Given our climate and elevation, greenhouses have always been an important part of our gardens at the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute. Over the past twenty-plus years, Jerome Osentowski, interns and volunteers have built a total of four season-extending, year round greenhouses - two are attached to the south side of living quarters, the other two free standing. In our passively heated greenhouses, we are able to cultivate mediterranean plants including figs, olives, spilanthes, year round salad greens and rosemary. We have also experimented with seasonal supplemental heating on our free-standing greenhouse via our subterranean heating system and a wood-fired sauna on the structure's north side. By actively heating the space during cold winter nights, we've been able to create a sub-tropical climate, growing bananas, jujube, bamboo, pomegranate, jasmine, citrus and more. Go ahead and enjoy a photographic tour of our greenhouses throughout the growing season.
