Because I'm an asshole.
Because every storm cloud ought to have a silver lining....
Brexit + XR
We all know that economic downturns are the fastest, surest way to reduce carbon emissions.
Everything seems to be claiming that a hard Brexit will cause an economic crisis in Britain. That may well spread.
So maybe Boris is giving XR exactly what they actually wanted. The economic downturn (or crash) that will reduce, perhaps drastically Britain's carbon emissions.
There can be many factors such as day length, age of plant, amount of sun light, night time temps in relation to day time temps, etc. Commercial greenhouse growers can manipulate certain factors to get earlier crops, but I'm not up to date on that information. I did see some amazing information in this book (from my library, and I want to buy a copy!):https://www.amazon.com/Greenhouse-Hoophouse-Growers-Handbook-Production/dp/1603586377
Earth sheltered greenhouses have been around for a long, long time. It's nice to see some communities using these to grow food all year round.
I learned a lot from this book: https://www.amazon.com/Aquaponic-Farmer-Complete-Operating-Commercial/dp/086571858X
Then we built this: https://cirkularodling.se/build-an-aquaponic-indoor-farm-part-1-start-and-prior-knowledge/
>I wish I knew how to grow indoors over our snowy winters. Something to learn I suppose.
If you have outdoor space, you can still grow outside using low tunnels and row covers. This book taught me how:
I highly recommend it. This guy grows year round in Vermont. I mean, you can't grow tomatoes year round but you can easily supply your greens and other cold tolerant vegetables. Pretty cool method.
There was a book I read awhile ago called Paradise Lot where the guys used certain plants to leech the toxicity from the soil where it had been contaminated by lead, etc.
Super interesting idea!
I found this book really easy and interesting, and maybe could be a good starting point
https://www.amazon.com/Aquaponic-Farmer-Complete-Operating-Commercial/dp/086571858X/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=aquaponics+farm&qid=1630915682&sr=8-10
Are you sure that book is by John Jeavons and not Eliot Colman?
I see this book by that title: Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long, 2nd Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1890132276/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_QGF3Y7MXQ3FK6KNG3W4F
I see a handful of books by John Jeavons, mostly editions of "How to grow more vegetables"
Thanks.
One thing to think about that I learned from this book is to dig deeper than needed and install a false floor, if possible. As cool air sinks, this allows the cool air to sink deeper than where you actually have your plants, keeping them warmer. It's a book for hippies, they actually suggest having that "pit" be a home for rabbits, as they like the cold.
Black and Decker: the complete guide to Sheds has plans for this exact shed that you are working on building. Here it is on amazon.
Also, here's a pretty awesome book about greenhouses that the director and founder of Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, Jerome Osentowski, wrote about making greenhouses high up in the Rocky Mountains. This might help you with planning for growing tropical plants in such a cold zone.
The Forest Garden Greenhouse [Amazon link for book description]
This book will guide OP through some winter growing. OP’s got the right idea sealing the greenhouse up right. The pieces they are missing are, variety selection, and timing. You can harvest arugula, spinach, chard, kale, leeks, scallions, carrots, turnips, etc all winter long. You just have to get them up to 75% fully grown by the time your Persephone period starts. After that it doesn’t matter if it’s too cold there just isn’t enough sunlight for any appreciable growth.
I've really been studying winter gardening techniques this fall - two big take aways are double covering makes the best microclimate, and go for cold hearty vegetables like cabbages, lettuce, turnips, radish, etc. I've got radish and cabbages too, but they weren't as photogenic that day ;)
I've been reading it cover to cover!
I second what u/Lo452 is saying here.
There's a big difference, I think, between making money off of the property and growing for self-sufficiency/diversity. If I were to land a property like that, I'd totally turn it into a permaculture heaven: lots of perennials: trees, bushes, leafy greens, vines, etc. Check out the book "Paradise Lot: Two Plant Geeks, One-Tenth of an Acre, and the Making of an Edible Garden Oasis in the City".
Mushrooms could be a great business: high price point and low foot print. Also consider micro-greens. A friend of mine grows them out of a south-facing window in her house and she sells at the farmers market every week.
Aquaponics Farmer is a book about running a commercial-scale Aquaponics venture.
https://www.amazon.com/Aquaponic-Farmer-Complete-Operating-Commercial/dp/086571858X/
FYI it's cold water aquaponics and targets a colder clime than what you're doing but it should be somewhat relevant.
The Aquaponics Farmer, Southern & King. A very detailed explanation on how to build and operate a medium scale greenhouse operation. The best I have seen so far. https://www.amazon.com/Aquaponic-Farmer-Complete-Operating-Commercial/dp/086571858X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=086571858X&pd_rd_r=T27CK6946SAD3MRXRHXC&pd_rd_w=YXa6x&pd_rd_wg=Q15aK&psc=1&refRID=T27CK6946SAD3...
Valid point re: squash. But for other veggies, I liked this book:
I toured the author's greenhouse in the high mountains of CO. Pretty crazy to see bananas growing in a place that gets many feet of snow in the winter. https://www.amazon.com/Forest-Garden-Greenhouse-Design-Permaculture/dp/1603584269
It can be done quite easily. Here is the reference I used to get started.
You'd have time to grow lettuce, spinach, radishes, mustard greens, beets, scallions, some herbs, and a whole lot more. Grow what you like!
You can also read quite a bit by looking up gardening books on Amazon and reading the "Look Inside" parts. I'd suggest Four-Season Harvest because of the specific tips it gives for a wide range of crops, but there are a LOT of books worth examining.
This article is absolute garbage. Garbage In, Garbage Out. It assumes that one either trucks in food or uses fossil fuels to heat a green house to grow them. Even in Maine, arugula can be grown with nothing but solar gain through single or double walled hoophouses throughout the winter. Read Eliot Coleman's Four Season Harvest or Winter Harvest