Greenhouse Megastore is a good place to check out polycarbonate and acrylic double and triple wall coverings. The double or triple wall with 75-80% light transmission is really good material. If I were to build another greenhouse I'd probably use the double wall polycarbonate. But in a colder climate or if heating to a warmer temperature the triple wall might pay off over time. In my climate ave low 30F and heating to 40F doesn't cost much. Doubling that temp difference doubles heating cost. http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/category/polycarbonate-panels They also have heat loss and heating cost calculators so you can estimate cost and savings with various coverings.

I'm about to bite on getting my 1st HFGH, but not certain if should get, the 10x12 or 6x8 or any. Both of the HF are on sale right now. The 8x6 is $300 (25% off reg. price, which seems to be the usual discount). The 10x12 is $600 (17% off reg. price). I have a coupon for an extra 15% off any one, in stock item, only one to a customer. I suppose that's a one time only, for life use? I sort of hate to use the 15% off coupon, since the small GH was on sale for $279 last spring--but I thought, wait till fall when they drop in price. Except they never did. Anyway: With the coupon, if in stock, the prices are: 8x6 $255 10x12 $510 I have a vinyl coverd, 6x4 cold frame, that I built out of cedar. It has a vent that raises the lid, shade cloth and has done fairly well. Although after 15 yrs, it's time to rebuild. I start my plants indoors, under lights then move them to the cold frame for hardening off or growing on. Usually though, they've out grown it, prior to the time they can safely be set out in the Utah spring, when we can get snow up to memorial day. I did try a "hoop house," once. It lasted about 1/2 day, then the wind ripped it to shreds. I didn't know how then nor now, to secure the 6 mill poly to the pvc. The poor thing got hit and blew apart. To buy the large HFGH, will push hard on the budget. I'm disabled and can't work, but I might be able to swing the money. I do sell a few plants--I suppose that makes me a "grower" of sorts. It will be very good therapy if I can sit in the sunshine, in a warm, moist climate, with lots of oxygen and plants around me. --I'm originally from Louisiana. Can grow just about anything there, and it's moist, sub-tropical, rainforest climate. (I need a solarium, but my house won't accomodate it.) So, I want something I can sit in and relax. The little one will give me experience and probably, fun of building; but subtracting 2' for a walk way, will there be enough room to sit there and enjoy? Will it even produce much more than my cold frame? I hate dilemas. Isn't there a wholesaler around that will sell us greenhouse kits? Then someone who will pay the electric bills? --I might be able to go solar. We have more days of sunshine than most of the USA. So what would you do, go for the big one, which I suppose will be lots more work but give twice the space at twice the cost; or the small one which may be fun and easier to build, but less than 1/2 the space at half the cost? Or do I save my money, figure out how to secure poly to PVC and try another hoop GH? btw, whatever I do, this will have to be a free standing unit, able to withstand the high UV of Utah, strong canyon winds and heavy snow loads in winter. --which begs the question, once the UV has destroyed the panels in 3-4 yrs, are they easily replaced? Thanks, Bob

Here are the IWK beans and the rustic trellis I built for them. I am getting my first flowers. You might see that some of the leaves look really bad. I planted last october and they grew OK, but then completely stopped growth. They did not grow at all for about 3 months. They also seem to be afflicted with something (? not sure what?) and I really thought I was going to lose them. Ever since the spring equinox we got small fresh leaves that started to sprout/grow and they are looking much better. I even got my first flowers. I am really curious if anyone has observed this apparent sensitivity to day length? I suppose for me the best would be to plant on the winter solstice? or a bit after? In case you are curious it is celery, parsley and cilantro interplanted with them.

A chiffarobe is a mixture of wardrobe and chest of drawers, usually with hanging space down one side behind a door, and drawers down the other. Sort of a small portable closet, used in modest older houses that had very little (if any at all) clothing storage built in. I was thinking about that lack of closets (my house suffers mightily from this affliction) the other day, and realized that nobody had anywhere near as many clothes as we do now, even in my mother's generation (she's in her 90's).