I wanted to add a few things to my message. We are thinking of only opening these greenhouses for use, from Early May to Late September. We thought many people would bring already started plants into the greenhouses and really the greenhouses will only be a place where they are stored while sold. I also read some of the posts on here about solar and see that's not really a great option. I'm going to look on the site more..but curious about possible wind power. I remember seeing on ted.com how this kid in africa built a homemade wind tower that generated their water for their little village.

I think that you could really do something neat with an idea like this (more details on how much land you have available, what kind of budget you are working with etc would probably help too). And I'd consider posting on the market forum...you would likely get some good marketing ideas there.

Have you considered maybe also doing some kind of farmers market "consignment"...just a thought.

But if you are only really providing a "farmers market" type set up, why go to the trouble or expense of multiple greenhouses? Just curious about that.

would people even need a greenhouse if they were bringing already started plants? Most folks use their greenhouses for seed starting, to get an earlier start on the planting season, and also to extend their growing seasons...I would think if it's just for storage you actually might be able to come up with a more economical option? It would not be a pleasant environment in the heat of the summer to have people (and no fans) inside a hot greenhouse trying to sell stuff.

Again, the open air market idea is a great one. Maybe you can build something enclosed that could serve as storage. (maybe more like an antique mall with individual booths).

I'm sure you'll be able to collect alot of great ideas from folks on GW (dont be shy about branching out to other forums for equally important tips etc).

Good luck to you and keep us posted on your progress and as the idea evolves.

How are you going to run a well pump with no power....

The zoning requires that I can only sell retail out of greenhouses, so that's why I would need those structures rather than any other structure. The only things sold could be things that would be grown in the greenhouses. So people can bring things in from their homes or farms to sell, but they need to spend a little time in the greenhouses. We will have electric for the well pump, but we didn't want to run electric to each of the greenhouses. I'm not sure how this will take off financially. We have $25,000 available to work with, but want to go as low budget as possible as that's also our money to pay on the land and pay for the well. We have 4 acres and are able to put up as many greenhouses as we want. This would basicially be a farmers market. There aren't any in this town. I like the idea of a bunch of greenhouses and calling it the greenhouse village. I'm super worried about the wind with these and it getting too hot in the houses more than I'm worried about the cold. I'm also worried about the money return.

So what about just constructing some very simple (but large) hoop houses, that can be open on both ends when in use?

go to Google images and type in hoop house nurseries, you'll get the idea of what I'm referring to.

There is a man in a near by town who has his plants are all displayed on racks/tables, etc inside the big hoop house, I would think that this option would surely satify the "zoning" limitations of selling retail from the greenhouses, You could have several of these

(this reminds me of many bigger nurseries in this area, you go inside and pick out your plants, which are chock full of things that have been grown there, but certainly people could bring stuff in as well.

If you construct a few basic models, they would be more durable and would not need any reinforcing as the HFGH requires (there are lots of reasonable ways to do so) and set them up so that maybe in the center of them you have a courtyard? with some gazebo type coverings,( multiples of these would allow for people to set up both in and outside to actually sell).

But fans would just be so important, otherwise it can really heat up and be uncomfortable for people buying (not to mention those selling all day.

I don't think the HFGH 10x12 would work well for commercial use. I have one and it's small for one person, I can't imaging having a couple of people in there along with product. For $25K, I think you could build several hoop houses, or a build a small commercial polycarb structure.

I'm really worried about those hoop houses blowing away though(how do they attach into the ground?). In the winter do you take off the plastic then for snow? I would like them to be all enclosed too so that in early May, people could grow things...I don't think they would need heat in them though at that time as we usually can plant here around Mother's Day and just put a sheet over plants if we get a little frost. I am concerned about the heat in the summer though, but if I run electric to these houses, then that might not be cost effective.

let us know how it all works out and what you end up doing.

There are a few things that would be difficult to manage- other things would be very interesting to watch.

I believe the lack of electric facilities would not be as great an issue if you had roll-up sides as I have in my high tunnels. You would be the person that rolls the sides almost daily and thus controls the environment.

I dislike the idea that everyone is bringing in plants from the outside and thus their pests and diseases. I also think you need to stretch the season limits (I'd start on April 1st) and charge accordingly. ASfter all that is one main advantage of growing in a greenhouse.

I'm not saying that your plan is not good but think about a Pick-your-own setup where you plant and manage the crops and the customers would come to pick crops, flowers and buy potted plants that you grow. Definately more work involved here but far less conflicts.

I agree with bmoser, you need to open it up early so people could get things growing. You will need some kind of cooling , even if it is roll up sides. A greenhouse can get very hot in May, let alone July or August. I would do your research and try to find out why people would want to come and grow things in your greenhouse to sell. Lots of people would like to have a greenhouse to grow things for themselves but don't have the space, that could be one market for you.As far as others doing something on a larger scale I would really think who would need this service and then try to market to that group. I also like the idea about the open pavillion in the middle. Put some paths and benches with plantings so people can enjoy. Growing and selling in one greenhouse space could be akward. A lot of growing is done in small flats and plug trays,not really for retail selling. Maybe have some for growing and some for selling. $25,000.00 is a lot of money. You can do a lot with that . Just do your homework. Good luck with your venture.

First, let me say I'm excited by this general idea, for many reasons, but I won't prattle on about it because:

I'd like to put my Urban Planner hat on for a minute to make sure this is presented properly and not shot down before it begins. I recommend going into the planning office (I know, I know...) and see if your ag zone allows this sort of use.

o If not (who can tell?), see what the requirements are for a use variance.

o See also if hoop houses/high tunnels are a temporary or permanent structure in the land use code. It is certainly possible that the code is silent on this structure type, if so then you need to address whether you can perform this activity when the code is silent on it. If the code is not silent, can you erect them and for how long and for what uses?

I can think of many other things that may need to be done, but when you go in, have a manila folder with some homework in it and be prepared to share some numbers when discussing this issue - I recommend calling and setting an appointment with a current planner for the purposes of determining uses and structure types on your property.

Feel free to e-m me with more questions, I'm a planner by profession and I get this sort of thing all the time and my practice in WA state was in a rural area with many of these issues.

Good luck, and don't give up.

Dan

Thank you everyone for all your info and ideas. I really appreciate them.
Dan-We are currently working with building and zoning as well as the department of ag to make sure all our i's are dotten and t's are crossed. It's a little tough though because one person will say one thing and someone else will say another. This was the case with the type of signage that can be used with or without a permit. They say the greenhouses should be considered temporary and we don't need a permit to put them up and we can put as many as we want on our 4 acre parcel.
I think that's great that we could open up as early as april 1st without heat. I wasn't sure if that would be ok. I'd actually be ok with anyone wanting to start as early as they want, but maybe only start charging on May 1st. I love the idea of having open areas with benches. That is my hopes it that I can create a welcoming place for people to come. I think many people love to garden their special things that your normal nurseries don't have and this gives them a way to sell them to the public and make money to support their garden habits. Everyone would have their own greenhouse, so hopefully the pests they bring in will stay in their house. I'm looking at having some greenhouses built. I'm worried about using the hoop houses for two reasons, they are not the cutest things and I think cute might attract visitors. Also, I'm worried about the spring winds we have here in the northern Illinois area. I think though that having access on both ends is very important like you guys said for wind to move through them when it's really hot. I will make sure to keep that in mind when looking for greenhouse plans. The reason I want to just rent the greenhouses to other people is...one my thumb has thorns. I have only been successful in caring for cactus, and I've even been known to kill a few of those(please don't hate me)also, I have fibromyalgia and can't do all the labor involved. That's one reason we're looking at finding a way to have an added income. I think the reasons this might be an attractive idea for others is...they might not have a space to garden, they would have the option to sell to the public which they might not currently have. I would be fine with the idea of people just wanting to rent greenhouse space and not sell to the public. I was thinking that in this little greenhouse village, people might post the hours they will be there. I'm not settled on that idea though as I'd like the public to always feel the know when they can come buy stuff. I could also set some greenhouses aside in an area where customers would not go. Thank you guys so much for your advice and ideas!

For some unknown reason, I'm fixated on you and your post and ideas are constantly popping into my head...(that's weird to me ;) I guess because I see such potential with this idea and if you cover all your bases, you can maximize your potential and make it profitable.

What about carport like structures with garage door type roll up sides (on both sides maybe even the back end) so that when you want air circulation, all you do is roll up the amount of doors that you want and then basically you have a carport like covered structure left, open and visible for people to pass through. Inside the tables or stands people use to grow their plants could be strategically placed for the best visual benefit and functionality.

I also passed by a small building nearby here that had large window openings on at least 3 walls with a door opening at the front but the window sections were removeable, (I'll try to get a picture of it for you). they had a cottage like look to them, decent sized too, you could obviously build these to the scale you thought was best) what came to mind when I saw them, was why not hinge the window sections so that instead of just removing them, you could just lower them down, and they could double as counter space, if positioned correctly they could be low enough to work for this (which could be made out of plexiglass or some strong, but clear material to aid in the GH effect when closed up, allowing light in etc).

As far as when to charge people for whatever purpose they wanted to use your GH for, you would charge them when they started, not at a fixed date. Maybe you have a sliding scale fee schedule, and during "peak times" your rates change, so that anyone outside of those dates, maybe just gets a price break, no sense in NOT charging for something that someone is willing to pay for.

Thank you for your ideas. I saw the one carport on ebay for 199, which looked and would be great if there wasn't any wind. I'm so freaked at the idea that I'd offer something and then all of someone's hard work would get destroyed. I keep going back and forth though with the type of greenhouse to offer. The one's that would last a long time would be so costly to offer. I found a great design for a hoophouse though at the link below. I love this design as it has a good size window on the back of it that can give a cross breeze. One thing I really need help understanding though is how is the plastic put on these houses to attach to the pvc? Do you attach it with sheet metal screws and washers every foot or something? I saw on one of the plans that they used these clamp things to hold the plastic down, but I'm not sure how well that would work. I would love to be able to take the plastic off in the winter and reuse it if there was a way to do something like that. I also posted on a local craigslist farm and garden forum and have help from people there. They feel that charging $10 a day is too much and to be open all week. They feel only weekends and something more like $20 a day. That would be really unprofitable though I'd think. I don't plan on making a ton of money at first, I think this is something that will grow...haha grow...
I really appreciate everyone's help.

Here is a link that might be useful: PVC Hoop House free greenhouse plan

Are there any greenhouses or nurseries in your area that maybe you could go visit? that might give you a close up view of how others constructed theirs? The carport structure idea would not be a kit, but would be someone building a permanent structure with anchored posts and real construction real framing, that happened to offer some adjustable features allowing it to sort of transform as needed.

Sorry this may ramble a bit, but so much is going through my little head right now, I'm just letting it out as I think of it. This is bringing up lots of memories of when my dad started out with a small lean-to on the side of the house to sell tomato plants 35 years ago. That business grew several times until we had a single 40 X 50 greenhouse that took up the entire back yard. We now have 5 acres and multiple greenhouses at another location that I have run since 1997 and now produce and sell over 100,000 plants per season. So this is coming from a grower/retailer perspective.

Check that you can sell items that aren't grown in your greenhouse. I have to grow 75% of what I sell on site in my zoning.

Buy a greenhouse with the appropriate snow load/wind rating for your area. It doesn't take much wet snow to collapse a poorly designed greenhouse. I have two from a Canadian company-Harnois (the third is from a company that I think and hope are now out of business-they were awful to deal with). They were easy to put up and have worked great for us. The last one I bought (30 x 48-which probably the minimum you should consider) was about $7,000 nearly 10 years ago. This price included one heater and three roll up motors and two layers of plastic. I had to build my own end walls to save a little money but you can buy an endwall package separately. You will need electricity for the roll up vents (side and peak) and for the ignition for gas heater(s). But that requirement would be less than for exhaust fans for a ghs with no vents. I wouldn't risk my plants in somebody else's greenhouse that couldn't keep them heated if needed. Nor would I trust my hard work to a greenhouse made from PVC. You need one large enough that people can walk around comfortably and accommodate each vendor. Hoop houses generally don't have a lot of head room along the sides unless you get a high tunnel. If you expect the business to grow get a greenhouse that may be a little larger/wider than you think you need. Otherwise you will be replacing the small one real soon-kind of a waste of money. We went from lots of small greenhouses to a couple larger greenhouses to the single large house and now several large greenhouses.

Buy something that is intended to be a greenhouse-you don't want to be jerry rigging something that might not work as expected. There are plenty of professional greenhouse manufacturers (Nexus, Atlas, Jaderloon, Conley, Harnois,etc) out there that will help you. They also will have the proper materials to use and be able to provide you with some guidance. You'll be much happier and the product will probably last a lot longer.

Check out Greenhouse auction This is a past auction that still has 450,000 square feet of greenhouse left from a bankrupt nursery. They will arrange shipping for a fee.

My hoop houses (20 x 48 & 17 x 48) are open at one end where I can pull the plastic up or lower it to get air and cool off the house. The other end has a regular sized door. The larger one is made so I can pull up the sides about 2 feet off the ground using ropes. Even when fully open, they get 100F + by late May or about 20-30ºF warmer than outside. I use these to hold plants-no customers allowed. Trust me, nobody wants to stay in those conditions for very long-customers or vendors.

I also would be leery of the pest issue. Even if everyone has 100% pest free plants (extremely unlikely IMHO) you will get pests. Who will be responsible, and what kind of controls will you use? Preventative or curative? An ornamental grower will have different requirements than an a veggie or herb grower. You may have to have separate greenhouses and spray equipment etc.

This idea opens you up to additional liability. If somebody else's plants are lost in your facility you'd better have insurance! Of course you should have insurance if the public will be on your property anyway (a hidden cost and a selling point to potential vendors)

$25,000 is not a lot of money. You will run into lots of unexpected costs. Will you have to make other improvements to accommodate the public and vendors-like bathroom facilities? How quickly do you expect to get a return on your money? The people who you should listen to as far as the type of structure are the people who would be using it. What are their needs and concerns?

Taking the plastic off in the winter raises a few comments/questions. I assume that you would recover in the late winter/early spring. I don't know about your area but in mine that time of the year is the worst time to try to stretch a huge piece of plastic because most days are breezy. It takes only the slightest breeze to fill a greenhouse cover like a giant sail. You have to do the job when there is no breeze otherwise, you will be miserable trying. It is also a job for several people. The larger the greenhouse the harder it is to cover. Although easier to cover a small greenhouse heats up extremely quickly and has other disadvantages as well.

$10 a day is a lot to pay for a vendor-farmers markets in our area cost $50 for the whole season (May thru November, one day per week). Maybe you should charge for the whole season instead of by the day. Or do both but give a discount if they pay for the whole season up front. That gives them an additional incentive to show up everyday.

You have to convince your vendors that you have something to offer for their money. And it needs to be something they can't do on their own and will make them money. Find out what they expect and need and then offer that to them. What would the advantage be to have their plants in your greenhouse if they have their own already. Is this advantage worth them paying a little extra money to you? Who will take care of promoting the market? Pay for advertising?

Hope this helps!