I'm just wondering if it makes sense. Because I have 5 months of snow. And I could seed in my house windows. Or my hydro units if I wanted to pay the electric. And I don't want to heat it. I've got commercial greenhouses near me that sell awesome starter plants.
If you have five months of snow, you'll need to heat it during the winter. I built one for my wife, it's 12' x 14' and is stuck on the south end of our house. We're just north of Baltimore, Maryland. During the winter, it gets up to 80 degrees F during a sunny day but would chill way down at night or on a cloudy day without a heater.
I ran a 220 line out there for heat. She keeps it at 50 degrees F during the winter and I figured that costs us about $300 in extra electricity each year. She enjoys gardening in the snow so much that the extra expense is worth it.
You may want to consider a cold frame instead of a greenhouse. Our cold frame is a box about 3' high and 14' long with clear plastic doors on top. This lets the sun heat it up in the early spring for starting seedlings to get a jump on the planting season.
Paul
Or consider a heated frame using heated soil cables next to your house.
I love my greenhouse. I currently have my fill of lettuce, peas and tomatoes (cherry) and peppers.Gosh I guess I have taken things for granted, I have more than I think! I will start my pepper plants for the real garden by January 15 and tomato plants by the end of January. I plant the garden by the begining of April. I love the fact that the seed catalogs are already in the mail !
Between my wife's greenhouse and my greyhouse (the mushroom garden in the basement) we always have something fresh and interesting on the table.
Paul
I got a similar dilemma about greenhouse. I understand that it needs to be heated during cold winter months but what about the light? As much as I understand most of the vegetables require lots of direct sunlight. Do you provide them an additional artificial lightning? I would love to harvest tomatoes and sweet peppers during winter.
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