Our Organic Christmas Wish
Written by Danny Wegman on December 19th, 2010.
Filed under: Farm Fresh
In the last blog update about our organic farm in Canandaigua, NY we shared our Christmas wish of a winter harvest of vegetables. And we did it!
We got some help from our friend, organic farmer and author Eliot Coleman, who’s been a great resource for our folks down at the farm. With his guidance, we decided to use movable “hoop houses” to protect the plants from our cold Northeastern climate.
Eliot also suggested a few starter crops that could stand up to the conditions up here: carrots, Swiss chard, arugula and spinach.
We started these crops from seed, planting them in the fall. Then we put up our hoop houses around them as the first frost came our way. The biggest challenge was keeping the plants warm enough to grow. Too cold—and the plants lie dormant with no growth.
Since we didn’t use any heaters in the houses, we had to rely on natural sunlight to keep them warm. On a sunny day, even at 25 degrees outside, the inside of the hoop houses could be 65 to 70 degrees! But when the temperatures really dipped below freezing, we put an extra row of covers inside the houses as a second layer of protection. On these days, the inside temperatures would only be about 5 degrees warmer than outside!
Extra layer of protection for a row of carrots
It’s just amazing to us that we were able to grow these crops in our unheated houses. We’ll be picking the spinach, carrots, Swiss chard, and arugula this week—and sharing the harvest at our Pittsford store, where they’ll be sold as “Christmas baskets.”
Kirk carrying spinach harvested from one of the hoop houses
We’re thankful that this project was a success, because it means there’s great opportunity for us and for farms across the Northeast to extend the growing season—making it easier for all of us to enjoy more locally grown veggies and fruits.
Click here for more photos of the harvest
We’re already looking forward to next year, taking what we’ve learned this season and making it even better. One thing we learned was to start planting a little sooner. It’s a learning process, but it’s a lot of fun. We are really excited about the future here.
My family and I wish you all the best this holiday season.
Enjoy your time with family!
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