the elevation plan from the greenhouse company that illustrates what my building will look like.  The side walls will be glass, and the roof will be polycarbonate.  

The Site / Before Photos

The first thing that I focused on is what greenhouse to buy and where to put it. I had many options available to me, but ended up choosing a site that is connected to the existing workshop next to our existing garden. I thought about whether the greenhouse should be free-standing or attached to the existing building, and I decided to attach it so that it would be easier to make use of the storage space in the existing building, and piggy-back off of an air-conditioning system that I could install for the building.

These photos show the existing building and the spot where I am planning to place the greenhouse.  The downstairs window will become the door into the greenhouse.

The Expensive Tomato

Welcome to my online journal documenting my latest folly - an attempt to produce the world's most expensive tomato.  Well, actually I have been interested in creating a year-round greenhouse vegetable garden.  After spending hours researching the topic, I have just pulled the trigger and committed myself to getting started by ordering the greenhouse.

I have decided to attempt to build an Aquaponics system, which is a combination of Aquaculture (raising fish in tanks) and Hydroponics (growing plants with nutrient rich water and no soil).  The idea is that the ammonia waste produced by the fish is converted into Nitrogen, which the plants absorb and then return clean water to the fish.  The system produces fresh fish and vegetables.

I am putting this online journal together to allow friends and family to see what I am doing.  I will document my progress along the way and I will explain more about the process.  Please leave comments and ask questions.