It’s always easier to get an idea than to execute it.
I live on the bank of a deep creek bed. A couple of dry creeks flank the back yard where I raise a garden and chickens.
Because there are so many trees surrounding the place, sunny spots go for a premium. A few years ago I put a small greenhouse in one of the sunny spots to replace my cold frame. I wish I had the cold frame back. Or the sunny spot.
The green house isn’t big enough to be self-sustaining during the winter cold, so I had an idea. Directly behind the garden and the chicken coops, one of those dry creeks is man deep and two-men wide. What if I chiseled out straight walls and set them with blocks to the top of the bank? I’d add a few feet of repurposed windows for height and a clear roof. The two ends would be double paned for insulation and include doors and vents.
When the trees are bare, there is more sunlight. Because summers are so hot here and spring is so short, wouldn’t winter be a good time to plant potatoes, cabbages, and other cool-season crops in a greenhouse? Would the depth and the dirt help control the temperature?
This idea resurfaces every so often, like it did today when I was cleaning out a chicken coop and wondering where I was going to put all that dirty, half-composted hay from the run.
You know what I need? I need someone by whom I can run my ideas, someone who isn’t cleaning chicken coops and weeding garden beds and killing potato bugs. Maybe that person could say, “Hmm, let’s give that idea a try.”
I’d be glad to help…if I have time.
What I have instead is a son-in-law with his own ideas. He thinks I should turn that deep, dry creek bed into an aquaculture setup.
Of course, about every ten years we get so much rain that the deep creek backs up into the dry creek beds. What then?
Apocalypse Farm 