Structures for Growing

With more and more people getting into farming and looking to extend the growing season, more buzz words around structures are being used.  Of course, I got confused.  So here's me explaining my definitions of the many different terms that are floating around the farming communities.

First there are cold frames and hot beds.  These two structures are exactly the same thing (a raised bed with a cover).  Hot beds have external heat sources included, whereas cold frames do not.  The heat source can be some sort of electrical heating device or as simple as compost!  (It's amazing how hot that compost can get!)  Usually they are put on the south side of a structure with slanted coverings to capture as much sunlight as possible.  A great material for the slanted coverings are recycle windows.  Windows also offer a great way to ventilate if they open.  The cold frame/hot bed structure is great to get seeds started during winter months.  Keeps everything pretty warm and is supposedly easy to transplant.  Great for hobbiest gardeners.

Cold frame or hot bed

Hoop houses and greenhouses are more subjective terms, I think.  A few people are toeing the line between the boundary of hoop house vs greenhouse, Eliot Coleman and his Four Season farming for one example!  My definition of hoop house is this:  a structure set over the dirt that utilizes the natural forms of heat to extend the growing season.  A greenhouse is a more permanent structure that utilizes external heat and energy to extend the growing season and is not set over the dirt.  It moreso would host potted plants or seedlings as opposed to mature produce.

Some completely avoid the hoop house and greenhouse terms and use the low and high tunnel terms.  Both of these structures are over dirt.  The high tunnels are much more large (in the upper right of the Eliot Coleman picture.  The low tunnels are usually over specific rows (towards the center of the picture).  Eliot Coleman has greenhouses over dirt, but has them on runners so they are able to move from season to season or year to year (whichever you prefer).  They usually have nice sprinkler systems set up, but I haven't done enough reading to know exactly what's happening inside of them.  I have been to his daughter, Clara's farm in Silt, CO.  The structures are pretty impressive!  Hers were only to extend the growing season (so true hoop houses).  Eliot does have his four season farming concept, though, so there can be more to them.  I'm assuming he is trying to be as energy efficient as possible.  Without energy efficiency, the four season farming concept is a little ridiculous.  Of course you can grow food in a heated structure throughout the winter!  It's on my list to read up on it, so the four season farming concept is a to-be-continued post.

Hoop houses and greenhouses of Eliot Coleman

Another thing I wanted to mention, since the hoop houses are more plastic-like, was another use of plastic I've seen on my many trips to farms.  Some farmers are using plastic as mulch.  I get how valuable it is to keep the moisture on your seeds and seedlings, but the plastic-as-mulch method is a little ridiculous.  Other alternatives like woodchips and hay would be much better.  And they would even throw in a little fertilizer as well!  I'm assuming the plastic is more inexpensive, but sometimes money isn't everything!

Plastic as mulch - not cool.

Bringing Back the Local Country Store

Lately, my synapses have been firing not only around farming, but also around encouraging people to eat and buy locally.  I'm a frequent listener to Greenhorns Radio, a show put on by the founder of Greenhorns and the National Young Farmers Coalition, Severine Fleming.  A couple of times the show has been a hit, and I'm sure you'll hear about those in my blog!

One of the hits was an interview done with a couple that just started a country general store in upstate Maine, Sheepscot General.  Their business plan was around taking the local produce that farmer's didn't sell at farmers markets or canning to preserve the produce so that it wouldn't go bad.  They would then sell whatever they had (canned or non-canned) and give a portion of it to the farmer.  To me, this is a perfect plan.  The food would have gone to waste if something wasn't done with it.  They are in the process of creating their own "local" grocery store in the truest sense!  I love it!

Back to Eden

Getting close to the month goal that my friend gave me, but I'm still making it with a few hours to spare!

I'll have a few posts on the spiritual connection that I feel farming should (or shouldn't) incorporate.  This particular spiritual connection I like and identify with.  It's represented really well in a documentary called Back to Eden.  The main farmer in the film, Paul, has a deep relationship with God, and actually looked to him for a few answers in helping him get his garden to work.  He decided he was doing too much work in his garden and couldn't keep up with the maintenance.  His "revelation" actually came to him as he ran into the woods and dropped onto the ground.  (That may be a little too dramatic for me, but oh well!)  He decided that following nature's way of being fruitful was the direction his garden should follow.  No man is weeding, fertilizing, or even watering nature's bounties that are sustaining those that live in it.  He, too, should be able to create a garden that has minimal maintenance but amazing produce.  This concept sure does sound a lot like permaculture!  (And it is!)

In order to achieve this minimal maintenance and accept the natural process that Yahweh has established, Paul thought he would cover his garden in wood chips.  Jah has created a natural process where trees/plants shed, creating a mulch on the bare earth.  I like to compare it to sun covers.  As much as we like being naked in the sun, it's not a wise idea for extended periods of time.  I actually need a rash guard and board shorts when I'm on the beach.

Me in my mulch.  After a day at on the North Shore in Oahu.

The use of mulch takes away the need for watering (at least in Paul's area), fertilizing, and weeding.  Leaving Paul to do nothing else but plant his seeds then pick his produce.  I have seen a farm using wood chips extensively, an orchard called Ya Ya.  The wood chips don't even need to be replenished every year.  The manual input just keeps getting less and less.

I have one last call out from the film that stuck in my mind.  It was a comment I enjoyed of Paul's about holes from bugs on the plants.  He thought it was a very natural thing.  The bugs were telling you which plants weren't poisonous.  Those pieces of lettuce in the store that DON'T have the bug bites are the ones you should be worried about.

The film was great, hopeful, and had a great message that I love:  let's get back to Eden (aka - the natural way).  It's possible and fruitful.

My baby niece, Eden.  May be another reason I like the film so much!  Makes me think of her.

Rancho Margot...Six Months Later

I lost the month of June - and almost July for that matter!  One of my friends challenged me to write a new entry every month, so here I am attempting to win the challenge.

Our Costa Rica trip happened in February (so yes - I am that far behind!).  I was actually the one with the idea of a trip to there after reading a blog post on Mother Earth News.  It described a magical farm in the middle of the rain forest with sustainable practices and amazing food.  Fran committed early, so we bought our tickets, and eventually the trip grew to six (which ended up turning out to be a perfect size!)

The farm was everything that I would want to create:

Bungalows

• Relaxing bungalows
• Gardens on the grounds
• Hot and cool pools (although they were closed)
• Amazing meals (and coffee from right down the road)
• Yoga every morning and evening
• Outdoor bar
• Great sense of relaxation and laid back atmosphere
• Activity and opportunities on and off the farm

Everything I would want to create...in Nebraska.

P relaxing

Although it is pretty hard to get anywhere in CR (due to lack of signs and bad roads), Rancho Margot was slightly harder than usual.  The crazier the roads seemed, the more excited we got (or some may have been more scared due to my track record, but I know I was excited!)  We eventually got to the ranch (even in the dark) and settled into our bungalows.  We had an amazing home-cooked dinner with a few local beers waiting for us.  We were definitely taken care of once we were there.  It felt a lot like getting to your grandma's house.  They were waiting for you and ready to get you everything you needed and more upon arrival.  Great feeling.

During that part of our vacation, we were kids again.  We would wake up (sometimes early enough for yoga, sometimes not) play on the jungle gym, lay around and talk, hike, MAYBE escape the farm for an excursion, and go to the bar at night.  (Ok, maybe not COMPLETELY being kids!)  It was great.  The workers on the farm also contributed to the family-like feel that you got from the Ranch.  No one cared if you were in your PJs or unshowered for breakfast.  Makeup?  What's makeup?  You could see the guy from the dairy bringing the freshly-made cheese into the kitchen.  You could watch the hummingbirds flying around from flower to flower.  You couls wait out the rain with another cup of coffee (or run through it!)  Everything I want a vacation to be.  Or not even my vacation - but my life!

Being a kid on the jungle gym

Not being a kid at the bar (my matrix move)

Laura and I enjoying our morning coffee

Sitting on some of their amazing in-house furniture

I was in my happy place and wanted to know how it came to be.  It wasn't hard to figure out who the Big Boss Man was.  We ended up finding out that he was the former GM (I think that was his title) of Burger King in Europe - the sole reason BK is IN Europe apparently.  Interesting that the former GM of BK has a paradise of complete sustainability.  It makes you wonder...  Regardless - all of the money spent seems to be his personal stash.  His workers are very loyal and would do anything for him (due to the opportunities that he provides for them.)  And after talking with one of his farm "interns" (who happened to be from Wisconsin), I discovered that they don't know too much about farming, but were working on learning.  I think they concentrated on the livestock and re-building the forest before focusing on gardening.  Whatever works!

I do hope to go back and see how his vision works out.  And I hope to eventually show off my own little prairie paradise to this guy.  My recent busyness has been attributed to a certain application that I've been pouring time into, so we will see if I'll have a stash of my own in the future!

Be How You Think Things Should Be

This past week I had the opportunity to hear Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms speak.  Joel is a pretty amazing rancher AND speaker for that matter.  I actually found out about him from Michael Pollan's book, Omnivore's Dilemma.  From there, I immediately became intrigued by him.  He rotates his animals (chickens, rabbits, pigs, and cows) in order to bring in the least amount of food from outside his farm and make the least amount of impact on the environment.  Being "local" is more important to him than being 100% organic and natural.  Although his animals are raised naturally once they are on his farm, he doesn't worry about buying USDA-claimed organic seed.  He'll buy seed from his local buddies instead.  The only animals I've seen (I purchased a DVD of his) that he actually births are chickens and rabbits.  I believe he purchases his cows and pigs as babies, then raises them from there.  In that case, he also buys a few supplements in the beginning to help them get into the groove for his "salad bar" of grasses.

I already knew of Joel Salatin's practices.  I was a little concerned he would just talk about stuff I already knew when I went to hear him speak.  I commend him for knowing his audiences.  For him being in Boulder, he was expecting that everyone there knew who he was and knew what he did.  (I guess that makes sense.  If you are going to buy a ticket to hear someone talk, you know you are most likely going to enjoy it.)  He did call people out about choosing biking over gardening and a dog over ten chickens (which was awesome.)  But he also REALLY motivated me personally.  One thing he said close to the beginning of his talk was, "You need to be how you think things should be."  So many people have asked me "what's the point?" after I talk about my passions with them.  I get the "especially in Nebraska, you know the farm right next to you is going to have a TON of chemicals on it.  Yours can never be natural."  I always tell them that you have to start somewhere!  If I would have to be the example for others to follow, then so be it!  I think whenever I'm faced with that question again, I'm going to use Joel Salatin's words.  "I will be how I think things should be."

There will be many more posts about Joel; I'm just not prepared to write them.  I wanted to write about his inspirational phrase before it lost its luster.