One Solution to Growing in Cold Climates

If there's a single struggle that I've had people seek advice for when it comes to growing food in this part of the world, it has to be the short growing season. Sure, you can alsways add more mulch, create micro-climates and attempt to start plants indoors before the last frost, but it's not going to give you fresh peppers in February. Honestly, I think the single biggest impact we can make in terms of food abundance in this part of the world has got to be installing passive solar greenhouses. 

If you're not already familiar with the concept, a passive solar greenhouse is like a conventional greenhouse, but it utilizes as much as possible the sun's rays as it's heat source. The glazing is usually facing close to south (in the northern hemisphere, and north in the southern hemisphere), while the back of the house is to the shade side and has as much insulation as possible--up to R50 or more in some cases. Alternatively, the back may also be attached to a structure such as a home or other already heated structure to bypass the need for further insulation. There may also be additional heat-capturing devices such as black, water-filled tanks to further extend the ability of the structure to catch and store heat energy and radiate it out through the night, along with many more innovations.

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I currently know of about a half dozen or so passive solar greenhouses in the Calgary area, all of which have managed to extend their growing seasons by several months. We are in the pioneering years right now in this city--still in the experimental stages with the design and construction of these structures. However, with more innovations and tweaks here and there, some part of me says we can continue to extend our growing season and possibly to make it to a full year. Having said that, there is of course no need to go 100% passive solar. Any reasonably-priced structure helping us to grow food and extend the season is a good thing at this point. We can always combine conventional designs with innovative ones depending on what works best. 

In the meantime, if anyone in the Calgary area has constructed a passive solar greenhouse and managed to reach a full year, going through the coldest days and managed to keep their plants alive, with no external heat source, please leave a comment below or contact me. You'd definitely be someone I'd like to add to the Permaculture Tour!

Happy Growing!!

Our $200 temporary greenhouse (100 sq. ft.) spring 2019