May 16, 2011

With temps in the 90's last week things are popping up all over. Today it is cold and rainy so I'll post some new pictures.




Our cabbage is looking good and starting to head up.



The Candy Sweet Onions will be ready to pick in a few weeks. They are just starting to break ground and push up the bulb.

The sugar snap peas are Very Slow but coming along. With the recent rains the pole beans have jumped up and are attaching to the wire trellis.

In the foreground are Colossus peas coming up. Next are the sweet potatoes in plastic trying to get adjusted to their new surroundings and finally the bush beans are starting to look pretty good. Last year they were a disaster so maybe this will be their year to shine. At the very top of the picture you can see our summer squash and zucchini starting to shoot up. With some more warm weather they should be ready in 2-3 weeks.

The green onions are at their peak now and I'll be taking some to the Rockmart Farmer's market.

Finally a look inside the High Tunnel.

The spinach is ready for market and I'll be taking them to the Rockmart Farmer's market this Thursday also.

These burpless cucumbers should be ready in three weeks.

The tomatoes are reaching for the stars! Some are over 7 foot tall. I'll be using a ladder next week to adjust the trellising. They were supposed to be ripe by next week but that won't happen. Maybe 2-3 more weeks.

April 20, 2011

We have a break in the weather. There are no cold days forecast for the next two weeks so we are putting in all our spring plants. We anticipate the frosty days are over. Let's hope so.

Over the last two days we planted 150 tomato plants, 100 sweet peppers, and 150 hot peppers. We were in the process of planting the last 100 tomato plants when the rain started.

We also planted summer squash, cucumbers and speckled butter beans. The rattlesnake pole beans are peeking their heads out of the ground. I'm still looking for the green beans to start. This slow rain today will be good for all.

The Candy sweet onions are looking good. They should start bulbing in two weeks and then be ready by June 1.




The High Tunnel tomatoes are all trelissed and blooming. A beautiful sight for me. We should have ripe tomatoes by late May.



The lettuce has grown beyond expectations. I planted it between the tomato plants. It is called double cropping. Pretty neat stuff can be done in these tunnels. I'm learning new things all the time. The spinach and cucumbers are looking good also. Sounds like salads are going to be good around here soon.

Update - March 8, 2011

The tunnel was starting to get hot so I decided to put the shade cloth on. It lowers the temps by about 12 degrees. Tomatoes do best between 60 and 80 degrees so if I keep the sides down it get pretty hot inside. The other day it was 100 inside.



It's a little hard to see them now, but Debbie planted 1800 onion plants in two days into the raised beds. They will produce 'Candy' sweet onions around June 1. We hope this year's crop will be better than last when we lost the first planting due to a cold and rainy spring. This year I'll cover them if it gets into the low 20's.

Tomato Update:

Our new plastic mulch layer did a fine job of creating the raised beds for the tomatoes. Each bed is 30" across and about 8" high. It took getting used to and was a little difficult inside the tunnel but after several attempts the beds were made.

Here comes a delivery from the basement.

The chief planter is taking a short break.

Completion for day one. 104 plants are in.

The tomatoes are in! After 9 weeks of watering, worrying, and pampering, the plants made it into the ground. The first row is covered for the upcoming freeze on Friday am. The material is called Agribon and gives 2 - 4 degrees of protection. The tunnel itself also contributes to heat retention as does the black plastic. Tomorrow we'll cover the rest of the plants. After all the rows are covered I'm going to add 1 more layer to the top of the rows as insurance. Don't want to lose the tomatoes now. Here is a picture of a nice one!

This has been the month for rain! Last weekend we had almost 2 inches of rain and today we had 2.8". Here are a few pictures of our planting areas during the storms.

This is a good example of one advantage of a high tunnel. Even if the temperature co-operated, there is no way anything can be planted until at least a week of dry weather. Inside the tunnel we have full control of the water using drip irrigation.

February 11, 2011 Update

After 5 weeks, here are the tomato plants getting ready for the High Tunnel (HT). It is 19 here this morning so the weather has to improve some. I'm looking at March 13 or so for planting. The HT is supposed to allow 6-8 weeks earlier planting so we'll see. In the meantime I'm starting peppers and more tomatoes for the outside field.

Today I'm working on my trellising system for the HT tomatoes. I'll post a progress picture later.

January 29, 2011

Another year has passed and a new one is upon us. I'm trying a new seed vendor this year and things are going well. This year I've selected a new tomato variety, BHN 961,that grows well in high tunnels. Here are a few pictures of the recently transplanted seedlings.











There are 210 BHN 961 plants here that I will transplant into 3" pots in a few weeks. So far I'm very pleased with the size and stockiness of the transplants. These plants will go in the tunnel around mid-March giving me a 5-6 week headstart on the season. I could probably start them sooner but I'm still learning about high tunnel growing so I'm a little cautious.


I have about 200 pepper plants also under the lights. They will go outside about May 1st. In addition there are 100 Sunshine tomato transplants getting ready for the outside in late April. These are an early variety that is new for us this year.

I'm now germinating some beefsteak tomatoes. I plan to sell the transplants around the end of April.


In about two weeks I'll start the main season tomato crop of Celebrity, Mountain Fresh, Mariana Plum, and Big Boys. I'm trying to space out my plantings this year to provide consistent availability.

My son Jeffrey came to visit this week and was a great help in re-engineering the high tunnel North end panel and roll-up sides. We also installed a 30" vent on the end panel for ventilation. The vent has a solar powered opener that can be set to open at a predetermined temperature so on the days I 'forget' to roll up the sides there will be some outlet for the heat. I'll see how this works to cool the tunnel in summer and may do the same to the South end.

After much deliberation, 4x4 posts were concreted into the ground at two end panel zipper locations. This will provide much needed stability. The original end panel had so much mobility in the wind that it literally swayed back and forth. This caused screws to pop out or break and the door to become frequently forced open leading to loss of warm air. The middle post is removable for the summer months and the tractor conveniently passes under the opening with six inches to spare.


Extra sections of plastic were added to the corners to stop the cold air from entering where the side and end panels meet. This will make the tunnel warmer in the late fall and extend our season a few weeks.
Today the temperatures will rise to 67 degrees. Finally we will be above average!

My next priority is to remove the brush pile from the side of the tunnel for burning. Maybe I'll get started today :)