walipini house

http://newamericanfarming.blogspot.com/2010/09/it-aint-your-grandmas-greenhouse.html

http://www.bensoninstitute.org/Publication/Manuals/Walipini.pdf


I wish to acquire some land, and dig a pit, about 100' long, by about 20' wide, with sloped sides, along a east-west axis.  the north wall will be a large berm, and sit higher than the south wall.  it will be covered in a hoop house.  at the end of the trench, the earth-sheltered home will face out into the walipini.  considerations include..........ventilation, waste management, water collection, drainage, snow management.  i'm sure i'll think of others.

CORE IDEAS

ventilation:  solar chimney and wind scoop

wind scoop

waste management:  living machine, bokashi composting

water collection: ferro-cement tank, solar distillation, "olla berms" (my own invention:); too be described further on.  and i wish to collect condensation, not vent it away, as is usual in a envelope environment.

drainage:  cold air drainage to be designed into water drainage system

snow management:  large, heavy tubing for hoops; set in masonry footers.  heavy plastic sheeting for film.  i'm thinking about two purlins, set outside of hoops, to act as rails, to run a brush-thingy down the entire length of  greenhouse.  passive-solar powered, with manual back-up.


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i will not need full half-circle hoops, due to the difference in height in the north and south walls.  more like a third of a circle.



the interior walls need to be banked; especially the north wall, which will be higher.  i desire 12' of flat width at the bottom of the walipini, so 20' - 12' leaves me 8' of slope to work with.  i may just create ferro-cement walls which have terraces along its face, for plant trays, an' such.   adobe/cob is another option.  i think it'll depend on what i can get at little-no cost :)   it will not be rained on, or be scoured by wind, so it doesn't have to be hardscaped.  maybe just dig the slope, pin it down with layers of chicken wire, and plant strawberries on it.  8' of run.  i'll figure 6' of that allotted to the north slope.  i want a rise of about 10, or 12'.   that's pretty darn steep.  i don't think that a strawberry bed can be relied on, to hold that back.....lol.  okay......back to ferro-cement.  i'm glad.  i want to work with it.