Kitchen Garden Journal

Back to Life!

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Published on Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 08:12

Written by Caroline Pam

Most of the megatunnel frame is standing proud again and we hope to be able to pull the plastic over next week and seed another crop of greens for harvest in April. 

Spinach takes longer to germinate so we fired up the propagation house a week early and seeded it in trays so it will be well on its way by the time we're able to transplant it into the ground in there. 

We still haven't heard back about insurance and we're not counting on it.

Is it crude of us to mention that now would be a really good time to sign up for a 2013 CSA share?

The days are getting longer and the crops in the covered rear half of the megatunnel are coming back to life!

This week's Winter Harvest Share has fresh salad greens, turnip greens, kale and our sweet, slender winter carrots - all from our greenhouses - plus roots and winter squash from some of our neighbors.

The sap is running, the world smells like dirt and spring is in the air! Thanks to all of you for your encouragement and support.

Winter Share #8

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Published on Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 04:52

Written by Caroline Pam

1/2 pound Salad Greens

1 bunch Turnip Greens

1 bunch Kale

2 pounds Sweet Winter Carrots

1 Butternut Squash (Czajkowski Farm, Hadley)

3 pounds Red Potatoes (Enterprise Farm, Whately)

1 pound Watermelon Radishes (Riverland Farm, Sunderland)

1 jar of our own Dried Herbs

Full-Belly Benefit Dance Party

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Published on Monday, February 25, 2013, 03:46

Written by Caroline Pam

Nor'easter

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Published on Monday, February 11, 2013, 08:55

Written by Caroline Pam

We woke up Saturday to around 30 inches of snow and a crumpled greenhouse.

Our "megatunnel," as we affectionately call it, is the heart of our winter growing operation. This summer it was also our salvation, yielding thousands of pounds of vine ripe tomatoes when our outdoor plantings succombed to late blight.

The 30'X186' Nor'Easter gothic style greenhouse from Rimol is the most significant investment we've made on the farm, arguably more valuable than the 7 acres it sits on. The greenhouses (we have four, in total) are clustered on our strip of land amid a sea of large vegetable fields. In the summer the wind just whips through the open meadows, blowing the fine soil into vast dust clouds.

During the blizzard Friday night the wind sucked snow from the neighboring fields into the channel between the southern edge of the megatunnel and the smaller hoop house 10 feet away from it and created a mountain of snow that reached the top of the gothic arch. As the snow continued piling up over the top it eventually collapsed under the weight. 

Thankfully, no one was hurt and about half of the structure is still standing. The winter salad greens, spinach, radishes, bok choy and turnips planted in the ground are still looking good. We spent the last few days clearing snow out of the way to make sure it's safe to go inside to start repairs and harvest for this week's Winter CSA and farmers' markets. 

Insurance doesn't cover greenhouses for damage from snow and ice. There's a case to be made that the wind was the real cuprit here, and we'll see if the adjuster agrees.

Either way, we plan to start reconstruction as early as Wednesday to take advantage of the warmer temperatures and try to get the crops under plastic again as soon as possible.