Tag

Greenhouse

Browsing

Nowadays we have a wide range of greenhouses of different sizes and designs. In the shops, we find not only easily reconstructable models but also expensive, complex designs. We give advice on the different possibilities.

Having your own greenhouse offers you a new and exciting area of ​​gardening. You no longer have to worry about extreme weather conditions for your garden under glass. In your greenhouse, you can organize the amount of water your plants need yourself.

Which greenhouse model?

Many greenhouses are glazed to the ground. This is a great advantage because a lot of sunlight gets in, and the light is better stored and used in glass greenhouses. This way, more plants can benefit from the heat and thrive better and faster. A wide variety of plants can be grown in a greenhouse made of glass, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, and indoor plants.

Greenhouse planning

If you want to buy a small greenhouse and set it up in your garden, you should make sure that you don’t break any regulations. For example, it is important for a tenant to obtain the consent of the homeowner. If you move, you can of course take the greenhouse with you. You do not need a building permit to construct a greenhouse. You only have to take into account the minimum distance to the neighboring garden.

Before that, you also need to think about the foundation of your prospective greenhouse. You can use old railway sleepers or lay a concrete foundation on which the greenhouse will later stand freely or be bolted. A path made of concrete, stone slabs, or bricks in the greenhouse is useful and practical at the same time. On the one hand, this gives you dry feet and, on the other hand, you can work more cleanly.

Location of the greenhouse

Freestanding and rectangular greenhouses make the best use of sunlight when one long side faces south. If your greenhouse is only glass on one side, you should attach the glass side to the south. In this way, you ensure that as much light and sun as possible are stored in winter.

Racks in it should always be on the north side. A house wall to the east or west of the garden would be advantageous, as this would give the plants in the greenhouse both light and shade. If it faces north, it will be very shady and would only do well with pot and house plants (primrose, cyclamen, slipper flower). A house wall facing south can get very hot in summer. If you don’t have prospects for shading, you should choose sun-loving plants.

Anyone who eats vegan does something for the climate – and not a little: An ecologist from Oxford University has calculated how much greenhouse gas a single vegan person saves each year. The amount corresponds to several flights.

The meat industry is one of the most polluting sectors of all – this has been known for a long time. Livestock breeding and animal husbandry cause high greenhouse gas emissions, and an extremely large amount of agricultural land is lost for animal feed and animal farms. No wonder, then, that a diet without meat, milk, eggs and other animal products is more sustainable.

How much the vegan lifestyle actually brings, however, may surprise many. In 2019, the ecologist Joseph Poore from the British Oxford University calculated for the Spiegel magazine how many greenhouse gases a vegan in Germany is responsible for per year.

Vegans save eight flights

According to Poore, every person in Europe produces an average of eleven tons of greenhouse gases every year. Anyone who lives vegan saves two tons every year, including 670 kilograms of CO2. According to Der Spiegel, two tons of greenhouse gases correspond to about eight economy class flights between London and Berlin.

In his calculation, Poore assumed, among other things, that the production of vegan food requires significantly less agricultural land. Plants and trees that bind carbon dioxide can grow on the area, which is free thanks to Veganer:innen.

It is worth giving up animal products

The British ecologist and his colleagues published a comprehensive study on the subject last year. For the analysis, the research team evaluated data from 40,000 farms in 119 countries. According to the study, giving up meat and dairy has the biggest impact on our carbon footprint.

Even the animal products that have the least impact on the environment still cause more environmental degradation than the most unsustainable vegetables and grains. (More details from the study here).

The current calculation of the greenhouse gas savings of vegans shows once again why it is worth eating fewer or no animal products. However, for those who are used to eating a lot of meat or dairy products, the transition can be difficult.