That's not a bad idea. Good job and I really enjoy watching the videos that you and your husband be making ! Peace , love and respect to you and your family!
We use bales of straw, not hay, for walls with a thick layer of clear plastic for the roof which allows light in. Once we get in the freezing temperatures we put an old thick blanket over the plastic come evening to hold in the warmth. Love you hot bed set up and look forward to seeing the progress.
Beth DeRoos Thank you Beth - do you mean inside the polytunnel/hoophouse? Or are yours outside? Just wondering whether we need a plastic sheet over them when they are inside. What do you think?
WayOutWest Blowinblog Instead of pallets for the walls we used straw, not hay bales (straw bales are so inexpensive here). The thickness of the bales make for insulated walls and the thick plastic sheeting as a roof lets sunlight in. Have seen where people have used old windows as a roof as well.
In my village we make it very similar, using manure, but not the well-rotten one. We use fresh manure, which contains a lot of straw, because it produces more heat. The straw keeps rottening(and heating) for nearly 2 month. P.S. I adore your videos, you are sooo creative and full with sense of humour! Please keep making them! Greetings from Transsylvania.
Merker Balázs Thank you Merker! You're very kind. And helpful. Yes, we think we should have used fresher manure and more straw - but we're just learning. Now, how about you putting up a few videos about life in Transylvania?! We would be so interested and many other people would be too. You could start with a film about making hot beds the proper way : - )
WayOutWest Blowinblog Oh no, I am too shy to do this. I don`t like to be recorded if any people can see me. On the other hand I live now in the city, because I am studying veterinary medicine, and my life really lacks interesting things. Neither my english isn`t very good, and my mother hungarian wouldn`t be understood by many people. But I am looking forward for your next uploads, they are the peak point of the week!
I remember reading something in a called Shelered Greenhouses about farmers that dug down about 4 feet, lined the walls with wood planks, at the bottom of the hole they put fresh manure, two feet or so then composted soil, from there they would plant seeds or such, cover the top with glass. The hard part is removing the glass to tender to plants because the heat would escape, but still an effective way to grow in the winter. best
Rev John O'Toole Interesting. Thanks. It always seemed to me that lack of light was the bigger problem - but if we can find a way of raising the temperature then we can rule that one out. Lots of interesting experiments to try!
WayOutWest Blowinblog here is the link for the book I was reading, you may find it locally, it is written so simple people like me can understand it. best www.amazon.com/Earth-Sheltered-Solar-Greenhouse-Book/dp/0960446400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417955596&sr=8-1&keywords=sheltered+greenhouses
Rev John O'Toole Thanks John - it does look interesting but it will have to wait till there's a little spare cash - things are very tight at the moment!
Hey y'all look like fun. I like that. Way to go. I enjoyed the video about pizza and now I am checking out more of the videos ya got. I hope to see more of the far off place where you live via your youtube channel. Thank you! :)
You folks never cease to amaze me...oh, and I so look forward to your videos! I know nothing about them, but with all the work Sandra has put into it...it simply must grow lush green vegetables :). If memory serves, way back it seems I've seen videos where folks would build hot beds and keep them maintained for the heat they produce inside their poly tunnels, then plant their veggies with in their snug temperature appropriate tunnel. If you haven't checked out his channel, PLEASE check out "Caleb Warnock". One of his videos "Backyard Winter Garden Tour with Caleb Warnock" shows how he grows veggies using home made cold frames, and what looks to be large inverted, say pickle jars as a cloche...all surrounded by (and some covered) several inches of snow. Another of his videos, "Geothermal Green house with Caleb Warnock". This he built on the side of his barn, and the concept is awesome (this structure reminds me of how you folks take a concept, run with it, till it is a completed). This fellow has researched veggies, acquired/searched for varieties that have all but become extinct, and is grows them for seeds, and what have mentioned just scratches the surface of what he has done/is doing with veggies. If you've not seen any of his videos, please, when you have a spare moment, check out his channel...you'll not be disappointed. Best wishes and great success with your hot bed and poly tunnel! Gretchen
thundercloud47 Of course we will look - thank you for your suggestion Gretchen. we have so much to learn but we're enjoying the process so much - it's all such an adventure! Tim and Sandra
thundercloud47 What he has done is very interesting, isn't it? I'm jealous but I know we couldn't do the same thing here. There's rock under the whole place - sometimes with a foot of soil over it and sometimes with no soil at all. So we couldn't dig an 8 foot hole anywhere, and if we did it would instantly fill with water! But perhaps there's a way of building up banks of rocks... Hmm, will have to think about it..Thanks Gretchen - always good to see how other people do things!
WayOutWest Blowinblog, Well dog gone it, I was so hoping that would be the perfect solution so you could grow veggies during the winter, I apologize that I wasted your time checking out the info. I didn't understand how wet the earth is there, we do get kind of soggy ground, say after it rains or a big snow has melted, but it must not be the same thing at all. I'm trying to figure out a way we could grow winter veggies here too, but it's a 'dream' in need of more 'figuring'. I do hope there is a way to reconfigure his set up that would work for you, I'll offer up some prayers concerning it I hope the hot bed for now is the answer for growing veggies, and something just 'hit' me, would it be a consideration to check the sides of it, should it get so hot that it could harm the poly wall behind it...I certainly hope not! Take care. Gretcdhen
Ditto... I think the usual rule is fresh manure... with some straw or brown stuff... really heats up quick. But... I'm wondering what the Irish way will produce!
I am going to try making a giant hotbed with polypipe running through it, as a form of central heating for my house next winter. They call these arrangements "compost furnaces." They can heat water and/or air for the house. Once assembled, they should heat up stuff for about 6 weeks. Then produce lots of lovely compost in time for spring gardening. STart assmebling the second pile before the first one cools down too much. Has your pile heated up yet? I can't see how it would. The manure needs to be fresh from the stable, C:N ratio of about 20:1 which horses obligingly produce when stabled on straw, and just damp enough to keep the 10 billion thermophilic bacteria per GRAM, yes GRAM!! alive and doing their heating thing. Broken-down manure just won't get hot again, no matter what. It is great as a 6" casing layer on top of a deep layer of fresh hot manure. I think at least 3' is about the standard depth for the hot part. The thermal mass helps to keep the whole greenhouse several degrees warmer. It is a brilliant method of keeping things going in winter, that we horse owners ought to be exploiting more to our advantage.
Ruby Gray So interesting Ruby, thank you! we should probably have done a bit more research first, but, yes, there does seem to be a difference in growth already between the plants in the box and outside. Can we see how you do yours?!
WayOutWest Blowinblog Glad to hear it is working nicely! You will have to make that RUclips Tutorial video before I can share anything. I am clueless how to begin. My info on growing in hotbeds is courtesy of John Seymour. I collect hot stable manure from friends with indoor neddies but mine live outside all year round, so their contributions just never heat up even when piled with chicken manure, etc. Of course it is summer here now, so the compost furnace will not be needed for some time, though we did have a frost last week!
jerry prewett Thanks Jerry! Welcome aboard. (Lots more beekeeping videos planned, but not till next year. That's one of the nice bits about beekeeping - it's so seasonal. Nothing to do now till next April.)
Greenpete's World brought me here. Loving your animals, so cute.
Thank you for uploading these videos, they have a lovely air of simplicity to them and are a pleasure to watch.
That's not a bad idea. Good job and I really enjoy watching the videos that you and your husband be making ! Peace , love and respect to you and your family!
We use bales of straw, not hay, for walls with a thick layer of clear plastic for the roof which allows light in. Once we get in the freezing temperatures we put an old thick blanket over the plastic come evening to hold in the warmth. Love you hot bed set up and look forward to seeing the progress.
Beth DeRoos Thank you Beth - do you mean inside the polytunnel/hoophouse? Or are yours outside? Just wondering whether we need a plastic sheet over them when they are inside. What do you think?
WayOutWest Blowinblog Instead of pallets for the walls we used straw, not hay bales (straw bales are so inexpensive here). The thickness of the bales make for insulated walls and the thick plastic sheeting as a roof lets sunlight in. Have seen where people have used old windows as a roof as well.
Beth DeRoos Good thinking. Hay and straw are both expensive here - but we'll think of something!
It looks like a winter storm is headed your way - hope the hot bed works!
Ben Matthews Cheers Ben - yep, we're bringing the log pile nearer the house just in case : - )
In my village we make it very similar, using manure, but not the well-rotten one. We use fresh manure, which contains a lot of straw, because it produces more heat. The straw keeps rottening(and heating) for nearly 2 month.
P.S. I adore your videos, you are sooo creative and full with sense of humour! Please keep making them! Greetings from Transsylvania.
Merker Balázs Thank you Merker! You're very kind. And helpful. Yes, we think we should have used fresher manure and more straw - but we're just learning. Now, how about you putting up a few videos about life in Transylvania?! We would be so interested and many other people would be too. You could start with a film about making hot beds the proper way : - )
WayOutWest Blowinblog
Oh no, I am too shy to do this. I don`t like to be recorded if any people can see me. On the other hand I live now in the city, because I am studying veterinary medicine, and my life really lacks interesting things. Neither my english isn`t very good, and my mother hungarian wouldn`t be understood by many people.
But I am looking forward for your next uploads, they are the peak point of the week!
Merker Balázs You're english is 100% better than my Hungarian. I, too, would love to see life in your town.
Good luck with you new hotbed!
***** thanks Elyse!
Hope it grows well for you folks :-)
I remember reading something in a called Shelered Greenhouses about farmers that dug down about 4 feet, lined the walls with wood planks, at the bottom of the hole they put fresh manure, two feet or so then composted soil, from there they would plant seeds or such, cover the top with glass. The hard part is removing the glass to tender to plants because the heat would escape, but still an effective way to grow in the winter.
best
Rev John O'Toole Interesting. Thanks. It always seemed to me that lack of light was the bigger problem - but if we can find a way of raising the temperature then we can rule that one out. Lots of interesting experiments to try!
WayOutWest Blowinblog here is the link for the book I was reading, you may find it locally, it is written so simple people like me can understand it.
best
www.amazon.com/Earth-Sheltered-Solar-Greenhouse-Book/dp/0960446400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1417955596&sr=8-1&keywords=sheltered+greenhouses
Rev John O'Toole Thanks John - it does look interesting but it will have to wait till there's a little spare cash - things are very tight at the moment!
great demonstration video
You are one tough sister :)
Hey y'all look like fun. I like that. Way to go. I enjoyed the video about pizza and now I am checking out more of the videos ya got. I hope to see more of the far off place where you live via your youtube channel. Thank you! :)
funny_sweets_greenthumb thank you funny-sweets-greenthumb!
most welcome!
I hope it will work for you. You could add some straw . It always heats up.
You folks never cease to amaze me...oh, and I so look forward to your videos! I know nothing about them, but with all the work Sandra has put into it...it simply must grow lush green vegetables :). If memory serves, way back it seems I've seen videos where folks would build hot beds and keep them maintained for the heat they produce inside their poly tunnels, then plant their veggies with in their snug temperature appropriate tunnel. If you haven't checked out his channel, PLEASE check out "Caleb Warnock". One of his videos "Backyard Winter Garden Tour with Caleb Warnock" shows how he grows veggies using home made cold frames, and what looks to be large inverted, say pickle jars as a cloche...all surrounded by (and some covered) several inches of snow. Another of his videos, "Geothermal Green house with Caleb Warnock". This he built on the side of his barn, and the concept is awesome (this structure reminds me of how you folks take a concept, run with it, till it is a completed). This fellow has researched veggies, acquired/searched for varieties that have all but become extinct, and is grows them for seeds, and what have mentioned just scratches the surface of what he has done/is doing with veggies. If you've not seen any of his videos, please, when you have a spare moment, check out his channel...you'll not be disappointed. Best wishes and great success with your hot bed and poly tunnel! Gretchen
thundercloud47 Of course we will look - thank you for your suggestion Gretchen. we have so much to learn but we're enjoying the process so much - it's all such an adventure! Tim and Sandra
thundercloud47 What he has done is very interesting, isn't it? I'm jealous but I know we couldn't do the same thing here. There's rock under the whole place - sometimes with a foot of soil over it and sometimes with no soil at all. So we couldn't dig an 8 foot hole anywhere, and if we did it would instantly fill with water! But perhaps there's a way of building up banks of rocks... Hmm, will have to think about it..Thanks Gretchen - always good to see how other people do things!
WayOutWest Blowinblog, Well dog gone it, I was so hoping that would be the perfect solution so you could grow veggies during the winter, I apologize that I wasted your time checking out the info. I didn't understand how wet the earth is there, we do get kind of soggy ground, say after it rains or a big snow has melted, but it must not be the same thing at all. I'm trying to figure out a way we could grow winter veggies here too, but it's a 'dream' in need of more 'figuring'. I do hope there is a way to reconfigure his set up that would work for you, I'll offer up some prayers concerning it I hope the hot bed for now is the answer for growing veggies, and something just 'hit' me, would it be a consideration to check the sides of it, should it get so hot that it could harm the poly wall behind it...I certainly hope not! Take care. Gretcdhen
Ditto... I think the usual rule is fresh manure... with some straw or brown stuff... really heats up quick. But... I'm wondering what the Irish way will produce!
I am going to try making a giant hotbed with polypipe running through it, as a form of central heating for my house next winter. They call these arrangements "compost furnaces." They can heat water and/or air for the house. Once assembled, they should heat up stuff for about 6 weeks. Then produce lots of lovely compost in time for spring gardening. STart assmebling the second pile before the first one cools down too much.
Has your pile heated up yet? I can't see how it would. The manure needs to be fresh from the stable, C:N ratio of about 20:1 which horses obligingly produce when stabled on straw, and just damp enough to keep the 10 billion thermophilic bacteria per GRAM, yes GRAM!! alive and doing their heating thing. Broken-down manure just won't get hot again, no matter what. It is great as a 6" casing layer on top of a deep layer of fresh hot manure. I think at least 3' is about the standard depth for the hot part. The thermal mass helps to keep the whole greenhouse several degrees warmer. It is a brilliant method of keeping things going in winter, that we horse owners ought to be exploiting more to our advantage.
Ruby Gray So interesting Ruby, thank you! we should probably have done a bit more research first, but, yes, there does seem to be a difference in growth already between the plants in the box and outside. Can we see how you do yours?!
WayOutWest Blowinblog Glad to hear it is working nicely! You will have to make that RUclips Tutorial video before I can share anything. I am clueless how to begin. My info on growing in hotbeds is courtesy of John Seymour. I collect hot stable manure from friends with indoor neddies but mine live outside all year round, so their contributions just never heat up even when piled with chicken manure, etc. Of course it is summer here now, so the compost furnace will not be needed for some time, though we did have a frost last week!
Can't what to see how this works!!
You both are lovely-)
Sohpia Sophia Ooh! Feeling all warm and fuzzy now!
Cool pants. What kind are they?
So how did it work?
Scott Baker We're just about to harvest from it and we'll put up a video soon
you guys look like you have a great time there i subd ya .hope to learn everything i can fixin to get in to beekeeping
jerry prewett Thanks Jerry! Welcome aboard. (Lots more beekeeping videos planned, but not till next year. That's one of the nice bits about beekeeping - it's so seasonal. Nothing to do now till next April.)
yeah i am buying my equip. now through the winter to be ready by spring .
I wondered if the experiment works?
I heard fresh manure is better...