A hobby greenhouse is one thing a commercial in CA is another. You'll have building codes to meet. I'd think you should contact GA or another quality provider and ask them to provide specs that meet your crops needs and the codes. I've gotten specs from GA before on a greenhouse the size you mention. I guess I wasn't that impressed but they could likely provide all you need. I got my greenhouse from Stuppy. They were and probably still are on the expensive side but I had confidence that their greenhouse won't blow away. Basically you decide on a frame that's strong enough and then add the equipment that will provide the growing environment your crops need. If the provider doesn't seem knowledgeable in all areas go elsewhere. I'm not that familiar with those crops but getting the cooling and light levels right is key especially where it gets as hot as Corona. I'd think you'll need more than one air exchange per minute using 36 inch exhaust fans, an apposing wet wall for evaporative cooling, and effective shade cloth like 40-50% aluminet. My greenhouse doesn't provide much, if any, freeze protection without a heater. In Corona that might work. But those crops sound very freeze sensitive. You can't afford a loss even one year in 10. So a heater on a controller might still pay. The writeup linked below has some pictures of my greenhouse lower down in the post. Here is a link that might be useful: greenhouse writeup

I'm sorry for the delay in answering your request to post my actual Amazon review. Here is the word for word review that Amazon deleted. The greenhouse that I ordered (a 7'x7' with a plastic slip over cover - which when I got it, actually turned out to be less than 6.5 feet square) is not made any longer, so I posted on Amazon on other models. I don't think Amazon has found the reviews yet, but when they do, I'm sure they will be deleted too: I purchased an EarthCare greenhouse through Amazon in January 2012. It lasted to September 2012. I was excited when I got the greenhouse. It was just the right size for my small backyard. The first thing we noticed is that the plastic cover is too small for the frame. We thought it might stretch out. It didn't. Then, after putting it up and securing it with the small pegs that are provided, it blew over within the first 48 hours (not even that big of a wind). One of the legs broke in half and another bent in half. Luckily, my husband is handy with fixing stuff, so he fixed the legs better than new. We put it back up with massive stakes at each corner. All seemed well until I went into the greenhouse in September, and everything in there was covered with small things that looked like fish scales. I couldn't figure out what they were for a while, and then it dawned on me to look up at the roof. Almost every small plastic "window" between the green mesh was empty. I now have a screen house with very large mesh. The plastic cover is shot. This is an unacceptably short life span for this greenhouse. I contacted Earthcare and asked for a replacement because their website has a 100% money back guarantee. This is their exact reply (lack of capital letters and all)-------- “our supplier on these only offers a 30 day warranty against any defects in the merchandise. We also do not carry this model any more. We had a sticker on the box that says to remove the cover during the summer months as they get very hot and that affects the cover. what I would recommend would be to buy some greenhouse film and put under the existing cover for the heat and just use the other cover to hold the greenhouse film in place and beable to use the zip up door.” thanks butch ------ First, there was NO sticker on the box, and my (actual cut and paste) response below explains why heat was not a factor in the deterioration of the plastic: I live right on the coast and I use(d) the greenhouse all summer because it's so COLD. Heat is NOT a factor in the deterioration of this plastic. Thanks for honoring your warantee. I will remember this and recommend to my many gardening friends NOT to buy ANYTHING from earth care greenhouses. And also, your lack of respect for your customers is obvious when you don't even care enough to use capital letters. Pretty disgraceful. ----- There was no response from Earthcare after that, so I contacted the Better Business Bureau. They attempted to have EarthCare honor it's guarantee, but EarthCare refused. So the case has been dropped. If you purchase an EarthCare product and it is defective or of poor quality, EarthCare WILL NOT honor their guarantee."

Unfortunately, I have to agree that the type of small greenhouse you are considering doesn't seem like the best investment in our climate. When I think about how a full sized wooden lounge chair can become airborne in our high winds, I don't think that lightweight thing stands a chance. Also, the heat factor would probably cook the seedlings before the wind got a chance to kill them. I had a small Harbor Freight 6x8 greenhouse, and even with half of the plastic panels busted out, it was usually oven-like, over 100 degrees on sunny winter days. Hardening off is a challenge for even experienced gardeners, especially if you work during the day. Some things I've learned about hardening off ... keep trays on the ground. If you don't have a critter problem, the wind is less intense down at ground level instead of up on a patio table, for example. Use your house as a windbreak and shade. You may have to put the seedlings in different places on different days, depending on the wind and sun. It just so happens, both houses I've lived in face south, so my backyard is on the north side and shaded for a good part of the day. That's a great place for me to get my seedlings started in the wide world. They get short dips outside, usually starting on a Wed or Thurs night after work, going out for an hour, then two, then three - even if it isn't totally all in "daytime" it gets them used to the moving air a bit. Then on Sat and Sunday I can up the time and try to get them out for a 4-6 hour time (still in the north shade!) By Monday, they are usually ready to go an 8 hour day, when I am diligently checking their moisture level before I put them outside. By Wednesday, a week in, assuming the temps are hospitable, I'll start thinking about scooting them out in to the sun, or a spot that gets a little morning sun then shade the rest of the day while I'm at work, and keep at that for another week or so, increasing the sun exposure and working up to an overnighter. It usually takes me about 2 weeks or more (when the weather cooperates) to get my seedlings where I am ready to plant them out. One really important thing is to condition the seedlings to wind while they are still inside on your seed starting shelf or wherever before they go outside at all. I have a small desktop fan that I start up as soon as the seedlings sprout and I take turns rotating my trays onto the shelf where the fan runs, to get the stems to be stocky and strong against the wind. Watch your moisture levels carefully, the fan can dry them out, too, but much more controllable than the outside wind!

Leava, I understand that you feel like you are leading the little lambs to slaughter, but on the other hand, if they are taught in the class just exactly how difficult the weather here can be (and will be), then they are going into gardening with their eyes wide open. I think that's a good thing because they'll have a better understanding of the challenges that lie ahead. Often, new gardeners think they'll rototill the soil, sow seeds and....then come back in a few months and harvest. Many of them underestimate the importance of proper soil preparation/soil amendment, irrigation, mulching and weeding. So, if they learn those things in the class, they'll start out their new gardening venture with a much better idea of what gardening actually involves and that ought to improve their chance of success. It is important that all newbie gardeners learn that the idea we have a "long growing season" here does not mean that they can grow everything they want any time between February and November. They need to learn that the long growing season has multiple smaller growing seasons contained within it. I find that newbies in their first year or two do not really grasp that most cool-season crops go into the ground only between mid-Feb and mid-March because later plantings will not mature before the heat gets bad. They also generally have no idea that they can grow another round of fall cool-season crops by planting them from July through September. I mean, really, who wants to plant anything in July through September in our heat? No one does. But if you do it, and you keep them irrigated, mulched and weeded, you'll get great harvests most years. Around here, I see a lot of new gardeners give up in July when it gets hot. To me, that heat is just the signal that it is time to start the fall garden. Proper variety selection is something they need to learn too, and they need to understand that tomato varieties that produce smaller fruit (anything from bite-sized tomatoes to 12-16 oz. tomatoes) will do better here than the varieties that produce 1 to 3-lb. tomatoes. The tomatoes that do best here are those with DTMs of 75 days or less. Those with DTMs of 80-90-100 days often do not set many fruit before the heat shuts them down. Someone needs to teach the newbies that bush beans give a heavy yield earlier than pole beans, and pole beans need to be planted as early as possible so they can produce before (a) the heat shuts them down, (b) the grasshoppers and blister beetles eat all their leaves, and (c) the spider mites attack any leaf left behind by the hoppers and blister beetles. Once again, though, fall beans can be planted in July or August and will produce great through October, into November, and sometimes even in December if covered up with row cover on freezing nights. They also need to understand that if they can keep their pole beans alive through the July and August heat and onslaught of pests, they'll get great fall production but, if they can't keep them alive, it is okay to sow new seeds for a fresh bunch of pole bean plants. If a hot summer threatens, the newbies need to understand they'll get much better production in June-August from okra, southern peas (purplehull pinkeyes, blackeyes, zipper, cream and lady peas, hot peppers and melons of all kinds, than from other veggies that don't tolerate the heat as well. Someone needs to teach the newbies how to deal with pests naturally and organically to the extent it is possible to do so, and they need to understand that sometimes the pests will win no matter what you do. More than anything else, they need to learn it all starts with the soil and that poorly prepared soil will not give them huge yields like they may get with well-amended, improved soil. They also should be taught how to use row covers, low tunnels, cold frames, etc. to extend the season both early and late. That can make a big difference in how well their gardens produce. Gardening is a wonderful "hobby" or "lifestyle" but the newbies need to be taught that, while they might not have great success in their very first year, they can expect that their harvests will get better year after year as they learn all the different ways to cope with the annual onslaught of weather disasters and pests and diseases. It is so easy for newbies to get discouraged and to give up. I feel like some of them give up too easily instead of using a tough year as a learning experience and moving forward to the next year with a lot of good experience under their belt and ideas about how the next year will be better. That's why we all keep gardening right? Because of the idea that things will be better next year. : ) If I had friends on food stamps who were counting on the garden to supplement their meals, I'd have them focus on foods that produce a lot of food for the space involved....potatoes, onions and corn do that, and so do bush beans, cabbage (it is hard to fail with cabbage), sweet potatoes and (most years) tomatoes. Sometimes squash produces a lot, but the newbies need to understand exactly how big of a threat squash bugs and squash vine borers can be. If they are not able to successfully battle the squash bugs and SVBs, they could get nothing from their squash plants. Cucumbers can be a great producer, but only if you successfully prevent diseases from getting them. I always plant County Fair because it is the only variety that doesn't get bacterial wilt at some point every year. Those are the kinds of tips that help newbies achieve success even in a hard year. Lettuce can produce very well, but must be planted extra early because it is going to bolt once the temperatures are in the 90s. Most newbies plant lettuce too late. Often, new gardeners are in love with the idea of growing their own pumpkins and they want to plant round orange ones that make great jack-o-lanterns (if the squash bugs and SVBs don't get them) but aren't so great for eating. Well, pumpkins take up a whole lot of ground for months before they produce a single edible squash. I'd encourage them to plant bush-type winter squash from the C. moschata family because squash vine borers rarely get them and those varieties can be highly productive. Will they be as cute as orange jack-o-lantern pumpkins? No, but they will be food that can be eaten. It is the same way with watermelons. Often newbies will choose the varieties that produce 20-30 lb. melons, but those varieties take up a whole lot of space, need lots and lots of water to produce big melons, and don't produce a lot of melons compared to the space used. It is smarter in our climate to plant the mini watermelons that only get between 6 and 10 lbs. or so, as they take up a lot less space and need less water and produce quite a few small melons per vine (although a good muskmelon (cantaloupe) will produce more melons per square foot than refrigerator-sized melons will. I think a gardening class is a great way for a newbie to get started, but they need to be taught in that class that gardening is a journey, and not a destination. They need to understand there will be lots of frustration, pain and misery along the way, but that they, as gardeners, will learn as they go and they'll get better at it the longer they do it. So often, nowadays, I feel like we live in a society where people expect almost instant gratification from the things they do, and gardening definitely is not an instant gratification process. It is long and involved (well, you could get almost instant gratification from growing radishes....but how many radishes will any one person eat??) and the successes are spread out along the whole timeline of the garden, as are the failures. Finally, new gardeners need to know how much to plant. A friend of ours once invited me over to see his brand new garden. He proudly showed us his one row of tomato plants and three rows of squash plants (among other things). If he had asked me before he planted, I wouldn't have suggested three rows of squash plants for exactly two people. Dawn