Product Description

The Earth-Sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book is the first to promote the benefits of both passive solar energy and earth sheltering in greenhouse design. This combination results in greenhouses which need no additional heating. The captured sun s energy and that which is stored in the earth is enough for successful year round harvest. Gone are costly heating bills. Gone is the squander of non-renewable energy resources. This is because above-ground greenhouses get natural heat at night from only one side, the floor. They lose heat from the other five sides. The properly designed earth-sheltered greenhouse is naturally warmed at night -- and in the winter -- from five sides and loses heat from only one. The ratio is exactly reversed. This book has it all. It takes you step by step through the construction of an inexpensive greenhouse which may be built with either newly purchased or salvaged building materials for pennies on the dollar. It explains the author s unique Post/Shoring/Polyethylene construction methods and design techniques which Countryside Magazine called Revolutionary... innovative and ingenious...a totally different concept. In its way it is both as simple and as amazingly ingenious as a paperclip. The book deals heavily with design so that you may custom build your own greenhouse perfect for your particular climate and needs. It tells you how to use gravity to warm your winter plants; how to effectively capture and store the sun s heat; how to make up for poor sunlight free of cost; how to automatically vent without power; how to choose the best glazing for your project; where to find free building materials; when to use heat tubes and when not to; how to use a root cellar in tandem with the greenhouse; where to use insulation with wonderful effect (and where to absolutely avoid it); how to deal with plant pests organically; what animals should be living in your greenhouse; and hundreds of more tips. The Earth-Sheltered Solar Greenhouse Book has 230 pages with nearly 200 illustrations, photos, diagrams, lists, charts and drawings. It contains all the information you need to free you from the pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, waxed, and E-coli laden, genetically modified and irradiated supermarket produce.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #70671 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 230 pages

Review
Old master and pioneer Mike Oehler surprises us and a new generation again with his new book full of basic facts. Useful even for those like us in the Netherlands, living around 53 degrees latitude north ... focuses on simple methods and materials ... Interesting and important ... humorous ... highly inspiring. --Sietz Leeflang, Director, Center for Ecological Techniques; founder and editor emeritus, De Twaalf Ambachten, Boxtel, the Netherlands.

Splendid, practical handbook -- essential reading for anyone looking to extend their growing season. Thoroughly recommended. --Peter Andrews, Founder, Eco-logic Books, Bristol, United Kingdom.

Yep, it tells you how, and in Mike s colloquial, humorous, and sometimes curmudgeonly and always inimitable manner. I ve always prided myself on sharing information on low-cost greenbuilding techniques in my books, but Mike outflanks me every which way ... the guy builds cheap, dirt cheap, and I say this with begrudging admiration. --Rob Roy, author of Earth-Sheltered Houses; Director-Earthwood Building School, West Chazy, New York

About the Author
Mike Oehler has been designing, building and living underground since 1971 on his North Idaho 46 acre homestead. He has been gardening in his unique earth-sheltered greenhouses since 1976. Author of The $50 & Up Underground House Book, his work has received international acclaim and resulted in his lecturing or conduction workshops in Canada, England, Scotland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and 26 American states, frequently under the sponsorship of university architecture departments. More of his work may be viewed at www.undergroundhousing.com.

Customer Reviews

Best option for DIY greenhouse!
I have fallen in love with this book because it is the answer to most of my greenhouse problems. I was concerned about building an above ground greenhouse due to the fact that I would have to run electricity to the building to heat/cool it. The earth berm concept is so painfully smart am left wondering why more people don't practice this? This book also solved my problem of a location for vermiculture and where to house the chickens I am soon to get for the winter. In order to get a better handle on construction methods I also bought the author's other book ($50.00 and up undgerground house) but if you are a little familiar with construction you'll do fine with this one. A must buy right now due to the need for sustainable living!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Intriquing concept...
The first thing that strikes me about this book is the extremely low quality of production. The second thing that grabs my attention is the $25 price tag - for a soft cover book with 230 pages and very few photos. The photos it does have are of extremely poor quality and half of them are from the 70's. On page 183, the author describes himself as "an irresponsible, frequently-intoxicated hippy". With the price he is charging for the book, be must be drinking Chateau Lafite. I have to take away 1 star for price gouging.

Having said that, the author seems to be just about the only person around advocating earth-sheltered greenhouses. The concept is simple and I have to wonder why it's not more common. In fact, it's so simple that one only needs to read the article by the author on the Mother Earth News Website. I read that article and found the concept intriguing, so I bought the book, expecting some formal, in-depth research on the subject. All the evidence in the book supporting the concept is from the author's personal experience and vague "recollection". I would like to see some university or professional research on the subject. I am in the market for my first greenhouse, but I'm still undecided after reading this. Take away 1 more star for lack of formal test results.

Gotta' Love Those Gophers
I ordered this book on the recommendation of Rob Roy. By the time you finish reading this book, you will like Mike Oehler. The book is well written and very entertaining -- especially the gopher stories. While entertaining, though, there's just not a lot of meat here. The contents, without the humor, could have been boiled down to a technical paper. If the price was one third what it is, that would not bother me. I have yet to see most of this information anywhere else (but it might be I'm not looking hard enough). For the price, I expected a lot more. You gotta' spread the love to those gophers.