Ebo David

Do you have a temperature logger inside the greenhouse?  If so, I can plot the effectiveness of the insulation.  To do a proper job for a paper/report, I would try to find a greenhouse where they did not have any insulation outside, and ideally, set up soil temp probes inside, outside where it snows, and outside where it snowed but you kept it clear.  That would give you an idea of the contribution of snow-depth and insulation.

Yep.  That is one way to do it for sure  How is your foundation holding up with only 1 to 2 feet deep (which is 1/4 to 1/2 standard building code), and in zone 4a?  Just curious.  I do know that in some places (like Norway) they have a building system where the entire house is built on an thickly insulated encased slab, and it works for them...

@Mike, what does your foundation look like?  Is it on cinder blocks?  Is the exterior perimeter insulated?

There is an interesting article in a Nature publication on:

Dong, J., Tong, X., Xu, J. et al. "Diverse greenhouse farming systems underpin high land‑use efficiency and food security in China."  Commun Earth Environ (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-026-03711-9

Turns out that in Northern China, they build their greenhouses with thick thermal mass walls, and sometimes wrap the exterior foundation (and north walls) with some insulating material, and they typically keep above freezing without an HVAC. It turns out that if you insulate around the foundation wall, it adds a lot of the dirt to the thermal mass of the greenhouse, and the cold does not seep in from the top few inches of the soil. Digging around the foundation to add insulation can be a daunting task, but there are people who have buried it at an angle instead of just straight down.  It has been years since I have seen the model output of the thermal profiles (vertical vs slopped orientation). Digging a 6" deep trench 4' wide is easier than a 4' deep trench 6" wide.

Hope that helps.

I reread my reply I need to post a clearification.  if you are making ristras, first do it with red chillies, not green.  I have used dried green chillies, but I have never seen a green chilli ristra (they might be done that way, but I am not sure).  What I meant when I postedthe last sentence was chillies "can" (instead of would) be harvested green, buit have a different taste.

r ransom wrote:... Although chillies here are sometimes harvest early as green, it's unlikely to happen in the store as immature chillies don't keep as long as mature harvested ones, so the green chillies are a different cultivar to red chillies.  Personally, I don't like immature red chillies as they taste very different to green chillies.  

A germination test will help determine if it's worth keeping the seeds.

I grew up in New Mexico, and it was traditional to hang mature red chilli on a string (called a "ristra").  If you have extra chillis from your harvest, you might want to hang a couple some place that gets decent ventellation and see how well they dry in your area or not.  My guess is that they would do find inside of the house (which has controlled hummidity), which has got to be drier than a stone's throw from a river at 7,000' elevation.  And yes, they would be harvested early (while green), and have a different taste.

Bell petters, are different.  I do not know any ever drying those, but I could easily be wrong.  (Hatch) Chilli's are a staple spice, bell peppers are treated as a vegetable.

"Homeopathy is unique, complex and it's own thing, separate from classic herbalism."  Quite true.  Also, up until the 1990's or so, almost every medicine you find at the pharmacy started as a plant, animal, or something natural -- the active incredients would then be isolated, and synthasized...  The couple of times I tried homeopathy, it did not seem to work at all, but that was me.  Your milage may varry.  

A couple of extra points on classical herbalism, the "active ingredient" extracted by modern medicine in pill form is only one small part of a plant.  Many times there are other ingredients which buffer or provide some support.  It is part of why I prefer herbal medicine when I can sort myself out.

When I studied medicinal herbs, Oh so long ago, my teacher suggested that I start by studying herbs that would help myself day to day (it helps motivate you to undestand it deeply).  What types of illnesses and/or injuries would I be expected to have, or have family/friends to have?  For myself, I used to have nasty issues with allergies, and arround that time I served apprentiships with a master blacksmith and a tool and die machinist -- suggesting a focus on herbs that deal with allergies, inflimation, burns and cuts.  For someone on permies, I am guessing that we are talking about typical gardening, forestry, and animal husbandry issues.  I am guessing that would include the allergies, inflimation, burns and cuts mentioned befure plus different infections (both fungal and bacterial)...

Early on in my studies, my teacher held up a couple of "herb books" (each with 100's of herbs in them).  She explained that traditionally even experienced healers never knew more than a dozen or two plants, and maybe a hundred or so preparations from those.  So, start with a couple of plants, and see how deep you can go.

On last thing - start with things that are not dangeriously toxic (like digitalis and mistletoe - whose dosage calculations are life and death critical).  Also start with something you can grow in your garden (or a container), so that you become familiar with every stage of the plant (including harvesting and preparation).  

While this is not a list of "try these", I hope my comments help.