Winter Harvest Research Project Summary January 31, 2010
Growing Environments
1. Three types of environments are inside a hoop house which contains 19 raised beds each sized 4' x 8'. The hoop house is 60' x 24'. There are three to four crops planted in each bed. Beds are in groups of three with all three beds in each group planted with the same crops. The three beds in each group have different weights of coverings, .5 oz, 1 oz and 1.5 oz. The beds which will eventually have 1.5 oz covers presently have 1 oz covers and the extra .5 oz will be added when night time temperatures reach -15 degrees C. We have decided to add the extra covers later so as to maximize light at the present time. The coverings are floating row covers otherwise known as remay cloth. Each bed has 4 wire hoops made with #9 galvanized wire which holds the floating row cover l' above the ground for most crops and a little higher for kale. Covers are held in place with clothes pins and should not be touching the crops to prevent frost damage. The hoop house is unheated. Of the four remaining beds, two were given to gardeners, one bed was given to youth from the local high school and one bed is growing perennial and annual culinary herbs. These four beds are covered with 1 oz. covers. The gardeners and youth are growing winter crops and documenting their progress and we are documenting the progress of the herbs. No supplemental heat or light is used.
2. Environment #4 is a cold frame situated outdoors on the south side of the greenhouse. This is l' deep and is covered with tempered glasscovers. The beds are constructed with 2" thick fir. This bed has been planted with 4 different crops.
3. Environment #5 is a cold frame situated outdoors in our vegetable garden. This is the same wood construction as environment #4 and has a cover made with polycarbonate plastic. The crops are the same as environment #4.
4. Environment #6 is the hay bale environment created last spring which was planted with two crops.
5. Environment #7 is an outdoor vegetable garden where we have planted directly into the ground with wire hoops, 1 oz floating covers and two crops.
6. Environment #8 is an outdoor vegetable garden planted directly into the ground with no covers.
7. More environments have been created by our home gardeners. We provided gardeners with a variety of seeds from which to choose and these are the same varieties planted in the hoop house and in the environments. These environments and results will be described in future reports.
Lighting
1. For the first year of the project no extra lighting will be used.
2. Presently, we are looking into an LED grow light which will provide light to 50 square feet of space. If the budget permits, we will purchase this to use next winter at a cost of $1150.00 This light used 320 watts and provides the same amount of light as a high pressure sodium bulb providing an 80 % power saving. We are not sure if we can use this light in an unheated environment and are looking into the details. One of our home gardeners hasvolunteered to install the light in her greenhouse for the 2010-2011 season. We have decided against using the lightin ourhoop housebecauseof theeaseoftheft.
Heating
1. One of our commercial growers is experimenting with heat tape on her beds and her results will be documented and included in next winter's research at the hoop house if it is feasible.
2. One of our home gardeners has built an environment under a balcony attached to a house. We will find out if the extra coverage and heat from the house make a difference.
3. One of our home gardeners has build an in ground cold frame on a hillside with large rocks inside to retain heat.
Ventilation
1. Ventilation was done by opening the doors at either end of the hoop house. No Fanswere used.
2. We left the doors open day and night until frosty weather started then closed the doors at night. If the weather was windy, the doors were closed.
3. Every day we were at the greenhouse, the doors were opened from approximately 10:00 to 4:00 if the temperature was a few degrees above zero and there was no wind. As we approached the winter solstice, the doors were left open for shorter times.
4. Because there was no one working on the weekends, the doors were left closed.
Documentation
1. We are documenting names of crops planted, dates planted, weights of harvest, type of environment, growth observations, germination problems, type of fertilizer used and insect problems.
2. We will document if a crop planted on a particular date is harvestable in the fall, winter or spring.
3. We also document our methods for dealing with insects and the success or failure of each method.
4. On November 1, 2009, one of our winter harvest research group, Pat Huet, volunteered to help us assemble the raw data. Pat is a biologist who does contract work for the Alberta Government. With Pat's help, the experiments will be designed somewhat differently next season to be more scientific.
Other Information
1. Manyseedsarebeingplantedonasuccessionbasistofindout howsuccessfulaparticularcrop is when planted late into the fall.
Results
1. As of the January 31, 2010 reporting period, most of the plants in the hoop house have survived. The two cold frames (environments 4 & 5) successfully overwintered lettuce and spinach which came through the winter in better shape than the plants in the hoop house. The plants in the vegetable garden will not be able to be observed until spring thaw.
2. Germination was been successful for most of the crops and growth was rapid in the warm fall weather.
3. We have encountered difficulties with insects. Flea beetles were experienced by us and all of the participants. The flea beetles were especially attracted to brassica crops especially Raab. We have concluded that Raab is a great trap crop but unsuccessful as a fall food crop. Cauliflower seedings were also destroyed by flea beetles and we do not feel this is a viable fall crop. Komatsuna was attacked by flea beetles and aphids and did not perform well in the early fall however, those that survived are doing very well, have a lovely red color and have potential in salad mixes. Flea beetles were controlled with some success by the application of diatomaceous earth and Gia Green rock dust. Cabbage butterfly caterpillars are also a problem. The floating row covers are successful in some cases in keeping the butterflies off the crops but they often manage to find a place to lay eggs. Cold weather does not deter the caterpillars and to date they continue to live in the hoop house. We control them by hand picking the egg clusters and by applying BT. We have also recently discovered slugs in the greenhouse which will be controlled with Safer's slug bait. Slugs are undeterred by cool temperatures to date.
4. Weight of produce is being recorded for each growing environment. At the end of the study, a full report will be done on the viability of growing each vegetable with the optimum planting dates. We can safely state that fall crops were lush and productive. Production declined around mid November to December 1 and we expect everything that survives the winter to begin producing in early spring. We discovered that Brassicas (with the exception of kale) were not a practical crop due to the insect problems.
5. Regardingthespringenvironment thatwasconstructedinFeb.of09,ourgoalwastoprovethe viability of planting in the early spring in a cold frame. This was a very small environment and we did not weigh the produce in this small sample. The funding came too late in the spring to do a spring study as most of the spring produce we wish to grow needs to be planted in the fall and grown through the winter.
Forum
On February 27, 2010, a Winter Harvest, Saladsfor all Seasons Forum has been planned.
Blog
A winter harvest blog has been established: www.communitvgreenhouse.blogspot.com
