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market-farming - Re: row covers

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  • From: Lucy Goodman-Owsley <goodows AT excite.com>
  • To: market farming <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: row covers
  • Date: Tue, 4 Apr 2000 14:46:21 -0700 (PDT)


>

>

> Liz- I use the kind of Agribon row covers (called Agriforce) that have a

> grid of polypropylene embedded to strengthen and prolong the life of the

> material. <snip>

I used that stuff once and it ruined several leaf crops because the
reinforcement came off the covers and would cut through the leaves. peices
of the grid got in the soil and 4 years later the grid came back to haunt us
by destroying a seal on our brand new BCS tiller box. perhaps the stuff is
made better but agribond is not something i will ever use again.



I wish I knew how to recycle the material.



We reuse the covers for several yerars in different capacities. The virgin
covers are for insect prtection. as they get holes in them they go from
areas that need insect protection to plants that need weather
protection-frost, downpours, hail. when they get too holey to use in the
fields they get used for coldframes-when it is too hot for the glass covers
the glass comes off and the row covers go on (in tatters). the covers keep
much of the wind and sun off of the seedlings and also keep the moist in the
soil blocks. When we discovered this use last spring we went from watering
up to 10 times a day to no more than 3 waterings a day. The final use of the
covers is for a haunted forest we participate in-the covers become quite
scary ghosts. Another use for them is to line nesting boxes so the eggs
don't break when laid. Like you i don't know of any recycling but we can
reuse them for at least 3 to 4 years this way.



To hold them down I use rocks or bricks spaced about every 2 feet. The rocks
have to weight at least 4 pounds to be effective and should not be piled. Be
sure to double over the edges for the best hold. We have been using row
covers for 5 years now and we commonly have 40mph winds on our flat and
treeless farm and have only lost one cover in all that time to wind. The
rocks have to be closely spaced or wind will get under the covers and slowly
lift the edges little by little. i have not used staples but they don't seem
like they would work well and they are costly when you have to buy 1000's.
Rebar will rip the covers as will fence stakes. Poly tubes filled with sand,
soil, rocks work really well but it takes work to fill the bags and you will
be lucky if they last a full season in the sun. Rocks and bricks are usually
free and plentiful and they work almost as well as the polybag idea with
much much less work and cost.



You can check out my rowcover workshop notes at my site (URL below)







Lucy Goodman-Owsley

Boulder Belt CSA

New Paris, OH

Website: http://www.angelfire.com/oh2/boulderbeltcsa

Organic Farming and Gardening Forum:
http://www.InsideTheWeb.com/mbs.cgi/mb135705

Want Social Change? Join a CSA!





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