If your eventual aim is expansion-that is, having a series of greenhouses-plan that series from the very start. Make your first house fit in-on paper-with those you will build later, so as to form a complete unit.

Aluminum Venetian Blinds
The advantages of using Aluminum in the construction of Venetian blinds

Many greenhouse operations start on a small scale but soon need to expand, so select an adequate site at the start.

What Type of Holistic Greenhouse?

There is a type of greenhouse to meet every preference, every gardening need, every budget. I have seen sun porches and chicken houses converted into greenhouses; greenhouses built as second-story units over garages; free-standing or detached greenhouses; step-into pit houses, and many kinds of attached-to-dwelling ones. There are heated, partially heated, and unheated greenhouses, each successfully designed to suit someone's gardening-for-profit plan.

Greenhouse designs are numerous but types fall into these main divisions: span, lean-to, uneven or partial span, and the pit house, which may be any of these types but with a greater portion of the walls below ground level. If you have plenty of room-real acreage or a large lot-the free-standing span house may be best for you. This type, if properly placed, receives maximum sunlight throughout the day in every season.

A lean-to, as the name suggests, is erected against the side of another building. The partial span or uneven type has a greater distance from eaves to gable on one side of the house than on the other. In the north, the low winter sun comes directly through such a roof for maximum light. And in the summer, when the sun is high, this greenhouse draws light reflection from both sides.

The cost of pit-house construction is low. Many growers use pit houses only during early spring and into fall. They are left idle during the coldest months of the year to avoid a heating bill. Other growers operate a pit house economically by having it dug off the basement and served by the household heating system. This arrangement affords ample space for potting, household tools, and other necessary equipment. Although curved eaves make a handsome greenhouse, there are no special advantages in them.