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RE: DREAM GREENHOUSE What's your style? Long term Solutions for Homesteaders, Permaculturists and Plant Lovers.
Definitely going to come back to this post. I'm familiar with much of what you talked about, but you brought up new ideas too that I want to revisit later. I've always thought about combining the building the building technologies of an earthship with an earthbag home. I like the earthship systems, but us earhbags instead of tires. Pounding tires is waaay too much work and takes more time.
I can't argue that. But one consideration is that you could offer a 'workshop' and get young people to pay money to pound your tires for you. Earthbags are easier, but they will not be able to give you the same Thermal Mass. If you are in a moderate climate, might not make much difference, but for those in colder climes, that could be the difference between needing some firewood, or no heating system at all! To each his own, but I also wasn't too keen on tires (what diff would it make?) until I saw a presentation of a study done by a university about the physical properties of different styles of natural building. Nothing came close to a passive solar greenhouse with rammed tires. Not earthbag, rammed earth, adobe, cob or even stone! I would still recommend doing what you think is best for your situation, but if labour is the only issue.... I have friends who ask me about builds ALL the Time... people want to learn and if you hand them a hammer, they might. ;) Thanks for your comment @aboutyourbiz !
Yes, maybe, but I cringe at the thought filling all those tires, especially when what I want to build is more of a lodge than the small earthships that are typical. Will keep in mind the insulation factor though.
Don't, You wanna remember THERMAL MASS. Insulation keeps heat in and cold out or the other way... but thermal mass is what will be able to act like a battery to store the solar energy and radiate it out over the daily and yearly cycle. One of the videos in here is of the Phoenix Earthship, might be a bit TOO big as a lodge (or maybe not the style you are thinking about) but gives you an idea of the other side of the spectrum (luxury vs survival) I don't think tires are for everything or everyone, but they do have some pretty awesome properties and can be useful for bits and bobs.
This is what gave me the idea for a lodge
looks like i lost all my text. this is where i got the idea for a lodge, and it's certainly location specific
The text thing annoys me too (I even get a ghost glimpse of what looks like your original message but then it gets lost in the transfer/opening.... weird :/ , plus then you end up seeing your own replies to your vid, pic or gif or whatever.... anyway, having an existential steemit day, where was I? Right. That is gorgeous!
Does a lodge make more sense to you in light of that? I imagine trees, orange, lemon, peach, whatever wouldn't grow naturally where the lodge was located, in an area like the one you see looking over the balcony. Imagine the fragrance of the blossoms. Seems like they would need to be enclosed somehow with screen or something since you would want to allow pollinators access to them at times. Hard to describe the concept in my head in writing, can't gesture with my hands lol. And you don't let the trees get to big so you can have more in a smaller space. I read about that somewhere don't know what it's called but you shape them and keep them below 5-6 feet. Anyway...
yeah the name escapes me too right now. But it is like a way to prune them but not bonsai, or the varieties of fruit trees that stay small. My grandmother had a little tree in a pot that wasn't more then 3-4 feet and it still made a good few apples each year. I can also imagine what you are describing. I like the idea of keeping it separate too so that you allow for different temperatures and just use the greenhouse section as an optional heat source. Wouldn't want to live in a jungle ALL the time. Plus yeah, the pollination is an issue, unless you stick with self pollinators only. One flower in particular, called Queen of the Night would be amazing since it only makes flower in the evening and they drop off in the morning. Little things like that, I think, would be amazing if they were more common place. Your Lodge dream is totally doable. I say go for it when the circumstance permits.