Are These Greenhouse Modifications Worth it?

In continuation of our Summer Farm Tour series we are stopping off for a few videos at one of our all-time favorite farms, Assawaga Farm in Connecticut.
In this video, they discuss a couple, ahem, hot topics in the world of greenhouses and high tunnels including the famed rocket heater (known well around permaculture circles) and sola wrap--a bubble wrap-looking skin for high tunnels that is said to last a lifetime. Yoko also takes us through their natural dye production which is a nice little bonus!
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[@EighteenandCloudy]

Yoko, your dye garden and natural dye work is definitely video worthy, I loved hearing about it and how you share a piece of your land with your family through natural dyes and cloth. Really interesting episode, I've enjoyed this four part series, thanks all!

[@user-cy7qm7bd7f]

Very informative. I would to know if any growers considered using mini splits for heating greenhouses. The fencing around the garden was impressive and deserves some video time.

[@tamarackartstudio7893]

Great insider info about the solawrap, I’d been thinking about replacing my double poly with that. One positive about wood stoves is that they supply a dry heat vs a wet heat with propane. They decrease humidity instead of increasing it.

[@bodyzoasispersonaltraining9186]

Truth.

[@jennablorezone8Band9A]

Love the video but now in more of a quandary with the pros and cons with solar wrap vs standard plastic. It sounded like they loved it for the strength and longevity only but not going to use it for their new high tunnel? Can you make a video that gives a clear … “If I were to do it again, what would I do different”. We are trying to decide which is most efficient and effective with temperature control etc. Appreciate all the work you do with these videos 😊🙏🏼👍🏻

[@NukeNukedEarth]

I didn't know you could heat a greenhouse with fire! Here in Quebec smaller farms are still using fossil fuels but most of the big players have switched to some form of electric heating due to the lost cost of clean electricity

[@robertstanley980]

Hydro electric is super clean!

[@NukeNukedEarth]

@@robertstanley980 Yeah! Unfortunately setting it up without violating the human rights of some group is quite hard, but once it's set up it's a great way to produce steady electricity

[@dertythegrower]

Every pro grower uses rocket stove and composted leaves inside chickenwire as a heat barrier in winter ❤

[@dertythegrower]

if you have huge piles of fall leaves.. that is your fuel and gas (methane and co2 both) instead of buying piped and bottled fuels or gas, or wood pellets. That is over a quarter of most farm costs, no?

[@apolloisnotashirt]

@@dertythegrowerbut thats not enough methane no?

[@myrandabishop7672]

Cow farts dude

[@dertythegrower]

​@@myrandabishop7672there is cool farms catching that in a big balloon basically.. and powering a generator from.methane.. a company here on youtuber and all in africa also does it.. 😶

[@dertythegrower]

​@@apolloisnotashirta company who is youtubers does the system in africa with an old.ibc tote and balloon... its being done and powers a generator.. many do this my friend

[@j.m.b.greengardens968]

Nice work, y'all! I know a family who heats their house with a wood-fueled furnace that sits some distance from the house. Best I understand it, it heats water that is piped to the house for under-floor heat. It has a thermostat that triggers a vent that allows either more or less combustion air to regulate the burn. Also, a fellow who built a system that uses solar panels to heat sand in a well insulated pit via a propylene glycol solution in PEX pipe. The same solution is sent to the house via more PEX. The system is designed to accrue and store most of the heat in the sand in summer, (a thermal battery) but there is still some heat produced in winter. He said it pretty much keeps the house comfortable all winter. Both those systems are here in Central Virginia - zone 7. Both are considerably more expensive to build than the rocket heater, and the sand-pit one uses a good bit of plastic, considering the PEX and the panels, but perhaps there would be some hybrid of the rocket heater and the other systems that could work. I couldn't tell y'all what that might be, but there are right many clever folks out there who might figure something out.

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

I've been enjoying the tours. Such a variety of growers! The next one (Coleman farm tour) will be awesome.

[@babaluto]

I recommend looking at infrared barrier plastic film for the new tunnel. I use it on our three 30x96 high tunnels. It reflects the soil warmth back in on cooler months and the infrared heat out during the hot days. I estimate a solid 10° of control without any input. Apparently it is some kind of mineral they mix into the manufacturing process. There is a slight hit you take on light transmission but I find it irrelevant compared to the dust buildup we get on the tunnel over time. Cheers!

[@goodboysongs]

What if you just put it on the inside of your north wall so it lets full light in through the south side then reflects the light back off the north side?

[@babaluto]

​@@goodboysongsI can see your point. That may be good at a certain time of day of a season. The sheeting is not opaque to visible light just infrared. What gains you may realize in one set up would come back as a loss in others. I've tested it as a flat canopy in summer with no walls and it worked well to lower leaf temperatures during the day. That setup would be bad for any other season. To realize the full potential of the product, the entire glazing area needed to be covered. Remember, the heat from the ground is reflected back in during cooler seasons. That would be lost to the night sky where the plastic is not used.

[@bartcalder2791]

Loved the natural dyes prints!

[@that_garden_gnome]

i'm building my solawrap house with tape for no heat loss; threaded tape with foil tape over that. otherwise the connectors cost a lot more and i don't know how well they can be insulated with silicon.

[@ajb.822]

I resonate so much with so many things Yoka says :) ! I'm a female btw, too. I, too, love to grow outdoors and without investing in tunnels etc. as much as possible, and also encourage newbies ( like myself) that you can start without all the "stuff" ( as farmer Jesse has also reiterated often). That it's not only usually possible but also best to invest in those things as you can afford to, avoid debt etc. . Love the dyes, and the idea also of them being a way to share your farms plants/harvests etc. with your family far away - awesome ! SO beautiful too !!! I can't believe those colors !!! I have been planning to get into dyes eventually, have some seeds for some of the plants, but haven't actually seen all those colors b4 !

[@robertling9872]

Beautiful people and video. Thanks for sharing.

[@lifewithmikeandjenn5814]

This was a gem! I watch every episode, thank you. Be blessed ❤🌿

[@aileensmith3062]

Quite sure that we will never build a greenhouse/high tunnel. Then learning so much about them. The pro vs the con is good. This team definitely has a lot of dedication to their goals as well as being environmentally responsible to Mother Earth. They are a team that is working together for a very positive cause! As ALWAYS another great video and looking forward on this wonderful series!

[@denaross]

Super interesting- thanks so much for sharing!

[@manolopapas]

Hi, another great video, thank you

[@joaomarcelino5035]

Great content, thanks!

[@johnfowler4820]

Yoko and Alex are very cool.

[@johnthomas5806]

thanks, this a very great series of no-till.......

[@uteberg4781]

What great colours they produce!! Love it!!! ❤🌺

[@karenmccleary7616]

Thank you!

[@oldman1111]

Hey nerds! Never gets old.

[@lolaseymour1532]

What a great video. Especially liked the part at the end about dyes!

[@bellachiong3390]

Thank you so much for sharing these Amazing farms and growers. I've been learning so much here on my 1 acre small UPick Wild Flower Farm 1st. Year seeing the naturel dyes being used from plants and flowers got my inspiration mind going lol😂 im defiently going to try it. Thank you so much to theses amazing farmers❤❤

[@jeffcrist2977]

The dye operation is very interesting.

[@charlesvickers4804]

These smer tours would make a good CO op book.

[@bodyzoasispersonaltraining9186]

We went to a rocket stove workshop w Erica and Ernie. The rocket stove mass heated bench is basically like a kang of korea. So safe and so good.

[@apolloisnotashirt]

There whole farm still looks so dang heautiful to me no matter how many times I see it.

[@mandiegarrett1706]

Great video. May I ask where did you get your table set up? Looks like you have some kind of metal sheet at bottom with interlocking rubber sheet layer at the top? Thank you.

[@Vuvu1101]

Awesome-aga Farm!

[@nazzerhful]

Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Amazing, thank you! 🙌

[@gerrywalsh6853]

Now I got a pellet stove and I save so much time with heating I get a 24 hour of burn time on a bag heating 400f to a nice temperature of 15°c over the winter and 5 °c in the other 3000 foot barn we grow mushrooms in and the outside temperature drops to -25°c in January if you do get one get one don't reinvent the weel

[@brothernorb8586]

You had me at fabric art

[@Mybarndream33]

Wonder if the plastic from the sides that they said they are replacing would be enough to fit the new greenhouse

[@kangnanangsuudi81]

I always watch your video and I try to do in my farm

[@slaplapdog]

I suspect the rocket stove didn't have enough mass.

[@BacuvcikF]

Díky!

[@notillgrowers]

amazing, thank you!

[@johnbell891]

So cool!!!@

[@daveswords2112]

Do you think the rocket stove evolution to a masonry heater has value for polyvinyl heating?

[@WanieB]

Never say never 😂 gotta do what you have to.

[@fisherman9166]

What type of fence is used at the bottom of the perimeter fence?

[@BaliFoodTreePlanter]

There are other tools for heat. I can consult on them. Can use thermostat.

[@RandomActsOfMadness]

Wish they had gone with a proper pellets burner. 1000USD extra compared to the propane one, but 100% renewable and 100% automatic. Plenty of options to choose from, at least here in northern Europe..

[@dertythegrower]

Not even close to cheaper or efficient.... leaves breaking down create heat and methane you can easily capture with an ibc tote gas system (done in africa all over here on video and many in europe too) capture methane yourself, and then also, composted leaves can be pushed in a thick layer against greenhouse to make a heat barrieer in snow... proven years ago here on video 🤙

[@slaplapdog]

Well the trees being harvested for pellets are often not replaced with the same kind of trees.

[@Gerwulf97]

Sleep is soooo important

[@TheEmbrio]

A domestic size pellet stove has a thermostat... can have a huge reserve of pellets. No need to go to fossil fuels

[@gchrom]

Anyone else have a large feral cat population? I can't see even sola wrap lasting once cats sink their claws in it.. I need another dog so they can work in shifts 24/7 chasing them away from my tunnel

[@fourdayhomestead2839]

My place this year was a dumping ground for unwanted cats/kittens. Luckily, only replaced plastic on 1 small greenhouse due to them.

[@JB-ps5bu]

Sunday Funday

[@JamesThomas-pj2lx]

why not just have an exhaust fan on thermostat..... rocket stove sounded like it rocked.

[@keitho3133]

Yeah, lots of things you can do. A thermostat controlled damper pulling in outside air. Or put in a heat exchanger like wrapping it in copper tubing and store the extra heat in barrels of water for added temperature security from the extra thermal mass. Can also add shields or a fan to prevent the heat from the stove being so extreme right next to it. Anyway lots of ways to make it work better, but they do all take up more space and/or add complexity and it sounds like that wasn't what they were looking for.

[@ildarmingazov2304]

Hey there!

[@rwg727]

thanks jesse but I'm not a nerd

[@Barbaralee1205]

Hey, where’s the cat?

[@KrazyKajun602]

You really not getting bigger, you are using the same space but taking a portion of the property and installing a high tunnel on that portion.

[@one4change4thebetter]

Sad. Rocket heater isn't the answer. Rocket mass heater using wood not pellets. Or a semi-submerged greenhouse using a geothermal fan like the Nebraska grower.

[@JamesThomas-pj2lx]

...greenhouses are not "inside"..... so many things in a greenhouse you can't control that you can inside.

[@bdb1052]

Yeah but do you have a 30x70 indoor space you can dedicate to growin?

[@joansmith3492]

Cat claws can puncture sola-wrap easily