Court McFee

I am planning a new home orchard on the border of USDA hardiness zones 5a and 4b (one block into the 5a side). I've got a brilliant southern exposure but I'm looking for additional ideas to keep zone 5 fruit safer. I'm also keen to keep these trees on the smaller side for easy hand-picking and will be building things solo. I will definitely be emphasizing hardier varieties, but... peaches, I NEED them.

So my idea is to use IBCs for an insulated wall on the north side of these trees, two on two for an 8 x 8' garden wall behind each tree. I can place the IBCs by myself and fill them in place. I can use the aluminum cages as the trellis for training espalier. Espaliered trees can be kept smaller/denser. And the water inside the tanks can collect thermal energy from the sun to keep the trees warmer overnight. I can paint the liners black to increase thermal collection. I can use antifreeze in the tanks or a pump/heater for winter. Or, if I keep the water pure, I could use these as rain barrels to irrigate the trees/guilds around them. I don't hate the industrial look of IBCs already, but I also think that they'd be pretty covered up by the trees in 4-5 years, so the appearance isn't an issue for me.

I'll be clearing trees from this land for the orchard and I'd like to keep them/use them right there. I will also be digging a pond. I could use the cleared trees and the dislocated pond soil to build (tall!) hugel berms around the IBC walls for insulation (also maybe decomposition heat for a few years?) and for growing surface for the other guild plants. The wall would also be a convenient thing to hang a tree cover from if the weather looked especially bad. I could build the walls "flat" for full-on southern sun or I could angle them to create a sort of V-shape for more protection from the winds (NW prevailing in winter).

My hypothesis is that having a solar/thermal wall behind my trees with warmer needs will help them through the harsher winters. Am I on the right track? Any ideas or advice? Alternatives?

I'm trying to design a passive-ish climate control system for my new place. The location is hot-summer humid continental without dry season (-40 to +40C, 20-100mm precipitation/month, 60-75%rH, 110-350 hrs sun/month at 40-75%).

I intend to have a big greenhouse for a collector that will also house a seasonal climate battery in the form of a 55,000 liter pond. The greenhouse will need to stay above 4C year-round (design still in progress). In addition to the greenhouse, I'm looking to manage the climate of an 8m2 passive solar house (to about 18C year round) and (maybe) also supply some thermal buffering to plants in an enclosed garden between the greenhouse and the house.

I would like to use the simplest, most passive, low-maintenance, off-grid systems possible. I'm excited about ground-source temperature stabilization such as shallow "air tubes" or the horizontal loops and actual geothermal. I'm also enthusiastic about above-ground stuff like thermal chimneys, trombe walls, and solar-oriented glazing. I want to run the water tubing through the floors of the house at least, plus a tank for domestic heated water supply, and through the pond for heat storage. I want the air mostly for ventilation and humidity management in the buildings.

My basic idea is two big solar collectors (greenhouse and house) on two different levels with a big pond and a walled garden in between to serve as a climate battery, big air/water loops from greenhouse to house and back to move that heat around. But it seems like, as long as I'm trenching between the greenhouse and the house (under the garden), I might as well run both air tubing and water tubing. As long as I'm building solar chimneys and solar walls on the house, I might as well run both air tubing and water tubing in them too. So, there'd be similar climate needs on both the ends of the loops, with thermal mass in the middle for seasonal heat storage. But I haven't seen or read of anyone who's done both together and I can't be the first person who thought of it? Is it the expense of buying/laying both sets of piping or something more complex?

And, I'd be grateful too for any help people can offer about my overall concept and how to engineer it into reality. Thanks!

Thanks John. That DWG design is the core of my plan! I hadn't heard of the greens company... TEN ACRES of greenhouse?!?! I'm dazzled. Fascinating stuff--I appreciate the tip!

I realize now my initial post was dumb. I should have been much more clear in my request: I'm hoping to connect with an engineer who would help me design a system using a giant greenhouse swimming/growing pond as a heat sink. I know plenty of people are using small versions of this idea, but I am hoping to find someone who will help me build a BIG version of it.

Does anyone know of an engineer in the area who is keen to work on permaculture-oriented designs?

I want to develop a property in southern MN and need some skilled design help, especially with a seasonal climate battery for a big greenhouse. Ideally, I'd like help with the other structures and systems too, but it's the climate control element that I'm having the hardest time with. I'd be glad for any leads and any advice. Thanks!