Kristy's Rambles and Rants: Adding on and Revisions (number 1) to the Aquaponics System

Once we realized that direct sun from above was the key to growing our plants year-round, we had to revise the system. Our choices were to to either convert the upstair level of the barn to a fully insulated and winter-proof greenhouse or to add-on to the lower level of the barn. After consulting an engineer, we realized the cheaper option would be to create a greenhouse add-on that sloped up from the lower level to combine with the upper level. Brian had been spending time collecting used and recycled windows and doors from free sources, online trades and deals, and shopping at places like ReSource (an organization that recycles old and use construction and home materials). Because of this, we already had a large supply of cheap insulated glass. We bit the bullet and paid good money for good insulated polycarbonate roofing material. This polycarbonate material is worth the money. It is 5 layers thick, with 4 layers of air insulation between the layers. It is also strong enough to withstand the snow and winds we get on our property... both in substantial amounts. We also purchased wood and some other new materials (screws, etc.) for the structure. However, our goal was to use as many recycled materials as we could. We obtained old tires from several different local sources and lots of cans and bottles from friends. We used these to construct the foundation of our greenhouse extension.

We had to dig into the hill next to our barn to create the new greenhouse extension. You can see the tires used as the base of the foundation here. We packed them thoroughly with soil (leftover from all the digging) to create a solid base. We modeled this building structure off of methods used in building earth ships.

Brian is working on the frame of the extension here. You can see it coming from the tire foundation..

We used recycled windows for the walls and insulated polycarbonate material for the roof. The nice thing about this extension is the height of the structure. It is tall enough at the highest point to combine the lower and upper levels of our barn. We still had non-insulated polycarbonate roofing on part of the upper level of the barn as well.

Filling-in the space between tires with old cans and bottles. We later added a layer of cement to the outside of these materials. The soil packed inside of the tires and the air inside of the cans and bottles provide extra insulation.

Adding more bottles and cans.

Our new extension gave us more space, more sunlight, and an insulated space for year-round growing. The following pictures were taken when we first started growing in this new greenhouse extension. Our kale, collards, chard, peppers, and tomatoes did well. We also had some success with lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, and a few other experiments.