Monthly Archives: March 2013

Important Info from the Guru

Just spoke with Ed Person from Ledgewood Farm in NH, the greenhouse guru. Important tips:
1. Once seedlings emerge, take domes off and let soil dry out as much as possible without killing the plants. The humidity will cause the legginess and create other problems. Transplant in a couple weeks after first true leaf appears.

2. Plants will be happiest at around 60 degrees, growing much faster than at 50. The amount of fuel used is doubled to keep the temperature at 60 as opposed to 50.

3. Spinach will bolt if the diiference between the soil and air temperature is too great. In winter, the soil temperature is generally around 45 degrees, so you don’t want to let the daytime temperature get higher than 55 or 60. The difference shouldn’t be more than 10 degrees in low light conditions(winter). As the light increases, the delta can increase.

4. Humidity in the greenhouse is a problem. Creates enviroment for fungus/mold.

Needless to say, I just took the plastic domes off the sprouted seedlings.

Thanks, Ed!

Start me up!

Its been almost a week since the first planting and the tomatoes seem to be doing particularly well, especially the Roma.  The other varieties are close behind with the peppers behind, and onions, leeks, and parsley bringing up the rear(starting to see a few of each).  Tomato and pepper germination seems pretty solid. I’d say close to 100 percent.

Bought another light and seeded a couple more flats on Saturday-more tomatoes.  I’m thinking I’m going to run out of room.  I’ve calculated an awful lot of tomatoes and peppers to supply in mid-May.  Going to have to get creative, but I’m not sure what that means.

When do I move the seedlings into the greenhouse?  What temperature do I keep the greenhouse at, having spinach still growing in there?  Right?  The seedlings will want at least 60 degrees and the spinach will be happiest under 6o degrees.  Thinking now of finding a happy median of about 10 degrees where the fan or the heater won’t be constantly running.  Maybe between 55 and 65.  Need to consult some other growers.  More learning….could be worse!

And then there was HEAT…

Another exciting day! The propane company came today and set two 100 gallon tanks down by the greenhouse and hooked it all up. I got home from work this afternoon and fired that puppy up…HEAT! Very exciting!! Don’t plan on turning it on yet, but its a relief to know its there.

Also started 40 cherry pepper plants today. Capperino. Excited to make some stuffed cherry peppers this fall. Hopefully they’ll grow!!

Spinach and Starts!

Big doings here…at least in our world! The spinach is happening, growing like crazy. Seems like its ready to harvest again a couple weeks after harvest. I’d say that’s pretty fast growth.  We started selling wholesale to the Plainfield Co-op. Fifteen pounds in the last couple weeks. Hopefully we’ll stay steady at 7 to 8 pounds a week for a good month or so. Nice to see a little money coming in.

I sowed the remainder of the spinach in between the current rows at the south end of the greenhouse a couple weeks ago. Just starting to see some emergence. Also put down some kale, chard and lettuce. We’ll see what happens.

Built my frame for the grow light a couple days ago and started tomatoes, peppers, onions, leeks and parsley today. Four flats under one bank of 4 lights. I have a lear plastic cover over the tomatoes and peppers in hopes to keep the temperature at close to 80 degrees, as recommended on the seed packet for those crops for germination. I guess we’ll see what we see. Exciting(wow! Its finally happening!), stressful(will they grow?), but ultimately fun, right? Its just a bunch of seeds. Granted, they weren’t given to me for my good looks, although they should have been…Anywho, another red letter day here at Friends and Neighbors Farm. Need to get the propane company here to hook up my greenhouse furnace. Just had the plumber here the other day hooking up the proper fittings for the gas company. Planning on getting a yard of compost mix this weekend. Man, there’s a lot going on!! But what’s the alternative? Sit around and watch tv? I guess I could play more piano…but I’ll find time for that. I always do!