A Walipini Greenhouse (1 Viewer)

[Laron]

A Walipini is a greenhouse built into the ground to take advantage of the stable temperatures and thermal mass of the earth and enable you to grow all year long, in almost any climate.

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Those those living at a high elevation wondering about trying this, elevation may affect the type and amount of sunlight that plants receive, the amount of water that plants can absorb and the nutrients that are available in the soil. As a result, certain plants grow very well in high elevations, whereas others can only grow in middle or lower elevations.

Here's an article talking about growing a garden above 5,000 feet: https://www.planetnatural.com/high-altitude-gardening/.

 

[Laron]

I'd like to do a hugelkultur inside one of these.

 

[Anaeika]

I’ve seen this done on an Alaskan reality tv show. Now that’s clever!

 

[Laron]

I’ve seen this done on an Alaskan reality tv show. Now that’s clever!

I've seen an underground freezer made on an Alaskan reality documentary show!

 

[Snowmelt]

Hugelkultur is the very slow release of the carbon and other mineral atoms in the mound of wood, hay and dirt. Fire would be the quick release method. Charcoal and ashes are often used on gardens, but I don't think they have a reach of 20 years! I think attention should be paid to the type of wood, though. It would have to be natural (not coated in anything man-made like creosotes); and I think the quicker growing pinewoods, etc, may not be the best for the nutritive value, as they are often grown in soils that have already been "bleached" of soil minerals by these greedy growers.

 

[therium]

Neat! I saw something similar. There was a guy who built a standard green house with brick walls about 4ft high. Then on the inside and outside he piled layers of plant matter and dirt (for the bacteria starter), and the composting of the plant matter actually heated the greenhouse enough to extend the growing season quite a bit! He didn't even need to heat the thing any other way. The sun coming in the roof and the composting matter made the heat.

Youtube search for you: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=compost+heated+greenhouse