Dan Chiras - The Chinese Greenhouse (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)

Praise for The Chinese Greenhouse

We live in times where the agriculture that feeds us must transition towards real sustainability and we should all have doubts that our blind, society-wide belief in technological progress will bring us there. Low-tech Chinese greenhouses and the tested, trialed, and true solutions they offer is more proof that interesting possibilities arise when you combine old technology with new knowledge and new materials. Or when you apply old concepts and traditional knowledge to modern technology. The book is wonderfully researched and I thank Dan Chiras for having gifted us such brilliant work.

Jean-Martin Fortier, farmer, author, Market Gardener, editor, Growers Magazine

We are no better prepared for the climate chaos catastrophes of the 2030s than we were for the coronavirus of the 2020s. How we have grown food since the last ice age no longer applies. Thankfully, Dan Chiras has written a prescription for survival in this gorgeously illustrated and accessible guide to the future of farming.

Albert Bates, author, The Biochar Solution: Carbon Farming and Climate Change

I was an early adopter of hoophouses, extending the seasons without fossil fuels. Chinese Greenhouses can be the next step, producing warm-weather crops in cold weather without heating bills! Dan presents the options and gives recommendations on design, construction, and vegetable production based on his deep experience. Essential reading for pioneers of Chinese greenhouses. Fantastic guidance to embark on this rewarding journey!

Pam Dawling, author, The Year-Round Hoophouse and Sustainable Market Farming

Dan Chiras has done it again! The Chinese Greenhouse answers the question: how do I continue gardening all winter long? This fantastic guide teaches you how to design, construct, and operate a greenhouse using only solar energy. No expensive supplemental heating equipment needed. Every enthusiastic vegetable farmer dreams of this winter-growing miracle, and Dan shows how to do it. Want to learn how to have a climate controlled growing space to garden every vegetable your heart desires? This is the book for you.

Shawna Coronado, author, speaker

In The Chinese Greenhouse, Dan Chiras dives deep into this means for growing food year-round without fossil fuel heat. From the history and concept learned from the original inventor, through improvements over time, to the current state of the art, Dan illustrates in detail all the steps and products required to build your own four-season greenhouse. Beyond simply describing the process, Dan shares his personal experience of building one for himself, and he offers the reader many alternative approaches, tailored to various circumstances, which fully address the advantages of each. Richly illustrated and detailed in plain, but thorough language, Dan takes you through the process with his typical rigor and humor. If you want to grow your own food year-round, without burning fossil fuels, this is the book for you.

James Plagmann, Architect + LEED AP, HumaNature Architecture, LLC

COVID has shown the world that our food systems are fragile. This book gives you invaluable information on how to construct a greenhouse that will allow you to grow food in a northern climate with little to no additional energy. If you are looking to increase your antifragility by building a truly passive solar greenhouse you will get a ton of value from this book.

Rob Avis, P.Eng, co-author, Essential Rainwater Harvesting

Dan has described the Chinese greenhouse in such a practical way that interested farmers can easily follow and build one themselves. Dan also expanded the Chinese greenhouse by adding more elements that are feasible in North America, which will make the Chinese greenhouse even more efficient. I am very impressed and believe other readers will be as well!

Dr. Sanjun Gu, professor, extension horticulture specialist,
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

THE CHINESE

GREENHOUSE

DESIGN AND BUILD A LOW-COST,
PASSIVE SOLAR GREENHOUSE

DAN CHIRAS

Illustrations by Forrest Chiras and Anil Rao, PhD

Copyright 2021 by Dan Chiras

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

Cover illustration: Edward Turner

Cover photo: iStock.

All photos by Dan Chiras unless otherwise noted.

Printed in Canada. First printing November 2020.

This book is intended to be educational and informative. It is not intended to serve as a guide. The author and publisher disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be associated with the application of any of the contents of this book.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of The Chinese Greenhouse should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to: New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada

(250) 247-9737

Title: The Chinese greenhouse /

Dan Chiras, PhD ; illustrations by Forrest Chiras and Anil Rao, PhD.

Names: Chiras, Daniel D., author. | Chiras, Forrest, illustrator. |

Rao, Anil, illustrator.

Description: Includes index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200290320 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200290487 | ISBN 9780865719293 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550927214 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771423175 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: Solar greenhouses Design and construction. | LCSH: Solar greenhouses Heating and ventilation. | LCSH: Solar greenhouses.

Classification: LCC SB416 .C45 2020 | DDC 690/.8924 dc23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

This book is dedicated to Dr. Sanjun Gu,
who taught me much of what I know about Chinese greenhouses
and kindly provided numerous photographs and drawings
that helped make this book and the dissemination
of this knowledge possible.

In March 2014, I visited a small commercial aquaponics facility, Todays Green Acres, in southern Tennessee with a couple friends. The owner of the facility gave me and 20 other attendees a free tour of his aquaponics greenhouses and an hour-long talk about the science and art of aqua-ponics growing vegetables in nutrient-rich water from fish tanks.

The first aquaponics greenhouse we toured blew me away. It was a verdant profusion of spinach, lettuce, basil, and other greens, looking absolutely delicious (). And, what is more, there wasnt a weed in sight! Our host discussed care of fish, planting, and a number of other topics, including the energy requirements of aquaponics growing compared to conventional agriculture.

One of the chief advantages of growing aquaponically, he noted, is that this system uses much less energy than conventional farming operations. Modern agriculture relies heavily on large machines to grow and harvest produce, and semi-trucks to ship it long distances to markets throughout the nation. In the process, it consumes an inordinate amount of energy. In fact, way more calories of fossil fuel are used to produce and distribute food than is actually in the final product.