Today we made the purchase of the Hoklartherm Riga XL 6: 14'W x 19'L x 10'H. We decided to do it now while we could get it for $13,720 when most websites are selling it for the MSRP of $15,999 or more. Some are discounting 10% to $14,399, but we were able to save another $679+.

It will arrive in about 10 days. We will have to store it until after all our seedlings are transplanted outside this Spring, which means mid to late May. As mentioned before, then we can dismantle the old and build the new.

If you are not familiar with our old greenhouse, it is a Sunshine Greenhouse Mt Rainier Model 8x16 made from cedar and thin double-wall polycarbonate.

https://youtu.be/2eQS6udUOKU


The new greenhouse has a very strong frame able to withstand heavy snow and wind, and the glazing is 16mm triple wall polycarbonate.

WE plan a 425-gallon pond and an additional 300-600 gallons of water in drums used as bases for plant tables for thermal gain. We will also be installing a Swedish Skirt (https://ceresgs.com/solar-gree...)

Swedish Skirt Insulation


The floor will be sand with pavers for thermal gain, too.

Now, there is no turning back.

Congratulations, can't wait see the photos when it is up running!

Congratulations. Would love the same thing. Sigh!!

Just an update...

The GH should be arriving next Monday as per the latest from the shipping company. The total weight of all the pieces is about 1400 +/- lbs in 2 boxes, one cardboard and one a crate. It's curbside delivery, so we'll have to open everything up and haul it to where we plan to store it until we build it.







The greenhouse has front and rear double Dutch doors, and 4 roof windows with automatic opens. I also wanted an automatic ventilation system, but I didn't buy it from the GH company. I bought it from a distributor of the manufacturer that the GH company buys the system from. I saved just about $200 by doing it this way.

J&D Manufacturing Shutter Mount Direct Drive Wall Exhaust Fan (20", 1/3 HP, 3,126 CFM @ 0" S.P., 115/230V, 1 Ph. - Single/Variable Speed with 10' Cord, 115 Volts



J&D Manufacturing Motorized Aluminum Intake Commercial and Agricultural Grade Power Shutter (24" x 24" Power Shutter with 10' Cord, 115 Volts)



Single Stage Moisture Proof (Piggy Back) Thermostat Control w/Cord



Spent a good amount of time a day or two ago researching Phase Change Material (PCM) and its use in the greenhouse. It takes up the least space of all thermal gain/heat sinks and holds more heat than water. I am looking more closely at it as a replacement to black barrels filled with water.

Phase change materials (PCMs) are substances which absorb or release large amounts of so-called 'latent' heat when they go through a change in their physical state, i.e. from solid to liquid and vice versa.

I remember reading about PCM a few years back, but it wasn't available to John Q. Public back then.

Here is a link that explains the technology: https://insolcorp.com/services...

Here is a link to the product: https://insolcorppcm.com/produ...

Each tile contains 400 BTU of thermal storage.

I decided to go ahead and order a case of the phase change material to test in my present greenhouse. The box is 9 tiles for a total of 36 square feet. I took advantage of their 10% off, so the box cost $157.50 instead of $175. Using it for a while in my old greenhouse will help me decide if I want to order more tiles for my new greenhouse.

I have also contacted a company called Site Prep. https://www.siteprep.com/ for a free estimate of what it would cost to have them come in and install the wood foundation and gravel pad. I took some pics and elevations today, and I am going to send them the details tomorrow.

Of course, I would have the old greenhouse, raised garden, slates, etc. removed before Site Prep did their work.

The drop in elevation from the front left side to the front right side is just about 10".

I have too much time on my hands!

https://youtu.be/gzvMSF6L1Go

Just thinking out loud and welcome any feedback...

Our original plan was to start our seeds in the greenhouse, as we normally do, in mid-March for a mid to late May planting outdoors, depending on temperatures. At that point, we would begin taking down the old greenhouse, prepare the base and build the new greenhouse. Realistically, I don't see the new greenhouse being finished until mid to late July with our business, our gardens, and general property maintenance taking up a lot of time during this two-month period.

So, we were discussing it last night, and we are thinking about starting our seeds on two wire shelf units in the brightest room in the house, utilizing our grow lights. This would greatly reduce the number of seeds I could start, but I tend to overplant anyway, always starting twice the amount I need in case some seeds don't germinate or plants die off. The problem with that is I usually have very good germination and growth rates, then I have too many plants, and after I give away as many as I can, I plant too many in my gardens, which means more work, bigger harvests, and finding enough people to give all this produce to. I mean, do we really need 30 tomato plants along with dozens of other plants? (I think it's a sickness! ) Two wire shelf units would probably be sufficient for our basic needs (eating, freezing, dehydrating, and freeze drying).

If we go this route, we can begin dismantling the old greenhouse as soon as the weather breaks, hopefully early March, get the base prepared and the new greenhouse built...perhaps by the end of April before our business picks up for the season and the property and gardens need so much attention. Heck, I could even start more seeds for planting in June in the new greenhouse, and still grow some of my plants in the greenhouse that tend to do better in a greenhouse than outside in the garden.

OK, I've stopped thinking out loud, but would appreciate any feedback or ideas you may have on the topic since I feel like my head is beginning to spin on this whole greenhouse transition plan.

The greenhouse arrived today. It is two boxes:
1 wood crate 13' x 3.5' x 3.5' weighing 1146lbs.
1 cardboard box 20' x 13" x 8" weighing 168lbs.

The truck driver was an artist. First, in 28 years, I have never seen a truck driver be able to back an 18-wheeler down our driveway. They try and give up. This guy did it in two moves. Then, moving and lowering these boxes to the ground was done with such finesse, neither was ever in danger of any damage.





We just covered the large wood crate with a tarp and moved the long box to the side of the house. Tomorrow we'll start the unpacking process.

Today, we got the long box and wood crate all opened up and unpacked. It took the 2 of us 3 hours. Parts of it dwarf our front porch.

We worked outside yesterday. It was 54 and full sun. Nicer day than they predicted!!! Breezy, but still warm enough in the sun to work without a jacket.

We moved all the wood from the greenhouse to one of the wood piles. I finished removing all the interior hardware used to hang pipes for the lighting, removed the two fans, removed all the Reflectix Insulation and cut it up so it won't take a lot of garbage bags to get rid of it. I also removed the front and back doors.

I saved all the brackets and the wood from the doors and will do so with a lot of the greenhouse as we dismantle it. It stuck me that I can make frames with the cedar and the brackets to put over our berry bushes and cover with netting for the summer! I will keep all the cedar that is in good shape...most of it. Some of the polycarbonate will be discarded, some will be saved for future projects.

The greenhouse looks so empty and sad since we started working on it this past Wednesday and today.

Here it is without the doors, raised flower beds in front, all the Reflectix insulation removed, all firewood removed, and all "everything" removed.





The Site Prep company is coming next Wednesday to measure, figure slope, materials, etc. I told them we would be ready for them by April 3rd, but it may be earlier. It takes 10-14 days to get on the schedule once you are ready to have the work done.

Today, I got the gutters off the greenhouse, removed the cage on the strawberry patch and removed any slate or concrete blocks on the door sides.

Tomorrow, we will start moving the strawberries down to the FF. So happy the weather is mild. Then, we just have to dismantle the greenhouse, but we have to wait another 1 1/2 weeks until our 10-foot stepladder arrives. We have a 6 foot one that we used to build this old greenhouse (you can see it through the glazing in the first picture), but that is when I would take the chance standing on the very top as I held on for life. I heard you can get hurt on a stepladder! ( ), so I want one that gives me a higher reach and more support. (In case you don't know, I fell from a 2-step stepladder in October and broke 3 ribs. )

Gutters down, strawberry cage gone


Moved out of the way


Slate and concrete blocks removed


Footprint of new greenhouse will share the same line as the north and east sides of the present greenhouse.


10-foot Ladder for smart people who prefer not to fall and break ribs!

Ladders can be really dangerous [as you well know]. I'm planking the ceiling on my new pitched roof shed that was damaged by a falling tree. I've almost fell off my 8' ladder at least two times. Trying to hold an 8' plank straight, set a nail and balance on a ladder is tough. Also having a lean to Greenhouse [16'x6.5'] attached to the side. Not going well.

Yikes! it sounds like you need a helper

jpm995 said: Ladders can be really dangerous [as you well know]. I'm planking the ceiling on my new pitched roof shed that was damaged by a falling tree. I've almost fell off my 8' ladder at least two times. Trying to hold an 8' plank straight, set a nail and balance on a ladder is tough. Also having a lean to Greenhouse [16'x6.5'] attached to the side. Not going well.

Hope you can get the project done without injury.

Only a memory...

Today, we removed the foundation and all the slates on the inside. We still have slates to move in the walkway that will either fall under the new greenhouse or within 2 feet of it since we want to put down ground insulation as well.

Hate to break up this walkway. We only put it in 6 years ago. We'll have to reroute it to go around the new greenhouse.

Little Giant works great! I try to avoid ladder use as much as possible (stupid pilot tricks)

crawgarden said: Little Giant works great! I try to avoid ladder use as much as possible (stupid pilot tricks)

The foundation is in. https://youtu.be/rmJtgWC6FtQ



1334 brick pavers and 48 bags of paver sand are being delivered tomorrow.

We'll put down the pavers before we start building the greenhouse. We are looking for someone to assemble the greenhouse at a reasonable price. We can assemble it, and might wind up doing so, but it would be nice to let someone else assemble it so we can pay attention to getting the gardens in shape.



Going to do a basket weave pattern

Good news and bad news...

We did not hear back from the greenhouse assembler. He was the only one in PA. The others are at least 100 miles away. There is a HandyMan company that does greenhouses. They have good ratings, but they have never done a Riga Greenhouse. That concerns me.

I finished fertilizing all the trees, bushes and vines down in the food forest.

The bricks and sand were delivered this morning for the greenhouse floor.



I put the sand on the gravel, but it looks a bit lumpy to me! What do you think?





Tomorrow, we'll begin to spread and screed it in preparation for the bricks.

We got the sand spread and screeded on the greenhouse floor and even put down 5 rows.

Man that's gonna take a ton of bricks.

A real hot one today at 87. I think we either tied or just broke the record.

I put down another 6 rows today until I just folded under the sun and high temperature. I'm up to 16 rows. From my measurements, it should be a total of 29 rows.