Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Building a permanent greenhouse with cattle panels - part 1

The greenhouse today - still a lot to do

Last year I decided I wanted to build a small greenhouse.  I wanted to have a place to start seedlings and be able to pot things in the spring out of the weather and then let them grow on till weather allowed them to go outside.   Since then I've also done a lot of reading about 4 season growing and decided I would like to incorporate an area in the greenhouse to do that too.   I wanted to do it as inexpensively as possible so decided cattle panels would be the way to go.   For anyone that doesn't know what they are, a cattle panel is fencing for livestock you can purchase in sections at Tractor Supply or a feed store.  It's comes in 16' lengths 52" tall.  They run about $20 each.  It's rigid and can be arched to make a structure 8' wide and any length depending on how many you use. I wanted it 8' x 12'.

Last summer I started the base.  It was hard for me to figure out because it was going to be located on a slope and I wanted a dirt floor without having to do ground work to level the area.    I also wanted to make the back end of it to be a place I could put the chickens for the winter so I lined the floor with hardware cloth so it would be predator proof.  

This was what I got done last year.



I added 3 cattle panels



To get the cattle panels on,  I start by clamping a 1" x 4"  board to the base.  I drilled pilot holes along the bottom of the board and then added 2" hex screws.  



I left the hex screws out about a 1/2" to 3/4" so  there was a gap between the base and the board so I could then slide the end of the cattle panel into the space.  The screws kept it from going all the way through to the ground.   When I got all three panels into the boards on both sides I added some  hex screws above so the cattle panels can't be raised.



Then I tightened them all using a socket wrench which makes it fairly fast compared to using a regular wrench.



The cattle panels were older and not as rigid as new ones are so they ended up leaning some.   I cut out a door way and then added a brace to straighten it out till I got permanent bracing in.  Then I added a doorway in front and in the back.


I added the tarp to keep my tools dry in case of rain while I am working on it. When both the front and back doorways are in I can add the bracing to the top by adding 2 - 12'  2 x 4's to the top of the doorways to make it strong enough to handle a snow load.  Right now the back door is only clamped. 




I did the back doorway differently.  You can also see a bit of the hardware cloth that is lining the bottom of the greenhouse.

Hope to get time later this week to finish the front and back but the pigs have been escaping daily so need to redo their situation first.  



Elizabeth

Other post about building with cattle panels








16 comments:

  1. Aren't you the clever one! I've been thinking about hoop houses and wondering about building one, but this seems so much easier to do. Cattle panels are great for so many things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I LOVE cattle panels. I will be building houses for the goats and pig next with them. They are so easy. I have some goat panels too and am going to make my next hayrack with part of one of them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You amaze me Elizabeth. And you make it look so easy. Is there anything you can't do?
    I never told you how pleased I was that Melia enjoyed my preying mantis post. Thoughts of the two of you reading my words and viewing my pics made me smile. Thank you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow, that is sooo cool! What an awesome idea! I can't wait to see it finished.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is such a great idea... just showed it to my hubby and he agreed, economical and easy!

    I've been reading Eliot Coleman's "The Winter Harvest Handbook". Before I even started reading his book, which I HEART very much, I put in a small row of spinach October 3rd, with not so much as a plastic row cover to protect it on really cold nights. It's doing swimmingly well, and I've taken two cuttings in the past week for salads. Yum!!

    Love your idea Elizabeth... saw you on Homegrown.org, I'm a follower here now. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am going to enjoy following you around your "tiny homestead". I like the greenhouse..and the area that you keep the chickens in during the winter should give you some great fertilized dirt to work with.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Very, very nice :-) Saw a link to this post on http://frannbro.blogspot.com/2010/11/shelter-publications-inc.html and had to take a peek - brilliant! Now - to look round the rest of your blog...

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the looks of this, can't wait to see it finished. This might be something that we can try to build here, great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think it will be cute when it's done. I intend to trim it up a little. I'm anxious to have the time to finish it myself.

    ReplyDelete
  10. thank you for this post! we're going to be building a greenhouse like this in the spring--either with pvc pipe or cattle panels. i will keep your notes. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. I just found your blog at the Homestead Blog Hop and I love it. You have so many good ideas. This is exactly the idea I need for a green house and I can do it myself without hubbies help. Always a plus because we are so stinking busy.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Evening: I have been consciously lowering my carbon footprint and will be putting in a garden next year. I was searching for a DIY greenhouse plan that I could afford and make myself. You design is the best I have seen. I live in Rochester,NY and the weather is harsh so a good greenhouse would help me extend my growing season. I look forward to seeing images of your finished GH.

    Cheers!

    F. Gassmann

    ReplyDelete
  13. THIS IDEA BRINGS SUCH A SMILE TO MY FACE. I AM DISABLED AND WAS JUST SITTING HERE SO UPSET THAT I COULDNT AFORD TO BUILD A GREENHOUSE THAT I WANTED SO BADLY. NOW SEEING YOUR BRILLIANT PLAN, I CAN AFFORD TO MAKE ONE AND I THINK I MAY BE ABLE TO DO IT ALL ON MY OWN. WE HAVE TERRIBLE MOLE PROBLEMS HERE AND THE METAL MESH SCREENING ON THE FLOOR OF THE GREENHOUSE IS BRILLIANT AND PERFECT FOR MY PROBLEM! THANKS SO MUCH!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. What material are you planning to use to cover the greenhouse? I hope it is in a sheltered area, because I know from our experience with cattle panel chicken tractors, that it is impossible for me to secure any sort of covering over the wire panels sufficiently tightly to eliminate holes being made in the covering after only a few months of abrasion. (We live on a rise in a totally open area, with almost constant wind ranging from a gentle breeze to 40+ MPH gusts.)

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have issues with Deer and with voles. I was going to do hardware cloth on the bottom like you did, but wasn't sure what to do yet about enclosing the garden. This looks like the perfect solution! Thanks for sharing your work!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I just found your blog, love your greenhouse. Thanks for sharing :)

    I was wondering now that you've had it for a couple years, are there any changes you made and or if you would do anything differently?

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails