Clair Schwan's Greenhouses

Number 1, before Number 1, after Number 1, inside Number 2, inside Number 2, outside Number 3!

Clair Schwan is one of our customers in Wyoming. He has built three greenhouses using out woven poly materials. His mission is to get rid of the produce bill, and he does this by raising more than 100 types of vegetables and fruits in his greenhouses. Each project is a good example of how a homemade greenhouse can be constructed, and the versatility of the woven ripstop fabric.

His first project was to convert an old wooden shop into a productive year-round greenhouse. It used to be home to ducks, chickens and geese, and now its home to tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, lettuce and herbs. Making good use of the water and electricity within the building, he braced the structure, prepared the surface and painted it white, and put on a single layer of woven poly. Here are before and after pictures of the wooden structure that measures about 15 by 30 feet.

His second greenhouse is a double raised bed made from telephone poles. The greenhouse was constructed using chain link fence top rail and hardware, and it sits over the telephone pole foundation. Both raised beds and the sunken walkway measure about 3 by 36 feet. The glazing is our superstrong woven ripstop poly, and our 24 mil white poly was used to cover the telephone poles inside the sunken walkway.

The third greenhouse is made of chain link fence top rail carefully bent into hoops to form a Quonset hut style structure. It will utilize our clear woven poly over the top and on both ends. Although still under construction, you can see that is an ambitious project measuring 20 by 62 feet.

You may see more detail about each of these greenhouse projects by visiting his website at Frugal-Living-Freedom