n

I N T R O DU C T IO N

We depend on nature not only for our physical survival.

We also need nature to show us the way home, the way
out of the prison of our own minds. We got lost in doing,
thinking, remembering, and anticipatinglost in a
maze of complexity and a world of problems. We have
forgotten what rocks, plants, and animals still know. We
have forgotten how to beto be still, to be ourselves, to
be where life is: Here and Now.*

Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute

(CRMPI) on the dry, rocky slopes of Basalt Mountain. There I have lived, grown, and experimented
for more than forty years.
As I learned and practiced permaculture
myself, I had a desire to help others discover it as
well. Right away at CRMPI I hosted and taught
workshops, and my annual Permaculture Design
Course is now coming up on its thirtieth consecutive year. I have collaborated with many people in
my region and around the country, written articles
for the Permaculture Activist magazine, presented at
various conferences, and I host a weekly local radio
show. In addition to the greenhouses that serve as
the centerpiece for this book, I manage an acre of
established forest garden and keep a nursery of
perennial plants, all of which combine to be an
extremely useful demonstration site. The example
of what is possible through design and persistence,
even in a harsh climate such as mine, inspires students and visitors to try it for themselves.
My interest in greenhouses grew naturally from
a desire to extend the growing season in my cold climate. Through trial and error, collaboration, and
constant learning, my understanding of these structures has grown enormously, as has my appreciation
of their capabilities. All of my five greenhouses
were built on a shoestring budget, with mostly salvaged materials and volunteer help. They support a
variety of different interior climates and represent
different stages of progress and evolution. I established EcoSystems Design, a greenhouse design
business, and later teamed up with local architect
Michael Thompson. After a fire destroyed one of

Eckhart Tolle
This book is based on my life experience as a
market farmer; as a greenhouse pioneer, designer,
and builder; as a plant and animal observer and
caretaker; and as a person with a desire for a deeper
connection with nature and the food I eat. Ive primarily learned by doing; Ive made mistakes, had
some success, and Ive been able to pass along my
lessons to many students and colleagues. This text
is a continuation and culmination of that process.
My journey has taken me around the world and
has included a transition from traditional organic
market farming to perennial forest gardens, then
to moving those edible forest gardens indoors.
Born into an ethnic Polish family in Nebraska, I
eventually found my way to Colorado, where after
a health crisis I became interested in growing my
own food. I first learned to grow annuals, then
discovered the emerging design science of permaculture, which sought to find ways of working with
natural patterns and processes instead of against
them. With that as my guide I established the

* Tolle, Stillness Speaks, p. 77.

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Th e Fo r e st Ga r de n Gr e e nho use
my first greenhouses, Pele, he helped me create the
crown jewel of CRMPI: Phoenix, a fully tropical
near-net-zero four-season greenhouse. Over the
decades my work has given me the opportunity
to take many trips throughout the world, often to
tropical climates during the cold Colorado winters.
As I visited tropical areas, they greatly impacted
me; I wanted to bring the plants, the humidity,
and the tropical food forest home. With Phoenix I
finally achieved that goal.
As CRMPI became more established, I began
to think about documenting my work in a book or
perhaps a video. These ideas came and went over
the years but never came to fruition until Chelsea
Green reached out about writing a book. That was
exciting and motivating but presented a difficult
challenge. English is not my first language, and I
am also dyslexic. I wasnt able to read more than
two hundred words per minute until I was 30,
and I have never been able to write with much
fluency. Just as nothing stands alone in nature,
this book represents a cocreative, collaborative
process. Various teams of interns, colleagues, and
friends worked together to help me generate raw
material, refine it, structure it, and fill it with the
right pictures and illustrations. There were several
times during the process when we werent sure
wed be able to complete the work, but the book
you hold in your hands is a testament to the faith
and effort of people who believe in the importance
of pushing these ideas forward and bringing them
to a larger audience.
When it comes to starting a greenhouse project, instead of building it only as a tomato crop
extender, I encourage you to imagine a broader
spectrum of possibilities. You start with a foundation to create, evolve, and express in as many
directions as your needs and imagination can provide. The fun of walking through, following, and
being guided by the process, pruning back, putting

in new elements, all the while foraging culinary and

medicinal herbs, picking fruit snacks, and relaxing
with a good book in your hammockthats the
magic of creating and living with a forest garden.
Greenhouses offer those of us in colder climates
the opportunity to experience that year-round.
The Forest Garden Greenhouse will explain to
you the energy-cycling technology of what we call
the climate batterya subterranean air circulation system that takes the hot, moist ambient air
from the greenhouse during the day, stores it in
the soil, and discharges it at nightand explore
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Intro d ucti o n
{1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111|
2
3
2
3
2 What Is Permaculture?
3
2
3
2
3
2 Permaculture is a concept recently gaining more
Systems built with a permaculture mind-set 3
2
3
aspire to the diversity, resilience, and dynamic 3
2 mainstream attention, but while its applications
stability of natural systems. This has heavily 3
2 are extremely broad and far reaching, it is often
2 only understood as a style of gardening.
influenced my approach to greenhouse design 3
2
3
The term permaculture was coined by Bill
and implementation, so throughout the book I 3
2
highlight permaculture principles and show how 3
2 Mollison and David Holmgren, two Australians
2 working together in the late 1970s. Their new
they relate to my work. For a broader perspective 3
2 concept represented the quest for a permanent
on the applications of permaculture design, I 3
2
3
highly recommend The Permaculture Handbook, 3
2 human culture, one not built on nonrenewable
2 resources and constant growth.
3
written by my friend Peter Bane.
2
3
Permaculture is a design science and a
2
3
Principles
2 problem-solving methodology. At permacul3
The two founders of permaculture, Mollison 3
2 ture design courses taught around the world,
2 students learn a set of ethics, principles, and
and Holmgren, each independently developed 3
2
3
a set of principles by which to guide the design 3
2 decision-making protocols. These principles and
process. While not identical, they touch on many 3
2 protocols are drawn from observed natural pat2 terns. In designing new systems we endeavor to
similar points and serve as helpful signposts for 3
2 emulate the natural world and work with, rather
an aspiring designer. To illuminate the perma- 3
2
3
culture mind-set, each of the following chapters 3
2 than against, those patterns to create rich human
2 habitats that also sustain and regenerate the rest
will be paired with a principle that applies to the 3
2 of the natural world.
3
theme of that chapter.
2
3
}4444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444444~

its applications to greenhouses large and small,

attached and freestanding. I will also show you
how the highly productive and nurturing ecosystem of the edible forest garden can be brought
indoors through the use of annuals and perennials
growing together out of deep organic soils created
by worms and microbial magic and maintained
by mulch and the synergistic interactions of plant
guilds (beneficial plant communities).
The conservative, low-cost, passive systems
approach embodied in permaculture design, combined with the climate battery, have demonstrated

that indoor gardens of startling productivity, comfort, and beauty can be created around or attached
to our homes. Cultivating an edible forest garden
in your greenhouse opens new vistas of connection to nature, renewable energy generation, and
resilient food production in the face of present and
future climate turbulence.
Beginning with very lightweight structures
costing under a hundred dollars and ranging to
greenhouses with a price tag of over half a million,
this book illustrates the universal applicability of
the indoor garden. It covers the fundamentals of
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Th e Fo r e st Ga r de n Gr e e nho use
and problem solving no matter how much you are
able to learn from the information here.
If the origins of civilization are bound up with
humanitys expulsion from Eden, then surely the
purpose of all our striving must be to regain the
garden. For those of us not waiting to be raptured,
the greenhouse presents an opportunity to bring
paradise indoors and at home where we spend much
of our time, especially in cold climates. Our aim in
designing the fully realized greenhouse should be
to embrace the proven systems of nature and to
replicate her genius and efficiency. I will attempt to
guide you from an understanding of deep organic
methods into an entirely new dimension where the
layered effects of sun, soil, lush vegetation, and the
multiple functions of the greenhouse structure as
season extender, propagation room, nursery, worm
farm, exercise spa, bath, and living space give rise
to stream-of-consciousness gardening and living.

design, construction, energy capture, bed layout,

soil building, and ventilation and goes on to reveal
the secrets of successful companion planting,
integrated pest management (IPM), and the use of
microclimates within and around the greenhouse.
In the following chapters you will find case studies
of the five greenhouses currently maintained at
CRMPI, designed for the do-it-yourself builder,
as well as others that highlight larger and more
extensive greenhouses built on the same principles,
as guidance for more ambitious or well-funded
projects. There is something for everyone here;
whether you wish to extend your growing season
by a few weeks or build a year-round tropical
greenhouse, you will find helpful examples and
resources to aid you in your work. Keep in mind
that each project differs in goals, location, and
available resources, and so designing and building
your own greenhouse will require much creativity

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