having read several threads over the past 2 years, researched, and gathered material, being broke financially, in desperation to grow my own food, I have decided to build a partial earth
greenhouse, being in Arkansas (zone 7a, with the
water table at 1 foot in the wet season to 6 ft in the dry season) my build will be partially in a sloping hillside. We, hubby and I plan to start with, 4-foot earth walls (with logs stacked to retain the earth(block or rock inside as we can afford), then cover them with steal and plastic dome, using steal pipe and angle welded to support grow
lights and one or 2
solar panels to charge 12-volt batteries to power the grow lights.I will have steps going in from the south side and the East end will be open on the downhill end with eventual French doors..my plan is to build a
rocket mass heater to heat the
greenhouse, insulating under it with the pipe down the center like a
raised bed/work station that I can start seedlings on instead of having to use electric heating pads at the end of February but heat the area in December through February. temporary flooring will be free
pallets and drainage downhill...any advice, tips, tricks, or ideas are welcome...eventually, I plan on replacing the plastic with more permanent roofing panels and the plastic on the sides with stained glass windows(hobby) and placing a hot tub in 1 end for my old joints... L Davidson