My North Dakota Cistern-Fed, Solar-Heated Greenhouse

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VENTILATION

The sun can really heat up a glassed-in room or lean-to on a clear day ... even when the outside temperature is quite low. (My greenhouse, for instance, has been warmed to near 100*F when the outside air was no more than 15* above.) For this reason, a vent system of some sort is an absolute must. The breather on my greenhouse is a little large-two feet wide by ten feet long-but it's better to have one that's too big than one that's too small. (Don't skimp on the size of your greenhouse's vent, or your vegetables will cook right where they grow!)

SUPPLEMENTAL HEAT

For supplemental heat in the winter, I've finallyafter messing around with many different types of heaters-settled on using an Ashley wood stove. The Ashley is airtight and has a thermostat (both of which are essential features for keeping fumes down and maintaining an even temperature). Three or four logs will keep this efficient stove fueled up for more than 24 hours.

If you decide to go the wood stove route, bear in mind that a good chimney is essential. I tried just using a stovepipe at first, but-because the stove burns its fuel very slowly-ran into problems with creosote forming in the pipe. A brick chimney—preferably one with a smooth tile core-is best. (For proper draft, the chimney should be higher than any nearby roofline.)

I also find it useful in the winter to insulate the greenhouse by attaching a long sheet of plastic to the underside of the framing that holds up the unit's lowermost row of windows. I don't like to buy or use plastic, but—since I only need it four months out of the year—I do get quite a bit (three years) of use out of one 16' X 30' sheet . . . and it does give me prettier tomatoes.

What I'd ultimately like to do, I guess, is find some way to solar heat the cistern's water during the summer, then recirculate the liquid through the greenhouse in the winter. I'm currently experimenting along this line.

THE PERIMETER PLANTER

Because the frost does go down deep here (five feet) in winter-and because the stone wall upon which my greenhouse rests only extends a foot below the earth's surface—I've constructed a second rock wall parallel to and three feet away from the greenhouse, as high as the conservatory's stone wall itself. The space between the two walls serves as a summer planter and, more importantly, helps to insulate the belowground portion of my greenhouse from f rost.

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