# an earth shelter type green house



## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

http://gardening.streamshare.com/posts/6051



> It's a pretty intriguing set-up that combines the principles of passive solar heating with earth-sheltered building. But how to make one?From American sustainable agriculture non-profit Benson Institute comes this enlightening manual on how a _walipini_ works, and how to build it:


I saw this and the short video, but the photos explain it pretty well.
Looks as if done right, might be concealable with shrubs and stuff around it.

It also reminds me of one of the Survivor shows where the family cleared out their swimming pool and covered it for a green house area.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

How do you keep water out? Looks like one good rain and you'd be back to a swimming pool.

Water dispersing seems to be our biggest obstacle to building underground here. That, and a layer of bedrock about 3' down.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

I don't know the technical, but that's why I put the link up, to give you guys and idea to read and adapt as necessary if you decide to use it at your place.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

I'm in the process of making something similar right now. I've had the book Solar Greenhouses Underground for several years and have always wanted one of these! Unfortunately, this project is one of those that only proceeds when there is some extra money. The hole is dug and the walls are up but that's probably as far as I'll get this year.

I live where it's very sandy, so am not awfully concerned about filling with water. The walls are posts, shoring and plastic. I'm going to use 2" blueboard all the way around about 4' down. If I can swing it, I'll also use that about 2' down and 4' out away from the greenhouse. I'm not sure if it's worth it or not, though, with the drier soil type I have here. Living up here in Montana, my roof is going to be a lot more substantial that that. The north part will be insulated and the south part will be triple wall poly. The north roof will also be partially buried. The inside will be painted white to help with light diffusion.

I'm also wanting to run a gutter on the south side and funnel the water into some rain barrels which will feed a 100 gal or so stock tank that will hopefully be able to support a few goldfish. I can use that water to water the plants in the greenhouse. It will be all by hand as there is no power, but that's ok. I'm hoping I can at the very least grow some cold tolerant crops in there over the winter.

I'd think plastic spread out a few inches under the surface soil and a few feet out from the greenhouse would ameliorate a lot of the water filling things up issue. I don't know though. Engineering is NOT my thing. I would think if you had nice clay soil and could figure out how to avoid the swimming pool syndrome, you wouldn't really need 'walls' per se.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

AngieM2 said:


> I don't know the technical, but that's why I put the link up, to give you guys and idea to read and adapt as necessary if you decide to use it at your place.


It wouldn't take but a few minutes with the backhoe to build a mini-one. Something I could reach down into. Maybe when it's not a bajillion degrees out there I'll give it a try. The thought of a cheap greenhouse is pretty encouraging.

Thanks, Miss Angie.


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## jnap31 (Sep 16, 2005)

I built a 20 by 20 ft pit greenhouse 6 feet deep last year with old chicken house trusses to support the roof. The pit was $1,000 to dig, the roof is tuft tex so it ws expensive also. I only heated it one night and it kept above freezing. I grew lots of big vegetable transplants in it, Also it has a banana, pommegranats and citrus inside. Wish I had a digital camera and new how to post pictures.Wish I could take the time away from the garden to learn. Well Not really I love my garden.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

We built something similar, though less buried, about 5 years ago. An earth bermed greenhouse, which also houses the electrical gear for our solar panels.
It's 12' deep x 20' in glazed length.












The berm/raised bed on the south face holds a strawberry bed.










The rafter/trusses are homemade out of 2x6 treated lumber.











The glazing is 16mm triple wall polycarbonate panels.











Never gets below freezing inside, which works fine for wife to keep her flowers over the winter. Raising things like tomatoes does require supplemental heat.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

I LOVE TnAndys greenhouse. I built mine somewhat like this. I built my shops S wall from block and painted it dark brown. It is the N wall of the greenhouse. The floor in the greenhouse is 2' below the banked ground level, front and sides are 3' tall, made from block. The walls are straight up and down though. Lean to roof. The door is in the block wall so entry is from the shop, keeps heat in. The heat that builds up from the wall can be diverted into the shop, as it rises through the hollow blocks. It does warm the shop quite a bit on cold sunny days. I have black Rubbermaid tanks with yellow perch, they hold heat at night....James


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Showed it to hubby. He loves the idea and is trying to figure out how to shore up the sand for the walls.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

jnap31 said:


> I built a 20 by 20 ft pit greenhouse 6 feet deep last year with old chicken house trusses to support the roof. The pit was $1,000 to dig, the roof is tuft tex so it ws expensive also. I only heated it one night and it kept above freezing. I grew lots of big vegetable transplants in it, Also it has a banana, pommegranats and citrus inside. Wish I had a digital camera and new how to post pictures.Wish I could take the time away from the garden to learn. Well Not really I love my garden.


That sounds really nice, and I really am glad to see a post from you. Nice to know you're still checking in.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

I don't really have any input, but do love this idea. I'd love to be able to grow bananas, avocados and citrus here. My ex-MIL used to grow banana trees in her yard in the city, but would dig them up every fall and store them in her basement until spring. They actually grew little bananas that were so sweet! But my ex-FIL finally put his foot down when they got so big the two of them couldn't handle moving them any more, lol.

Sorry for the thread drift, but I just wanted to say to TNAndy that, if you used to do that stuff for a living, you must have made really good money and been in high demand. I've loved every single project of yours that I've seen. They all look so professional and so perfect, not to mention very well planned out, much better than any of the professional jobs I've ever seen here in Oklahoma. Wish I had a clone of you here, lol.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Callie,

I did all kinds of weird and interesting stuff for a living back when I worked for other folks. 

Several dozen new houses, replacement windows, electrical work, brick/block layer, taught vocational school for 7 years, rebuilt a church steeple once ( and wow, I'm NEVER doing that again.....ahahahaha), farmer, sawmiller, logger, cabinetbuilder, helicopter mechanic ( my Army days), VW mechanic, heck, I've got more hats than hooks to hang them on.

Lot of my projects turn out nice, but of course, you haven't seen the messes I've made either......somehow those don't make it to the photo file.


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## Glade Runner (Aug 1, 2013)

TnAndy that is an inspiring greenhouse! Been thinking about what I wanted to do and you nailed it. Thank you very much.


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