This past weekend, Danic and I were fortunate enough to be able to visit Odessa. The purpose of our trip was to look at and learn about greenhouses there (and I was able to enjoy new scenery). It seems that almost everyone with a yard has a greenhouse there while there are less than a handful of greenhouses in the Donetsk area. Even though this is the case, we have done some climate comparisons and think it should work here. We hope to move forward with plans to build a greenhouse at DCU.
The planned first planting of our cucumbers or tomatos is next February and, while it seems like that is a long way off, if we don't start now it won't get done. Pictured are some cucumbers growing in one of Danic's uncles' greenhouses (we visited Danic's father's greenhouses and those of two of his uncles). This greenhouse is 30x10m and produces 50-120 kg of cucumbers daily (5-9 metric tons in a season).
It is an exciting project and we have much to learn, both from people here and from people in the West. We hope to use materials that are readily available here, but also incorporate information and technology that has been implemented in the West. Initially we hope to provide vegetables to the cafeteria here and eventually we would like to project to generate income. The three people we visited have been using the greenhouse as their families' sources of income for 20+ years. It was really neat to hear each of them talk about it as one is a pastor, one works for a mission and the third has been handicapped for the past 25 years.
We were advised that, while a wooden-framed greenhouse will last anywhere from 5-12 years, it is possible to find old (often unused) galvanized steel frames ("hoops") that will last indefinately. We have to be willing to search the mainly-deserted collective farms in the area. I find this possibility very exciting because (unlike much of the Soviet construction I have seen) the greenhouses we looked at with these frames look like they will actually last... and I may get to explore some collective farms, which I find fascinating.
Dave
