Low-Cost Schoolbus Greenhouse

Low-Cost Schoolbus Greenhouse BUILDINGS New Techniques Gardening is easier and more productive for Judy and Harry Coates thanks to the recycled schoolbus greenhouse they built on their Codroy Valley Newfoundland farm The best part is that other than $10 worth of plastic to cover it the unit didn’t cost them anything Harry dismantled a decommissioned 72-passenger bus taking only the parts that he needed It was all free because they saved the owner the expense of having to haul it away He cut off the back half of the bus’s 30-ft seating area and completely stripped it down He also removed the floor and took the windows from the front half of the bus Before beginning setup of his greenhouse at home he made sure the site was level so the frame would stand straight and this allowed him to easily slide the windows into place Because Coates brought home only half of the frame but all of the bus’s windows he was able to give his greenhouse two sets of windows down each side making any amount of ventilation easy He mounted some of the salvaged steel along the outside length of the wall’s bottom edge and also used some to make 15-in high by 30-in wide planting boxes which run down both sides of the bus as well as across the back end “The planting boxes are almost knee high so it saves a lot of heavy bending ” Coates says “On the back end I used recycled storm windows to close it up and on the front end there are more bus windows on either side of an old used screen door from a house I had to shorten the door to about 6 ft 3 in but it works great because it is wide enough that you can go through with a wheelbarrow ” For the roof Coates first covered the inside with chicken wire and then put a layer of 6 mm polyethylene on the outside He says the chicken wire won’t rust because it’s on the inside and it’s multipurpose since it stops the plastic from baffling up and down in the wind and also provides reinforcement for winter snow load The chicken wire extends the life of the plastic such that Coates only has to replace it every 2 or 3 years “We live in a very rural area and routinely get 100 km winds so that’s a real factor here ” he says “That’s the beauty of the chicken wire ” Coates and his wife who are in their 70’s love the greenhouse because it allows them to get a 3 to 5 week head start in the early spring growing cabbage cucumbers zucchini broccoli cauliflower and flower plugs all for planting in their outdoor garden once the last frost is over Then they continue growing tender things like lettuce tomatoes and peppers inside the bus for the rest of the season The schoolbus greenhouse is oriented north-south with the door on the north end It’s close enough to the house to “pop out” and get some greens for supper The couple grows 4 000 cabbage plants and produces their own homemade food products such as green tomato chow and mustard pickles which they sell at a local agricultural fair Another way that they market their vegetables is through a school fundraising program where students from two local schools buy 20-lb variety pack bags of fresh produce at wholesale prices and sell them at retail around Thanksgiving Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Harry and Judy Coates P O Box 66 Doyles New Foundland Canada A0N 1J0 ph 709 955-3008; h jcoates@gmail com

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