Picture 17 is a night photo of the grow frame at work. It’s Fall and you can see that two of the glass doors are propped open for ventilation, even at night. The structure has proven to be very efficient at storing the day’s absorbed heat. Pictures 20, 21 and 22 show my first plants, red leaf lettuce and broccoli. Picture 22 was taken on the same day as picture 18, which illustrates just how successful a project like this can be. Four feet of snow, night temperatures of ten below and I’m growing vegetables!!!! What a success, which prompted my doing more drawings, more research, more experiments and these reports.

The secret is in keeping the heat. Acquiring it at this altitude is easy. Keeping it is the challenge and accomplishing this will probably be the main theme of most of the articles in these reports, and just how resourceful people can be once they understand what is happening. During the first winter I used a camping space blanket to cover the glass doors each night. I have a neighbor who uses thick polyurethane foam panels. They both work. In picture 19 you can see that I now have a polar fleece blanket rolled and mounted at the top of the unit full time. On cold nights I roll this down over the glass panels. It also works and lasts longer than the space blankets. You can also see the finished wood paneling with a nice preservative sealant, giving the finished product a real professional look.

This is an ongoing experiment. Every week it teaches me something new. I will teach others what I’ve learned about why it works in the following pages of this Solstice Report. Thank you.