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  • From: "BarbaraJ" <jbmckillip AT mesanetworks.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tell us about the cukes!
  • Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:53:12 -0700

I'm growing winter crops for the first time in Colorado under a high tunnel. It has been very cold here this year for us(temps in the singe digits and teens but nothing like the midwest), but the solar gain is huge here, we get a ton of sunshine. I only planted 1/4 of the space as a test with several varieties, not on a commercial scale at all, just enough for my family and one other family of 2. I didn't believe in Eliot Coleman's ideas even though I own all his books, I just had to see it for myself. I'm a believer now! I haven't even used the inside row covers. I am finding that you have to plant in early fall as growth is slow during the dead of winter. Spinach is the hands down winner here, both taste and growth are better than I had hoped for.

Barb


----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT illinois.edu>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Monday, November 23, 2009 8:39 AM
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Tell us about the cukes!


While I think his principles are sound, I'd remind you that Elliot's experiences are in a unique place. His principles can be applied but tactics need to be adjusted for different places, perhaps even different seasons. For example, if you're in a much colder place, such as the upper Midwest, you may have a signficant gap during the end of Winter that Elliot might not experience. Still, I think he is providing sound leadership on the topic.

Bill



Allan Balliett wrote:
Someone help me here: has Eliot Coleman quit growing cool season
crops in for harvest in December/January due to the slow growth the
comesfrom short days/low sun? It seem to me I read that somewhere.


Well, he just published a book on the topic of winter production:

http://www.amazon.com/Winter-Harvest-Handbook-Production-Greenhouses/dp/1603580816/


The crux of this book is that he does two different types of greenhouse:
cool (barely heated above 0C), and cold (not heated at all). Different
crops works in different type of greenhouse. In the depth of winter,
growth is extremely slow (if not nil); as such, the trick for winter
harvest is to grow crops in the fall, and cover them for winter harvest.

I have never experimented any of the above, I am just reporting what I
have read in the book. If anybody have actual experience with these
practices, I would love to hear about their experiences to correlate and
compare with what Coleman advocate in his book.

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William H Shoemaker, UI-Crop Sciences
Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
St Charles Horticulture Research Center
535 Randall Road St Charles, IL 60174
630-584-7254; FAX-584-4610
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