Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["TradingPostPaul" <tradingpost@riseup.net>]

Good work! For our seeds we're absolutely partial to heirlooms, European if
possible. 

Here with a four month frost free season these season extension techniques
are mandatory. I got a 15x50 framed greenhouse finished over the summer
with 6 4x12 deep beds. 6 ml UV plastic with stapling through Poly-Tack to
the lumber. First I put up a smaller greenhouse for early seedlings to
transplant this last spring. Anything to get a jump on the weather. It
worked well for chard, beets, peppers, cucumbers, summer and winter squash,
giant pumpkins, gourds and melons. Ran a small electric heater in that
small space after germinating indoors on thrift store heating trays. 

Tomatoes were late getting in while the first 20 ft greenhouse section got
covered, so they weren't ready for market till end of July when everybody
else had them. Still, our Costoluto Genovese sold for $4 lb by end of Sept.
Local hydroponic stuff was going for $2 lb. The last four beds weren't
transplanted soon enough and almost all our tomato sales came from the
first two 4x12 beds - actually about 100 medium size tomatoes ripening
twice a week through August and Sept. By Oct. nights were way too cool and
ripening slowed to a crawl tho they kept insisting on setting fruit in all
the beds. We saw the price of kerosene and gave up trying to keep it warm
enough when the market closed for the year. No way we could double layer by
covering the plants themselves since some were ten feet tall.

paul tradingpost@lobo.net

Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes. 
--Henry David Thoreau 

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 12/13/2007 at 12:41 PM bruce smith wrote:

>thanks I saw that book in the Library.. I will check it out for winter
>reading..
>I have an Idea for an area to build a small hoophouse over to 2'X12' beds.
>Room is tight where I can work. I already have 13 raised beds of varying
>sizes on this Eastern sloping NE hillside.  I've got them all fertilized
>and
>ready to go for this spring. I'm ordering seeds as soon as I get a better
>catalog selection.
>
>On Dec 13, 2007 11:06 AM, E. E. Mitchamore Jr <emitch@att.net> wrote:
>
>>  See Elliot Coleman's *Four Season Harvest*.
>>
>> E. E. "Mitch" Mitchamore
>> www.hillcountrynatives.biz
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* bruce smith <cityhomesteader@gmail.com>
>> *To:* Healthy soil and sustainable
>growing<livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
>> *Sent:* Thursday, December 13, 2007 7:34 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Livingontheland] Eating Fossil Fuels
>>
>> This was a very astonishing article.. I've know this for awhile, but
this
>> brings it home..
>> There is a driving need within me to make the greatest effort I can to
>> grow as much as I can from my yard and can and store. I feel like I
>guess a
>> squirrel would.  I need to really apply myself and develope a localvore
>> attitude. Gone are the cushy days of cheap food, cheap energy and I'm a
>> victim of my own stupidity and bringing my kids and wife along for the
>ride.
>> Problem is they don't get it! My wife is in denial worse than ever. I'm
>> telling her we need to pare down and learn to do without clothes driers,
>> dishwashers, 6 TV's, 2 computers, etc.. she is more like We need a
bigger
>> freezer, larger car, oi!
>> I got her a geo metro..55 miles per gallon..My 94 honda accord 4 banger
>is
>> close on 34 city miles per and 40 hwy..
>> She is not getting it.. we are in deep kimchi here in CT.. we are paying
>> the 2nd  highest prices for heating fuel and gas in the Main land US. 
>New
>> York is 1st.
>> prices are beginning to really climb at the local grocery stores and
>> product quality is declining. What we used to get in the older vegetable
>bin
>> is passed off as best. for big bucks.  I need to learn to grow as much
as
>> possible here.  our USDA garden zone is 6b or 7.. any help would be
>> appreciated
>>
>>  ------------------------------
>>
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>
>
>-- 
>Bruce E Smith
>
>@{--+----+------+------------
>
>A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will
>bring
>heaven to your soul.  ~Author Unknown
>
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