A Friend of ours has been working on this greenhouse design for several years. We wanted to share it with others visiting our website.
What do you think? Is this a 'Permaculture' greenhouse?
Presented here, with Chris Marron's permission, is his Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System (PHGS); reviewed, generally researched, and edited by Mark Hoffman. Mark is a Stelle area engineer and permaculturist who concludes that this is a very plausible system for year round food production.
Offered to the Public
Chris is allowing us to publish this body of information to insure public access to his work. He professes that little of this design is his original work for all he has done is researched others work and as he says "put two & two together". But no one we know of has taken all the different components he has laid out in his system and put them together into one design. Chris's motivation in sharing all this is to do his part to support the emerging desire of people to find and live in truly meaningful and sustainable communities.
On The Ground
This is a recent body of work that Chris has put together and as of this time, neither he nor anyone else we know of has actually built and operated this greenhouse system or tested its production possibilities. The door is open for every and anyone to experiment with building a PHG System. Chris is interested and available to assist others who are serious about building and operating a 'Perpetual Harvest Greenhouse System'. He is frequently on the move, traveling and consulting, so can be reached through Midwest Permaculture. Click here to email Chris.
Financially Exciting
Also included are some financial projections for an operating greenhouse under this design. Although they are just estimates, they are very encouraging numbers for they answer the need for finding more sustainable ways of economically supporting our small scale farmers and growers. This system can also be used in suburban and city environments providing nutritious food, income and greater food security for local residents.
Food Security
If this system is capable of producing year-round-healthy food, it would bring the possibility of economic stability and true-food security to any region. The system would also be sustainable in the long run since it is estimated to use only a fraction of the energy of conventional greenhouses. As fossil fuel prices continue to rise, traditional green housing operations will become unprofitable.
Chris Marron is available for consultation and even project support, as time and funds allow.
