US (MA): As fall advances, lemons ripen in Hatchville Couple’s solar heated greenhouse
“In January we come up here with a glass of wine and pretend it’s the tropics,” Ms. Jewett said.
The Jewetts are both passionate about energy conservation and eating local. The greenhouse has been a three-year experiment in how to provide their own food year-round. “It’s our research project,” Mr. Jewett said. “Like with everything else, until you know what you’re doing, you’re experimenting.”
Parts of the experiment are working: last year they harvested tomatoes from December through June. “He wanted to be able to defy nature and say ‘yes, we can grow tomatoes in January’,” Ms. Jewett said.
But there have been challenges. A infestation of aphids and white flies devastated their lettuce crop in February. To get rid of the bugs, the Jewetts cleared out all the plants in the summer and kept the greenhouse sealed tight for several days. The temperature rose to 130 degrees and burned off the bugs, an organic alternative to pesticides.
The greenhouse, which is about the size of a two-car garage and is dome-shaped, faces due south. The southern wall is three layers of clear, hard plastic. Mr. Jewett cut off the tops of the surrounding trees so that on the winter solstice the sun still travels above the tree line. Solar thermal panels on the outside heat a central 2,000-gallon-water tank that is topped with soil beds.
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