Season Extention
A novel approach to costly greenhouse kits.
When I first started market gardening, I went out and bought a nice 16'x 24'
quonset or hoop greenhouse and all the fans, vents and doors. That was nice
for a small town business, or so I thought. Even with that space I grew over my
holding capacity for soil blocks. So, I know how it is to want to grow more plants
than you realistically have room. But, I didn't like taking too much time to build a
permanent greenhouse, because I am an impermanent farmer. Meaning, I move
my buildings around to prevent build up of an unnatural environment, to prevent
insect infestations, to prevent overusing the soil underneath with compaction.
So, I began investigating and building movable greenhouses. That was better
for me. But, I have a building background, and I know many people do not. I
needed a type of greenhouse that was cheap to buy, super easy to build,
wouldn't take a day to build, large enough to satisfy my soil block making
addiction, teachable, easy to setup the interior, easy to use, and
semi-automated in case I was busy administrating this site! Soil Block Makers
Behold! Our Quick and Easy to Build Starter Greenhouse Plan or "Oregon
Tunnels".
quonset or hoop greenhouse and all the fans, vents and doors. That was nice
for a small town business, or so I thought. Even with that space I grew over my
holding capacity for soil blocks. So, I know how it is to want to grow more plants
than you realistically have room. But, I didn't like taking too much time to build a
permanent greenhouse, because I am an impermanent farmer. Meaning, I move
my buildings around to prevent build up of an unnatural environment, to prevent
insect infestations, to prevent overusing the soil underneath with compaction.
So, I began investigating and building movable greenhouses. That was better
for me. But, I have a building background, and I know many people do not. I
needed a type of greenhouse that was cheap to buy, super easy to build,
wouldn't take a day to build, large enough to satisfy my soil block making
addiction, teachable, easy to setup the interior, easy to use, and
semi-automated in case I was busy administrating this site! Soil Block Makers
Behold! Our Quick and Easy to Build Starter Greenhouse Plan or "Oregon
Tunnels".
The Simplest Way to Extend
Your Growing Season: Create
a Micro-Climate.
Have you ever noticed how much bigger
and greener the grass is around the
base of a tree? That's because it's
growing in a "micro-climate". Or, a
modification of the natural elements like
a warm, sheltered, sloping, and heat
absorbing dark colored background and
dark soil spot that is obviously warmer
than the center of your yard. You can
create one by finding the south facing
side of an outbuilding, putting black
plastic or tar paper behind the structure,
mounding up dark, rich, black
composted soil at a 40 degree angle
and protecting with a barrier from the
windward side. I use a standard weed
barrier, like black woven poly stretched
between two bamboo canes which were
stitched in the ends and then pounded
in the soil. That is to say, I cut about 6
feet of weed mat and then cut little slits
every foot on the ends and weaved the
bamboo in and out of the slits to secure
the cloth to the bamboo.
This will give you 30% increase in soil
temperature compared to the
surrounding environment.
Do you have any old windows lying
around? They can also be used as a
temporary cold frame. Just lean them
up against the building and then lean
one on each end or at least the windward
side.
Do you have a lot of rocks on your
property? Rocks are great soil warmers.
They absorb heat and light all day and
then slowly release them back to the soil
at night. Try making a raised rock wall
bed somewhere against the south side
of a building. Fill it with dark, black rich
composted soil again and add your wind
break.
Your job is to find, improve, or create
nice micro-climates for your blocks to be
happy!
Try Cloches(pronounced
cloash), French for Glass Bell
Jars:
French intensive market gardeners of
the sixteenth century were called
Maraichers (pronounced
Ma-ray-shares), named after the
swampland(marais) they were forced to
move to, due to the high cost of city land
in Paris. They too, had to drain off this
swamp land to farm it. They were the
originators of season extension using
glass. They also developed an excellent
system of interplanting and succession
planting for a continual harvest in small
spaces. They used an appliance called
the cloche, a bell shaped glass jar,
about 16" tall and 18" in diameter. The
Maraichers placed the cloches over
newly transplanted seedlings like
lettuce, spinach, leafy greens, herbs, or
young cucumbers. This is a great
example of creating a micro climate.
You can purchase cloches made out of
durable UV resistant plastic, as glass is
too heavy and would break easily. This
is an inexpensive way to transplant a few
plants before the last frost date.
Floating Row Covers:
The next step up would be to provide a
blanket for your garden rows to protect
from frosts and cold windy day. This
idea of a blanket is known as the
Floating Row Cover. FRC's are spun
bound polypropylene that come in all
widths and lengths and are self
ventilating. They also have different
weights, so the lightweight blankets can
be placed directly over the plants but still
not get blown away. It is water and air
permeable, so there is no need to
remove it until the "coast is clear", just let
the rain water your plants through the
blanket. It can be left on even further to
protect crops from insect damage, wind
damage, and extreme temperature
damage like heat and freezing. It
conserves soil moisture and deters
birds and animals. Floating Row
Covers and Blankets can also protect
trees from frost damage, giving us
northerners a chance to grow almonds,
citrus and avocados.
True to their name, they can float right on
top of plants, but what about a structure
with flexibility? That is known as the Low
Cover or Tunnel. Using a heavier grade
of spun bound polypropylene, and some
#9 wire(found easily at home centers),
you can make little hoops and place over
your row crops every 2-4 feet. Depending
on your wind or snow loads, the closer
together the wire hoops are, the stronger
the tunnel is. You then cover with the
blanket and lay some sod or dirt on the
edges to keep it weighted down over the
hoops. Bunch up the ends in a tennis
ball or something round, wrap a rubber
band around it and use another piece of
wire to make a "fabric staple", and staple
the blanket end with the bunched up ball
to the ground. You can make these
tunnels as long as you like, but the
accepted width of a wire hoop, before it
looses it's rigidity would be about 6 feet,
using a foot on each side to be buried or
poked into the ground.
Slitted Row Covers:
Another variation of the self ventilating
row covers is the slitted row cover.
Although, not as frost hardy as the
blankets, the slitted row covers can be
placed over hoops in rows and simply
left there all year. The benefits are in the
clear plastic, versus the less light
translucence of the spun bound blanket.
Slitted Row Covers have little slits on
two sides for ventilation. Not completely
protected from freezes, your plants will
still enjoy about a 5 degree protection
from frosts. They will take some labor to
get in and out through the season as
you water, cultivate, and harvest. And,
they do not last very long, as the plastic
is thin and not as UV protected as the
blankets. Slitted row covers are best
used for melons where they can be
transplanted earlier with the soil blocks
and left in hot bed all year 'till harvest.
Bury some drip tape or lay out some drip
irrigation for each plant. Leave the ends
open for pollinating insects. Top dress
with horse manure for heat and CO2, or
use black or green plastic mulch. This
will speed up harvest by 6 weeks!
Definitely worth the extra expense for the
northern crowd to get ripe melons in the
summer! But, yes, lots of plastic being
used and hopefully recycled, right?
Our Farm's Favorite: TUFBELL
As I have mentioned before, I try to use
the least amount of plastic as possible.
To that end, I need something that will
last for years, tougher than plastic, easy
to use and still recyclable in the end(but
my Tufbell is in it's 6th season!).
Tufbell is a floating row cover that is
made from a high-tech polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA). It is unique in it's way it absorbs
water during the day, letting it pass
through to the plants, but at night, the
water freezes to the fibers and forms a
tight freeze-proof(up to 10 degrees)
barrier, like an igloo. It is breathable,
and won't get over 90 degrees in the
heat of summer. It allows 95% light
transmittance! It is reinforced with nylon
threads every square foot. Additionally
reinforced again with wide bands every
39", which allows it to be sewn together
to make huge pieces. We have sewn
them together to make an inner lining for
greenhouses and could grow crops year
'round in unheated structures! Sew with
nylon thread to make larger pieces. It is
easily washed and easily repaired,
anti-static, UV stable, and is the
unquestionable longest lasting row
cover in the world. It can float as a
blanket or you can make little tunnels.
We have made large walk in tunnels for
tomato production. Simply
unprecedented and durable.
Top>> Home>>
Your Growing Season: Create
a Micro-Climate.
Have you ever noticed how much bigger
and greener the grass is around the
base of a tree? That's because it's
growing in a "micro-climate". Or, a
modification of the natural elements like
a warm, sheltered, sloping, and heat
absorbing dark colored background and
dark soil spot that is obviously warmer
than the center of your yard. You can
create one by finding the south facing
side of an outbuilding, putting black
plastic or tar paper behind the structure,
mounding up dark, rich, black
composted soil at a 40 degree angle
and protecting with a barrier from the
windward side. I use a standard weed
barrier, like black woven poly stretched
between two bamboo canes which were
stitched in the ends and then pounded
in the soil. That is to say, I cut about 6
feet of weed mat and then cut little slits
every foot on the ends and weaved the
bamboo in and out of the slits to secure
the cloth to the bamboo.
This will give you 30% increase in soil
temperature compared to the
surrounding environment.
Do you have any old windows lying
around? They can also be used as a
temporary cold frame. Just lean them
up against the building and then lean
one on each end or at least the windward
side.
Do you have a lot of rocks on your
property? Rocks are great soil warmers.
They absorb heat and light all day and
then slowly release them back to the soil
at night. Try making a raised rock wall
bed somewhere against the south side
of a building. Fill it with dark, black rich
composted soil again and add your wind
break.
Your job is to find, improve, or create
nice micro-climates for your blocks to be
happy!
Try Cloches(pronounced
cloash), French for Glass Bell
Jars:
French intensive market gardeners of
the sixteenth century were called
Maraichers (pronounced
Ma-ray-shares), named after the
swampland(marais) they were forced to
move to, due to the high cost of city land
in Paris. They too, had to drain off this
swamp land to farm it. They were the
originators of season extension using
glass. They also developed an excellent
system of interplanting and succession
planting for a continual harvest in small
spaces. They used an appliance called
the cloche, a bell shaped glass jar,
about 16" tall and 18" in diameter. The
Maraichers placed the cloches over
newly transplanted seedlings like
lettuce, spinach, leafy greens, herbs, or
young cucumbers. This is a great
example of creating a micro climate.
You can purchase cloches made out of
durable UV resistant plastic, as glass is
too heavy and would break easily. This
is an inexpensive way to transplant a few
plants before the last frost date.
Floating Row Covers:
The next step up would be to provide a
blanket for your garden rows to protect
from frosts and cold windy day. This
idea of a blanket is known as the
Floating Row Cover. FRC's are spun
bound polypropylene that come in all
widths and lengths and are self
ventilating. They also have different
weights, so the lightweight blankets can
be placed directly over the plants but still
not get blown away. It is water and air
permeable, so there is no need to
remove it until the "coast is clear", just let
the rain water your plants through the
blanket. It can be left on even further to
protect crops from insect damage, wind
damage, and extreme temperature
damage like heat and freezing. It
conserves soil moisture and deters
birds and animals. Floating Row
Covers and Blankets can also protect
trees from frost damage, giving us
northerners a chance to grow almonds,
citrus and avocados.
True to their name, they can float right on
top of plants, but what about a structure
with flexibility? That is known as the Low
Cover or Tunnel. Using a heavier grade
of spun bound polypropylene, and some
#9 wire(found easily at home centers),
you can make little hoops and place over
your row crops every 2-4 feet. Depending
on your wind or snow loads, the closer
together the wire hoops are, the stronger
the tunnel is. You then cover with the
blanket and lay some sod or dirt on the
edges to keep it weighted down over the
hoops. Bunch up the ends in a tennis
ball or something round, wrap a rubber
band around it and use another piece of
wire to make a "fabric staple", and staple
the blanket end with the bunched up ball
to the ground. You can make these
tunnels as long as you like, but the
accepted width of a wire hoop, before it
looses it's rigidity would be about 6 feet,
using a foot on each side to be buried or
poked into the ground.
Slitted Row Covers:
Another variation of the self ventilating
row covers is the slitted row cover.
Although, not as frost hardy as the
blankets, the slitted row covers can be
placed over hoops in rows and simply
left there all year. The benefits are in the
clear plastic, versus the less light
translucence of the spun bound blanket.
Slitted Row Covers have little slits on
two sides for ventilation. Not completely
protected from freezes, your plants will
still enjoy about a 5 degree protection
from frosts. They will take some labor to
get in and out through the season as
you water, cultivate, and harvest. And,
they do not last very long, as the plastic
is thin and not as UV protected as the
blankets. Slitted row covers are best
used for melons where they can be
transplanted earlier with the soil blocks
and left in hot bed all year 'till harvest.
Bury some drip tape or lay out some drip
irrigation for each plant. Leave the ends
open for pollinating insects. Top dress
with horse manure for heat and CO2, or
use black or green plastic mulch. This
will speed up harvest by 6 weeks!
Definitely worth the extra expense for the
northern crowd to get ripe melons in the
summer! But, yes, lots of plastic being
used and hopefully recycled, right?
Our Farm's Favorite: TUFBELL
As I have mentioned before, I try to use
the least amount of plastic as possible.
To that end, I need something that will
last for years, tougher than plastic, easy
to use and still recyclable in the end(but
my Tufbell is in it's 6th season!).
Tufbell is a floating row cover that is
made from a high-tech polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA). It is unique in it's way it absorbs
water during the day, letting it pass
through to the plants, but at night, the
water freezes to the fibers and forms a
tight freeze-proof(up to 10 degrees)
barrier, like an igloo. It is breathable,
and won't get over 90 degrees in the
heat of summer. It allows 95% light
transmittance! It is reinforced with nylon
threads every square foot. Additionally
reinforced again with wide bands every
39", which allows it to be sewn together
to make huge pieces. We have sewn
them together to make an inner lining for
greenhouses and could grow crops year
'round in unheated structures! Sew with
nylon thread to make larger pieces. It is
easily washed and easily repaired,
anti-static, UV stable, and is the
unquestionable longest lasting row
cover in the world. It can float as a
blanket or you can make little tunnels.
We have made large walk in tunnels for
tomato production. Simply
unprecedented and durable.
Top>> Home>>
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“There is no one out there who is really going to help us
survive. We have to figure out how to help each other survive."
-Elliot Coleman
survive. We have to figure out how to help each other survive."
-Elliot Coleman
