Jacob Klingel

Hey Arliss, if you have a few moments check out my greenhouse build, maybe it'll give you some ideas on your build.

https://permies.com/t/231688/PAHS-High-Tunnel-Batch-Box

I'm in Kenai, so I know what you are up against when I comes to the lack of sunlight haha!

Have you dug into the ground on your property? I got lucky with mine and discovered that it was pure sand once I got past the eighteen inches of clay. I utilized the sand as a large thermal battery for keeping my high tunnel warm longer than your typical Alaskan high tunnel. Also, by only growing cold hardy crops in the beginning, I was able to plant seeds March 26th, and I was cropping mid May. I'm pretty sure that I could have planted sooner, but I was building the masonry raised bed in March.

Here's how I set up my stratification chamber utilizing cinder blocks and solid CMU blocks. I was very happy with the results. That being said it wasn't a bench, but a raised garden bed.

Hey Eloise, glad to hear that you guys are planning on building next year! We are in Nikiski, and I'm planning on putting a large batch box in the center of our home, with a Walker cooktop near the north wall. I'm planning on a large opening window, or maybe even a door to a deck near the stove so that I can vent the heat out of the house during the summer. Depending upon your build a celestory window above your cook area could vent heat quickly perhaps, something similar to an earthship? Maybe it could even work as a natural hood vent if things get smokey?

April 16th I changed the chimney to a vertical one. There was a substantial change in draft.

Here is a photo from about April 12th. Our cold hardy crops were planted March 26th. You can see how much snow we received that winter on the right side of the image. I'm a freak when it comes to snow maintenance, and that's why ours was still standing when a lot of folks lost their tunnels this last winter. I was also using biochar as a snow melt up against the side of the tunnel, and then I'd dig that snow up and toss it on my raised masonry bed. You might also be able to see where the 6 mil poly stops and the expansive clay starts as the ground swelled several inches during the winter, but my tunnel didn't budge an inch.

Hi Vickey, if you hop over to my post there is more information on my particular build.

https://permies.com/t/231688/PAHS-High-Tunnel-Batch-Box

I don't want to hijack Craig's post anymore than I already have!

You are correct David! Gotta love acronyms;) Since I was not able to provide a big hat I decided to build the biggest boot possible in the hopes of shedding as much rainwater from the foundation as I could. Below the 6 mil poly there is a tremendous amount of clay that is angled in such a way to shed water towards the wetlands.

https://youtu.be/2p_ntGmKLd4?si=kP_lisV0RrgxGm-O

Hey Craig, I agree on the insulation on the north side, I wanted to add that to my build but it just didn't happen this time around. If you get a moment check out my post on my PAHS high tunnel. Hopefully it can answer some of your questions in regards to how I built my BBRMH.

I will be building a DSR2 inside my 1989 Blue Bird Bushop. I went with the DSR2 as I knew that there would be some serious height constraints inside of the bus. So far I've only mocked up the heater, but it did fit into the space very well. The other reason I really liked the idea of the DSR2 was that it has a black oven, so why not bake bread or cook food while heating up my shop.