Our Pit Greenhouse
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Our pit greenhouse is built over a trench, with well insulated walls but only a layer of gravel over the earth floor. Bill used recycled glass on the southern roof and sides. Access is by way of steps leading down under the huge trapdoor.
There is only natural heating. The ambient heat from the earth provides heat as does warmth from the sun. A heavy snow cover in the winter also insulates the structure. We did install a wood stove initially but we never used it. We do get to read the high tide mark on the old stove, left by flooding in spring, which soon drains away!
In early spring Bill shovels away the snow from the trap door. and checks on the condition of the stored plants. We do not water any plants after they are put away in the autumn.
The first job in the spring is cleaning up the plants that overwintered - agapanthus, New Zealand flax, olive trees and others. Any pots standing on the floor are watered by the run off from early spring. Each fall we carried two fig trees into the greenhouse. They got too heavy and we got to be too old. Bill dug two holes in the floor and we get splendid crops in season! It is a great delight to invite into the greenhouse someone who grew up enjoying figs at their childhood home. "Help yourself to a handful."
Bill fills the long counter in front of the window with trays of seedlings that he has grown under lights in the house.
​We have to be mindful and not let the greenhouse get too warm once the sun gets stronger. We do use sheets of shade cloth which we place over the trays when needed. We also have to take care not to let the trays dry out and use watercans to water all the seedlings.
On the south side of the greenhouse we have a nursery area where we grow on trees, shrubs and perennials, mostly for our own gardens though some for sale. A couple of winters ago the melting snow left a terrible scene. Voles had been very active under a heavy layer of snow. We lost nearly all our plants and plans for the new season. All we could do was to harvest the soil from the pots and start again.
A rock elm, just a wee sapling in 1977, had grown and shaded the greenhouse though on the northern side. The tree died and became a liability. Our arborist, Parker Wallace from Kemble, came with his splendidly efficient team and reduced the tree, a long limb at a time to a pile, using equipment working from a nearby field.. Not a foot print in the gardens! There was quite a gap in the skyline for a while but we got used to it.
Here's that tree in its last winter.
