9 Jan 2009
GROWING GREENS YEAR ROUND!
We’ve been applying some information we read in a book called, “Four Season Harvest“ by Eliot Coleman. It’s full of interesting tips on how to successfully grow in any climate, in any season. He lives in Maine on the 44th parallel. 
He explains that his most recent book is based on the year round agricultural practices of French farmers, also living on the 44th parallel. He has studied their practices and mixed it with his own work! The result is this insightful book on growing food year round! He says that if he can eat great salad in Maine year round, then anywhere to the south of Maine can also!
Looking down at the tunnel
Venting the tunnel
The picture above is, Collard, Kale and Chard. All grown under a plastic tunnel, in highly mineralized soil, supplemented with local rock dusts, such as volcanic cinders and Azomite, written about in “Secrets of the Soil.” The Azomite deposit is found here, in Utah. We also used ocean water – from growgreens.com !!
The condensation created inside the tunnel evaporates up hits the plastic, dripping back down as moisture for the plants, the additional mulch around the plants retains most of this moisture! I haven’t needed to water most of the winter!
As I mentioned earlier, you can use plant cover cloth, like Agribon, which adds an additional layer of protection. Also, the plants can breathe through it, keep warm, keep protected from insects and wind, and the plants actually push the Agribon up as they grow!
Viola – Pansy (edible) – for the salad….and to attract beneficial insects. They’re beautiful too!
If you don’t have a greenhouse, or a plastic tunnel, he shares that a different method the French have historically used is: cold frames.
There is a whole chapter in the book dedicated to these old methods of growing food in winter. Which can be manually vented by the grower everyday, or, you can install an automatic window vent. The venting is created as the bees wax filled cylinder heats up, then through pressure, it forces the tube open. Brilliant!
This is also how the dome greenhouse vents itself! The history behind these vents is worth checking out as well!
Since the advent of plastic, French farmers have been using a method which creates “low tunnels” of plastic, supported by PVC pipe or wire, under which plants thrive! “Four Season Harvest” by Elliot Coleman, has definitely helped us extend our grow operation, by helping us with alternative methods of growing greens through winter!
Here’s to the GREEN SMOOTHIES!
We hope to have 4 tunnels by next winter! Supplying our GREEN SMOOTHIE habit!! The dome is only so big inside, and we want to stop buying greens from the grocery store!
This book was amazing!
We fully recommend it to anyone wanting to grow through the winter and just grow period! It’s full of techniques for composting, root cellars, regular-season growing and on and on!!!
Check it out!
lady bugs in winter?
Happy little plants in here….and lady bugs!
Eat home – grown leafy greens year round!!!!
