Mother's Backyard Greenhouse

Image Gallery

The most affordable 80 square feet of sun-heated growing space we've ever seen:

If you've priced greenhouses lately—even the supposedly "low-cost" pre-fab models—it should come as no surprise that some of the little suncatchers can set you back $800 or more. Nonetheless, for those folks who enjoy multi-season gardening (or for people who depend on having a supply of homegrown edibles throughout most of the year), a greenhouse can be a real necessity.

Fortunately, we've found an answer: MOTHER'S researchers have come up with an 8' X 10' freestanding structure that [1] has proved itself to be an excellent plant habitat, [2] can be assembled in two days of steady work, and [3] costs about $140 to build.

The solar "Quonset hut" is essentially just a tubular-ribbed skeleton that's fastened to a 2 X 4 frame at its base and covered with a layer of fiberglass-reinforced plastic. Vents are included at the structure's roof peaks to permit airflow (and to let excess heat escape), and there's an entry door at one end that can provide extra ventilation as needed.

There are just a few construction tips that we'd like to pass along to anyone intending to build our "garden under glass". First of all, the 1/2" electrical metallic tubing ribs should be shaped with an arc roller . . . and MOTHER has taken care of that by designing a simple little gadget which not only forms the conduit for this greenhouse, but can be made to handle a variety of tube-curving jobs.

It's important, too, to be sure that— after you've cut the 12 vertical supports to their required 104" length and bowed them—there is a distance of 97 inches between the innermost points of the ends of each tube. (If that's not the case, you must readjust your roller.) Flexible plastic pipe can also be used for the tubeular skeleton.