More Hip Than Hippie #283 - How to Choose a Greenhouse

Learn to choose the proper type of greenhouse so you can grow a garden year-round.

So you want a greenhouse, eh? What type? Where will you put it? How will you control the temperature? There are lots of decisions to be made. The Hipsters have done some basic research to help you determine which greenhouse will work best for you. Also, Val talks coconut oil, Dori talks yogurt, and St. Patrick's Day is on the way. Sláinte!

Beer and Chocolate:

Beer: Dori's Irish eyes aren't smiling much at that can of Wexford Irish Cream, but Val enjoyed the flavor of this light-bodied ale. Dori: 3 hips; Val: 4 hips

Chocolate: We're cuckoo for coconut, so we tried a raw organic Fearless Chocolate bar called Exploding Coconuts. With 70% cacao and only 4 ingredients, it has a lot going for it; but is it worth the price? CocoNOT. Dori: 4 hips Val: 3 hips.

Hip News and Finds

Finds:

• Val's Favorite Thing! Finally, a non-toxic nonstick pan that really cooks! Aeternum pans are lightweight, durable and attractive. They also pass the "Bourdain Test": if you hit someone over the head with this pan, which will dent, the head or the pan? Better cover your cranium.
• Geo-tag, you're it! Need to ID a tree? There's an app for that, courtesy of the Arbor Day Foundation.
• Slice of sunshine. Sacramento band Cake recorded their latest album in their own 100% solar-powered studio. Sweet.

Hip News

• Oil slick. Looks like Chevron won't have to pay billion$ for polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon, after all. A judge is afraid it might hurt their reputation.
• Hive of horrors. A new report by the United Nations identifies a dozen different factors for Colony Collapse Disorder. Bee very frightened.

Teenie Weenie Greenie™

Tag it and bag it! Listener Chris in Montana shares a clever way to remember your reusable bags when you go shopping. Just punch a hole in your supermarket loyalty card and attach it to a ChicoBag. Save money while you save the world!.

How to Choose a Greenhouse

From Listener Karen in South Carolina:

I was wondering if you could offer some advice regarding greenhouses. My wonderful fiancee gave me a 10x12 greenhouse. We are unsure exactly how much direct sunlight it needs to receive. Can I use it year-round without having the expense of heating costs during the winter? Is indirect sunlight okay?

• We found an excellent guide to Planning and Building a Greenhouse from West Virginia University.
• Build your own with a Greenhouse Kit.
• Buy greenhouse seeds to get a jump start on the growing season.
• You can start small with MyGroFarm mini greenhouse.

Listener E-mails

Hello? Is this thing on? We want to hear from you! Join the More Hip conversation by sending us an email at hip@greenfeet.com. Check out our blog!!

• Trystan at Yahoo! Green shared an article about plastics leaching hormone-like chemicals, other than BPA. We hope you're drinking from a Klean Kanteen by now.
• Patrick from North Carolina sent a very thoughtful letter to both of his state senators, regarding efforts to dismantle the EPA. You'll have to listen to the show to hear it!

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