November farming

Ok I am no longer 57 but I am still technically a rookie.  My rookie farmer year began in March so I am a rookie thru February.

Currently we have 4 Bar-T Kid Clubs and the MAC kids working in the greenhouse as we move to the inclement weather months.  The kids have planted lettuce, kale, carrots and beets in the greenhouse and we are already seeing sprouts.  The children spend time picking the late fall crops that are still growing in the garden, they are monitoring the seedlings in the greenhouse and they spend time making salsa or baking sunflower seeds.  It is amazing to me what is still growing in the garden and I am acquiring a taste for Kohlrabi.  I hope some of you don't know what that is because I had never seen it before much less tasted it.  What is so engaging to me at this time of year, when every yard, plant, and tree is going dormant, is that there is still so much to grow and harvest.

The beauty of all this is that when we approach schools with curriculum that ties into the "life cycle of a plant" we will be able to grow plants regardless of the season.  We have not chosen to heat the greenhouse at this time which will mean that January and February will force us to shut down.  But planting seeds in the classrooms or after school programs can begin in early February and those seedlings will be greenhouse ready by the first of March.  My hope is that we can get at least two 6 week growth cycles in the greenhouse before June, and harvesting will progress throughout the summer.  Josh has promised me that we will have August tomatoes in May.  The five school pilot program totaling 70 students should be able accommodate 18 to twenty schools with 200 or more participants this Spring.

Additionally (do you start a new paragraph with additionally?) we will have a full on mushroom production facility that will run all year long.  As a kid I never cared for mushrooms but I can't get enough of them now.   I have been told that mushrooms are gone within the first 2 hours of any farmers market.  I would love to have the children who are helping grow mushrooms, join Josh and Charlie at the markets and help them sell them as well. They might leave the market with a few dollars in their pockets.  We will call the program "Dirt to Dollars" or "Mushrooms to Money".

The cold weather may not be great to be picking vegetables in.  If you look back at some of my older posts, we have kids wearing tee shirts or bathing suits in the garden.  Last Friday it was flat out cold, heck it was almost painful to be in the garden.  What is important to note is that the interest and enthusiasm the children have is the same.  

burning corn?

Ok so the greenhouse is up, irrigation installed and plants already popping out of the great indoors.  Light get installed by Thursday which is critical because it is flipping dark by 5:15 now.  We have 4 after school programs visiting either Mondays or Fridays and the kids are really excited about the gardening club.  All is good.

More interestingly I have a mushroom expert, Charlie setting up a commercial mushroom growing operation that should be producing a variety of mushrooms as early as 3 weeks.  The task will be to find a market to sell to and to get kids involved.  My thinking is that an interested MAC student could adopt a string of mushroom pods.  Oversee the growing process and if we can get the parents on board, take the mushrooms to a farmers market with Josh and Charlie and the student and let him or her
make some money.  The idea would be called "dirt to dollars" or "crops to cash".  The possibilities at Mountainside are truly endless.  We need to inspire some kids and see where all this takes us.

I need to digress for a minute and examine a debate that has evolved with one of my employees.  I am very proud of the fact that I can heat my home with wood pellets or corn.  Last year I went thru 8 tons of pellets and when wood pellets could not be found anywhere in mid March I purchased bags of corn to keep the furnace going.  The biggest problem with pellets is that they must be packaged in plastic bags.  From mid October till March I had to dispose of over 350 plastic bags plus the plastic that covered the pallets that were stacked on and dispose of the pallets.  Hardly minimizing the carbon footprint.  Corn is something that can be grown on my property, it is completely renewable and with the gravity bin wagon I purchased this fall I can eliminate the need for plastic bags and pallets and such.  For $300 in seeds I have been able to secure 16,000 pounds of loose corn stored at Southern States which should last me the winter.  $300 bucks to heat my house for the winter!! As long as I can grow corn I have fuel for my furnace.  I never have to worry about oil prices or Natural Gas or other sources to heat my house.   Great huh!!

Not according to my good friend Debbie who hails from the midwest.  She was appalled that I would use a food source as heating fuel. I am not burning the cobs or the husks, I am burning the kernels.  It burns hotter and cleaner that the pellets and I have a pleasing smell that emanates from the furnace.  During a good harvest I would be using between one or two acres of corn to heat my home for the winter.  So is this the right thing to do?  I am interested in anyones opinion.  What do you think?