Bow roof shed/greenhouse?

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SavingWithBabies
Posts: 882
Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2015 2:50 pm
Location: Midwest, USA

Bow roof shed/greenhouse?

Post by SavingWithBabies »

Having moved to the land of (more) snow, when I stumbled upon this bow roof shed/greenhouse plans (not free):

https://www.by-the-sea.com/stimsonmarine/bowroof.html

Via (basically, a review of building above as shed for working on a boat):

http://www.microcruising.com/shed.htm

I'll take the liberty of quoting some of the first page in greater detail here in case the link goes away (but judging by the style, it appears to have been around a long time):
Build your own BOW-ROOF GREENHOUSE/SHED easily using our complete, easy-to-read plans and step-by-step manual. Great for greenhouse, boat shed, workshop or garage.

The 14' x 32' greenhouse/shed pictured here can be built in 40 hours and $400.00 to $600.00 for materials depending on your location.

For the past nine years, we have used these elegant structures as season extenders for growing tomatoes, peppers, and other vegetables. This winter for the first time we are growing cold-weather crops in a cold-frame inside a Bow-Roof Greenhouse/Shed. The sun is our only heat source, and yet we have a good crop of kale, spinach, lettuce, and swiss chard growing here in Maine in January.

Bow-Roof Greenhouse/Sheds are designed to withstand strong winds and heavy snow loads. Ours have stood up to 70 mph winds and have had snow piled nine feet high on the sides without collapsing. The low cost of materials, and ease of construction make these the most economical of any shelters we have ever seen.

The Bow-Roof Greenhouse/Shed pictured here is used as a storage building. We've also used these buildings as garages and temporary workshops. Our plans will tell you how to build a shelter of any width from 10' to 20' - but 20' is the widest that we would recommend for this construction method. The length is up to you - 20' to l/2 mile!
Has anyone built one of these or something like it and used it for gardening? I came across it in the boat context but the price and the ability to withstand such weather conditions makes it interesting to me (although I don't have any land to erect such a shed/greenhouse yet).

horsewoman
Posts: 659
Joined: Fri Jun 07, 2019 4:11 am

Re: Bow roof shed/greenhouse?

Post by horsewoman »

A friend has had one for a couple of years for growing vegetables and as far as I know they like it very well.
They grow cucumbers, tomatoes and chili peppers in it I believe.
It is basically a tunnel, made of steel bows with a special foil over it. Such greenhouses are fairly common here in our area as we do have a rather short growing season, so close to the alps. They sell this things pretty inexpensively online. We do have some heavy snow fall every three years or so and I imagine the snow slides off the structure easily before doing any damage.

We were lucky to get a used regular greenhouse for free, otherwise I'm sure we'd have gotten one or two of the bowroofs for our vegetables.

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