14×36 Timber Frame Greenhouse

A huge priority for us regarding the homestead is beginning crops as soon as possible so that we can start to sustain our family.  Living in northern Minnesota has its drawbacks – mainly the shortened growing season.  We’ve always wanted a greenhouse to prolong our growing season and perhaps allow us the opportunity to grow some crops that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to.  This greenhouse I designed as a step up from the firewood shed.  It measures 14×36 on a slab.  We figured that we would have some raised beds inside and the slab would help to radiate the sun’s heat to maintain the temperature.  The rafters are spaced 2′ on center as it is sometimes easy to find cheap glass in that width.  However, the rafters can be spaced to pretty much whatever dimensions you require.  The posts and beams are a bit overkill to compensate for the lack of structural roof support.  Because of the larger timbers, this project is a step up from the firewood shed.  If you’re looking to build a greenhouse, I hope you’ll consider supporting us by purchasing these plans.  Plans come with elevation drawings and a materials list.

*Update: I have decided to discontinue sales of our plans.  I hope to relist them in the future when the time is appropriate.

6×16 Timber Frame Firewood shed

I designed this shed as an easy introduction to working on timber frame structures.  The municipality that I live in allows structures up to 100 square feet without a building permit.  This shed measures 6’3.5″x16′ and is meant for storing firewood.  The skids on the bottom are due to the fact that once built, I will have to move it in the future.  It is constructed with mortise and tenon joinery.  Due to the small spans, smaller lumber is used than a normal timber frame.  With that in mind, it is an excellent chance to learn valuable timber framing skills.

*Update: I have decided to discontinue sales of our plans.  I hope to relist them in the future when the time is appropriate.

It has been quite some time since my last post, and this one won’t be easy.  I had been sick for a couple of weeks before the holidays, so that was my excuse for not writing.  Things changed pretty rapidly after that, however, when my father passed away unexpectedly the day after Christmas.  I have never experienced a loss like this, and it’s hard to imagine that I will ever again.  My father was the most important and influential man in my life, and we were very close.  I have taken a month off from work to cope, and I quit my extra jobs.  In my grief I have been unable to do much for the last month, and working certainly was not high on my priorities.

I started this blog because I wanted to document our journey and experiences with creating and maintaining our homestead.  I wanted to be a source of information for other like-minded people who were interested in similar things.  I also wanted it to tell a story to our future children.  When I was deciding whether or not I would in fact create this blog, the one deciding thought that I had was the thought of our children reading back on the stories that we encountered.  I thought that would give some credence to the work and toil that we are about to undertake so that they can understand everything that we’ve gone through- and maybe learn something along the way. (more…)