venting

window open with the auto vent opener!

The greenhouse of Blue House Greenhouse Farm now has a vent!  This is very exciting news for the seedlings living in the greenhouse--with more air circulating through they will be less susceptible to molds and fungal problems.  As the sun peeks out once in a while the vent will also keep the greenhouse from becoming too warm.  There are many ways one can vent a greenhouse.  A hoop house like the one we have often has the sides of the plastic sheeting  roll up- rolling up the sides during the day and rolling them down at night. 

in the middle of the day...

 Because I don't go to the farm everyday, I wanted a way to vent when I wouldn't be around and a way to do it without electricity- which is something we don't have at the farm. Here's where the Univent Auto Vent Opener comes in, "the opener has a metal cylinder containing a mineral which expands when heated. This pushes a piston that opens the vent. As the temperature cools, the mineral shrinks and a spring closes the vent and resets the piston." Pretty neat, eh? I bought the vent opener, but had to figure out how to install it since I didn't have a window. 

...in the evening!

Again, I found myself lucky to be so close to the ReBuilding Center and was able to find a screen window for one dollar the approximate size of the existing frame on the south end of the greenhouse!  I took out the screen and replaced it with a sheet of plastic. Jasmine, a lovely volunteer who comes most every Tuesday, and I cut and attached wire lock to the frame and refit the plastic to make an opening for the window. The vent looks really great and serving its purpose.  Come by and check it out sometime!


In other news: The tomatoes have sprouted and are doing well under the lights. I've begun selling to another restaurant, DOC, in NE Portland which looks amazing. And this past Sunday we broke a weather record.  This is the longest we've gone in a year without a 60 degree day. sigh. But I think it's supposed to change on Thursday... I'll keep you posted!