Tag Archives: low tunnel

Bangor Garden Show – Sneak Peek

April 5, 2012   Maine Outdoors

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The Bangor Garden Show starts tomorrow, April 6 and runs through Sunday. I’ll be speaking about season extension at 5 pm on Saturday. Here’s a sneak peak at my presentation.

Cold frames are used in several ways.

Beets and peas under a low tunnel

 

Olympia spinach harvested on March 20

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Late Afternoon in the Greenhouse

October 9, 2007   Agriculture, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables

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Late afternoon. It’s hard to see what’s growing with minimal light. On the left, against the wall, starting from the opposite end: Two beds of Forono beets, a bed of Purple Globe White Top turnip. Out of sight in the same row: carrots, peas (for organic matter and to fix some nitrogen, they’re leftover seeds), salad mix.

Look carefully and you’ll see a short piece of the twine that marks the rows. Just to the left of the door in row two: hakurei turnip, Yellow Swiss chard, Space Spinach, various lettuces and Pac Choi. Center – walk way.

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Bourbon Red Turkeys

October 9, 2007   Homestead, Poultry

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Time for a poult update. Seven weeks olds. They’re finally confident with me and will come running when I approach the hoop house. I’ve plucked them off perches and carried them to the hoop house so many evenings they must know I’m not going to hurt them. A wild guess – three hens, three toms.

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Recent Searches

September 28, 2007   Cooking, Food, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Poultry

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frost and carrots

Carrots are hardy.  The tops will tolerate a lot of frost.  The root should be dug before the ground freezes.  I leave mine in the ground until the ground is cold.  The carrots are sweeter.

chicken litter “hormones”

It’s illegal to raise chickens on hormones.  Chicken factories can use antibiotics to increase the rate of growth.  This sounds ridiculous doesn’t it?  It works.  Antibiotics suppress the bird’s immune system.  The bird’s body doesn’t have to work to stay healthy so its energy is put into growth.  You are what you eat, even if you’re a chicken.

what food isnt processed

If it comes straight from the garden instead of a box or can vegetables haven’t been processed.  Fresh meat that hasn’t been turned into flavored meats, injected with brine, water and other liquids aren’t processed.  Again, if it comes in a can or box, is jerky or some how cooked, it has been processed.  An apple isn’t processed.  Applesauce is.

what do cows eat naturally

Plant matter, especially grass.  If a pasture is healthy and has all the vitamins and minerals the cow needs grass is enough.  Grass is considered grass even when it’s hay.  Some breeds of cattle are browsers.  In addition to pasture they’ll eat brush.  We’ve raised Dexters and Scottish Highlands for this purpose.

what kind of insects do cows eat?

None intentionally.  They’ll pick up insects in the grass their eating.

woodstove soup

I have a recipe for one of my favorite soups in my column at Maine Nature News.  I’ll find it and add it.

growing tomatoes in low tunnels

Low tunnels give a head start in the spring.  The soil under a tunnel warms earlier.  As the days get longer you’ll notice faster growth.  Using low tunnels gives you the opportunity to get your plants in the ground and past transplant shock sooner.

In the fall you’ll gain additional warmth and frost protection.  By the end of September I find tomatoes disappointing.  They don’t have the excellent flavor homegrown tomatoes should have.  The shorter days effect flavor.  I pull them up and use the space for greens.

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Row Covers

August 24, 2007   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Vegetable Garden, Winter vegetable production

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Robin Follette
Copyright 2006
Originally published in Farm & Garden

Floating row covers serve several purposes. They’re an important tool for the family gardener. Gardeners have a lot of options available. We can purchase row covers or raid the linen closet. Row covers will keep heat in and insects out. They protect soil and our plants and give us extra time at the beginning and end of the growing season.

Spring Planting

Floating row cover is the simplest cover to use. It doesn’t need to be supported on a frame. It’s so light weight the plants will lift it as they grow. You can start using a floating row cover in the spring. They provide a few degrees of frost protection allowing you to plant a little earlier. Some covers are thick enough to keep seedlings protected from frost down to 24°. The down side of heavier covers is that let only 50% of sunlight through instead of the typical 85%. You should switch to a lighter cover as soon as possible. Gardeners might not agree on what fertilizer to use or where to buy their seeds or who grows the best tomatoes. We do all agree that the sooner we’re in the garden the happier we are and we’ll take one or two extra weeks in the spring. Place the row cover over the row and weight it down on the ends. You can purchase U clips to push through the cover and into the soil, use odd pieces of lumber (which will also make picking up slugs and other pests simple each morning) or use simply rocks. Any heavy object will do.

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Hoop House

August 6, 2007   Agriculture, Cold Weather Growing, Daily Farm Life, Garden, Greenhouse, high tunnel, hoop house, Growing Vegetables, Homestead, Winter Farming, Winter vegetable production

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Day 1. The high tunnel will be delivered today. I don’t expect it until later this afternoon. The hoop on the left is still standing. I’ll uncover it today and pull the weeds. The hoop on the right is down and the weeds have been pulled. I’ll move the ribs and hardware to the right, out of the way. These are excellent from late spring to late fall. One snow fall is all it took to wipe them out. After a missed family event in January I knew these weren’t going to work for us. One will be moved and planted in strawberries. We’ll uncover it in November before the snow falls and cover it again in late March/early April depending on the snow. The other will be moved and put together on pasture. It’s going to be used for 25 meat chickens that are coming next month. Ends will be closed with chicken wire for air flow. The birds will go out during the day and in for safety at night.

 

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