While we're in the depth of winter, and it's cold outside, I hope this would remind you of the warm summers.
I got up this morning and dug through the snow to reach to my greenhouse.

Once I opened the door the aroma of my tropical fruit reminded me of being in some Caribbean island. The tropical flowers and fruit are ripening.

I ended up picking several ripe Guavas, and lemon guavas. There are still some citrus and a couple figs that are ripening.
Here's some of my guavas I just picked.

Folks living in Florida and California might be picking these fruit from their outdoor trees, but being in up north and having to pick ripe tropical fruit, is just priceless.
I still have a couple persimmon left on my tree.

Bass,

I'm going to come over and live right next door to you.
And while your sleeping I'm going to eat all your fruits.
And if you have a guard dog I will eat it too.

But all jokes aside I've been thinking about buying or building a greenhouse.
I know some of the benefits and advantages of owning one.
Plus it will keep my 76 years old father occupied during the winter months.

I hinted it him a couple of times and made no remarks ( which is a good sign ).

I think an 8' by 10' maybe 8' tall at center would be ideal.

Rafed,
None of my neighbors show any interest in fruit. the next door guy allows me to grow the grapes along his fence, he doesn't even touch them.
it would be nice to have a neighbor who likes fruit. You don't need to steal, just ask.

Bass,

I hope I didn't upset you. It was my way of complementing you on your work and dedication and inform you what my intentions were for having a greenhouse.
The stealing part was added as humor.

Bass beautiful pictures this is the only time of the year I can truthfully say that we miss snow. I'm really impressed what you can grow with that greenhouse and still picking some figs is nice. Looks like my 1+ year old trees have adapted and are starting to loose some leaves but still have a few figs left some showing color. The younger ones are still confused and green and putting on growth. It is cold here also upper 40's last night Lol
Sal

Rafed,
If you are thinking "GH"; think BiiiG!
Mine is slightly smaller that your 8'x10' (size) thought,
and it gets full right away; and with SMaaaLL plants.

Of course, depending on the resource/space available;
a small-GH is better than no-GH-at-all. Whatever it
is, I am sure that both you and dad will enjoy it....


 

Bass --  very very nice pictures many thanks for shareing them i really like to see these things.
Darn i always have the greenhouse thought in the back of my mind but im hardheaded but everytime i see one posted .........
Gogi you took the words out of my mouth in saying go big if possible.
My shed is 10x14 and i often think how my plants would fit in there and it would be tight to even walk around in there with the plants, glad i have the big 20x30 patio for the growing season.
Bass i have the room and i really like your set up and you have shown the inside pictures in past and i do have the yard room for a big one but just for me so much work as im basically only one who enjoys the different fruits in our household so i just have the few plants at least to enjoy and eat from.
Once again thanks for those AWARD winning pictures and i know you guys got a real good snowfall its all over the news here.
A White Christmas indeed this year for many.

This is a 20' long greenhouse, and i'm always running out of room. So 8' will be filled instantly.
I guess the real joy is every time I bring in some fruit from the garden or the greenhouse, my twins fight over them. They really like fruit just like their dad.

bass what kind of persimmons ? yum
how big is your green house?
my hubby just converted a metal carport into 1/2 bunny barn/1/2 green house.
are you using supplemental heat?

Nice pictures Bass. Pics on TV showed parts of US badly hit by snow. We had about 5" of snow for 1 day. Its all gone now & its back up to 8*C(48*F) daytime with rain. My wife would luv those guavas.

Oh man I love guava's actually pretty much all tropical fruit. Nice looking greenhouse by the way are your guava's in pots Bass ?

The Persimmon in the photo is Hana Fuyu. The Guava variety I have i grow in container, its called Ruby Supreme. In winter minimum temperatures can drop to 45°F, at night I have an electric heat that keeps it warm. In the day time when the sun is out, it will heat up to around 70°F.
I have several other fruits besides guavas that I keep in the greenhouse.

Beautiful Bass!  Husband was thinking of building me a greenhouse, now I must say for certain yes, I will get on him about that this spring/summer. I will help of course! Ciao beautiful photo's

Bass, I just built on ~12x16. The total cost was ~$600 or ~$3.15/sq ft The most expensive part was the green house film. Man that stuff ran me ~$250 because you have to buy it by the 100ft roll. You have to use the green house film because it is 6 mil 4 year warranty. The regular homedepot film will last 4 mo.

  I started building my greenhouse in '03 and a year later it was finnished. I dug it down into the earth to create a heat sink. You can see the pics below. Only a few years ago I put a vent through the wall for heat. The pipe from my woodstove has made my greenhouse experience even more pleasant. The glazing that I used was a series of polycarbonate panels. If you have the resources I highly recommend the poly.

-Little John
Sheboygan, WI

PS- Sorry about the over sized pics, I tried to resize with out luck.

all I can say is "wow" and I'm envious!!

i was just thinking the same thing.  here i am complaining about how i don't have room to keep a boat at my house, then i see this and it makes me want to forget about the boat and build a proper greenhouse! 

not sure i really need one down here though.

Jason,

You might need a GH if you wanted to grow date palms. :-)
I wish I had z8 weather up here. Maybe global warming will work in my favor in a few decades.

-Little John

Wild, I will post pics also, but where did you get the poly carb panneling?

As luck would have it, I did a trade with a local veggie farmer. I worked off the bill with hours in the field. He placed a big order with Farmtec and added my materials on the list as well. Farmtec sends out catalogs and has a website. If I remember correctly the poly that I chose lets in about 80% sunlight.

-Little John

Little John,

You and I have a few things in common,
tattoos
Jimi
gardening and Lot Lizards ( LOL ).

I think you did a wonderful job on the greenhouse.
Cudos to you dude!

below ground greenhouse saves energy. That's a nice greenhouse for cold weather. By the way where's the door?

The door is attached to my house (see pics below). There used to be a double door entry to the basement. It was blocked up when I bought the house in '97. I busted it out and put a ramp up into my GH. If I remember correctly my costs were as follows.....
-250 Cement Blocks (free/ salvaged)
-Masons to pour footing/ lay block, etc ($1,600)*
-Treated lumber ($500)
-Exhaust fan ($150)
-Polycarbonate Panels (Free/ work Trade)
-2 Windows @ lower front ($150)
-Benches (Free/  work Trade)
-Diamond Plate Aluminium Ramp (Free/ salvaged)
-Exterior door into GH ($150)

*The concrete work included the installation of a cement floor in my 6x12 wine cellar I built the year before. I also put more drain tile around the foundation that connected with the existing tile I layed previously. You can see the white flexible pipe in one of the pics.
  Ummmm, if I'm forgetting anything just ask.

Peace,
Little John... Letting My Fig Flag Fly (Jimi reference)

Question to fellow fig lovers. In the first series if pics that I posted, #3 you can clearly see the white rain barrel. If you look closely you can see the narrow gap between the greenhouse and the patio enclosure. What do you think if I plant a fig or 2 in there. Do you think it would survive the winter here in WI? Maybe I could stack some hay bales to enclose the tree. Any thoughts?

-Little John

You should get a min/max thermometer now and plant it in that spot for the winter. You'll be able to get an idea of whether it's feasible.

Excellent greenhouse, by the way.