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Author: Andrew Mefferd Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing ISBN: 1603586377 Category : Gardening Languages : en Pages : 290
Book Description
The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook shares best practices for both large- and small-scale production of the eight most profitable crops - tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens, lettuce, herbs, and microgreens. Every year, more growers are turning to protected culture to deal with unpredictable weather and to meet out-of-season demand for local food, but many end up spinning their wheels, wasting time and money on unprofitable crops grown in ways that don't make the most of their precious greenhouse space. This book levels the playing field with decision-making framework that goes beyond a list of simple dos and don'ts. With comprehensive chapters on temperature control and crop steering, pruning and trellising, grafting, and more, Andrew Meffer's book is full of techniques and strategies that can help farms stay profitable, satisfy customers, and become an integral part of relocalizing our food system. From seed to sale, this book is the indispensable resource for protected growing.--COVER.
Author: Andrew Mefferd Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing ISBN: 1603586377 Category : Gardening Languages : en Pages : 290
Book Description
The Greenhouse and Hoophouse Grower's Handbook shares best practices for both large- and small-scale production of the eight most profitable crops - tomatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens, lettuce, herbs, and microgreens. Every year, more growers are turning to protected culture to deal with unpredictable weather and to meet out-of-season demand for local food, but many end up spinning their wheels, wasting time and money on unprofitable crops grown in ways that don't make the most of their precious greenhouse space. This book levels the playing field with decision-making framework that goes beyond a list of simple dos and don'ts. With comprehensive chapters on temperature control and crop steering, pruning and trellising, grafting, and more, Andrew Meffer's book is full of techniques and strategies that can help farms stay profitable, satisfy customers, and become an integral part of relocalizing our food system. From seed to sale, this book is the indispensable resource for protected growing.--COVER.
Author: Pam Dawling Publisher: New Society Publishers ISBN: 1550926551 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
Design and build a hoophouse or polytunnel, and grow abundant produce year-round in any climate The Year-Round Hoophouse is the comprehensive guide to designing and building a hoophouse and making a success of growing abundant, delicious fresh produce all year, whatever your climate and land size. Chapters include: Hoophouse siting, size, style, frame construction, and tools Bed layout, soil, crop rotations, and extensive coverage of various crops for all seasons Organic solutions to pests and diseases Disaster preparation Tested resources for each chapter. The Year-Round Hoophouse is ideal for farmers who wish to move into protected growing, as well as beginning farmers in rural and urban spaces. It is an essential reference resource for professors and students of courses in sustainable agriculture, as well as interns and apprentices learning on the job. Growing in hoophouses – also known as high tunnels or polytunnels – reduces the impact of an increasingly unpredictable climate on crops, mitigates soil erosion, extends the growing season, keeps leafy greens alive through the winter, and enables growers to supply more regional food needs.
Author: Andrew Mefferd Publisher: New Society Publishers ISBN: 1771422726 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 661
Book Description
Learn how to use natural no-till systems to increase profitability, efficiency, carbon sequestration, and soil health on your small farm. The Organic No-Till Farming Revolution is the comprehensive farmer-developed roadmap showing how no-till lowers barriers to starting a small farm, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, increases efficiency and profitability, and promotes soil health. Farming without tilling has long been a goal of agriculture, yet tilling remains one of the most dominant paradigms; almost everyone does it. But tilling kills beneficial soil life, burns up organic matter, and releases carbon dioxide. If the ground could instead be prepared for planting without tilling, time and energy could be saved, soil organic matter increased, carbon sequestered, and dependence on machinery reduced. This hands-on manual offers: Why roller-crimper no-till methods don't work for most small farms A decision-making framework for the four no-till methods: occultation, solarization, organic mulches grown in place, and applied to beds Ideas for starting a no-till farm or transitioning a working farm A list of tools, supplies, and sources. This is the only manual of its kind, specifically written for natural and small-scale farmers who wish to expand or explore chemical-free, regenerative farming methods.
Author: Pam Dawling Publisher: New Society Publishers ISBN: 1550925121 Category : Gardening Languages : en Pages : 459
Book Description
Growing for 100 - the complete year-round guide for the small-scale market grower. Across North America, an agricultural renaissance is unfolding. A growing number of market gardeners are emerging to feed our appetite for organic, regional produce. But most of the available resources on food production are aimed at the backyard or hobby gardener who wants to supplement their family's diet with a few homegrown fruits and vegetables. Targeted at serious growers in every climate zone, Sustainable Market Farming is a comprehensive manual for small-scale farmers raising organic crops sustainably on a few acres. Informed by the author's extensive experience growing a wide variety of fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to feed the approximately one hundred members of Twin Oaks Community in central Virginia, this practical guide provides: Detailed profiles of a full range of crops, addressing sowing, cultivation, rotation, succession, common pests and diseases, and harvest and storage Information about new, efficient techniques, season extension, and disease resistant varieties Farm-specific business skills to help ensure a successful, profitable enterprise Whether you are a beginning market grower or an established enterprise seeking to improve your skills, Sustainable Market Farming is an invaluable resource and a timely book for the maturing local agriculture movement.
Author: Ben Hartman Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing ISBN: 1603586997 Category : Gardening Languages : en Pages : 274
Book Description
At Clay Bottom Farm, author Ben Hartman and staff practice kaizen, or continuous improvement, cutting out more waste--of time, labor, space, money, and more--every year and aligning their organic production more tightly with customer demand. Applied alongside other lean principles originally developed by the Japanese auto industry, the end result has been increased profits and less work. In this field-guide companion to his award-winning first book, The Lean Farm, Hartman shows market vegetable growers in even more detail how Clay Bottom Farm implements lean thinking in every area of their work, including using kanbans, or replacement signals, to maximize land use; germination chambers to reduce defect waste; and right-sized machinery to save money and labor and increase efficiency. From finding land and assessing infrastructure needs to selling perfect produce at the farmers market, The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables digs deeper into specific, tested methods for waste-free farming that not only help farmers become more successful but make the work more enjoyable. These methods include: Using Japanese paper pot transplanters Building your own germinating chambers Leaning up your greenhouse Making and applying simple composts Using lean techniques for pest and weed control Creating Heijunka, or load-leveling calendars for efficient planning Farming is not static, and improvement requires constant change. The Lean Farm Guide to Growing Vegetables offers strategies for farmers to stay flexible and profitable even in the face of changing weather and markets. Much more than a simple exercise in cost-cutting, lean farming is about growing better, not cheaper, food--the food your customers want.
Author: Eliot Coleman Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing ISBN: 1603580816 Category : Gardening Languages : en Pages : 266
Book Description
Celebrated farming expert Coleman continues to lead the way in organic gardening, pushing the limits of the harvest season while working his world-renowned organic farm in Harborside, Maine.
Author: Jesse Frost Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing ISBN: 1645020274 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 305
Book Description
Principles and farm-tested practices for no-till market gardening--for healthier, more productive soil! From the host of the popular The No-Till Market Garden Podcast—heard around the world with nearly one million downloads! Discovering how to meet the soil’s needs is the key task for every market gardener. In this comprehensive guide, Farmer Jesse Frost shares all he has learned through experience and experimentation with no-till practices on his home farm in Kentucky and from interviews and visits with highly successful market gardeners in his role as host of The No-Till Market Garden Podcast. The Living Soil Handbook is centered around the three basic principles of no-till market gardening: Disturb the soil as little as possible Keep it covered as much as possible Keep it planted as much as possible. Farmer Jesse then guides readers in applying those principles to their own garden environment, with their own materials, to meet their own goals. Beginning with an exploration of the importance of photosynthesis to living soil, Jesse provides in-depth information on: Turning over beds Using compost and mulch Path management Incorporating biology, maintaining fertility Cover cropping Diversifying plantings through intercropping Production methods for seven major crops Throughout, the book emphasizes practical information on all the best tools and practices for growers who want to build their livelihood around maximizing the health of their soil. Farmer Jesse reminds growers that “as possible” is the mantra for protecting the living soil: disturb the soil as little as you possibly can in your context. He does not believe that growers should anguish over what does and does not qualify as “no-till.” If you are using a tool to promote soil life and biology, that’s the goal. Jesse’s goal with The Living Soil Handbook is to provide a comprehensive set of options, materials, and field-tested practices to inspire growers to design a soil-nurturing no-till system in their unique garden or farm ecosystem. "[A] practical, informative debut. . . .Gardeners interested in sustainable agriculture will find this a great place to start."—Publishers Weekly "Frost offers a comprehensive, science-based, sympathetic, wholly practical guide to soil building, that most critical factor in vegetable gardening for market growers and home gardeners alike. A gift to any vegetable plot that will keep on giving."—Booklist (starred review)
Author: Paul V. Nelson Publisher: ISBN: Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 720
Book Description
"Exceptionally comprehensive yet accessible it provides detailed, step-by-step instructions in layman's terms for all aspects of the business, from the physical facilities, to the day-to-day operations, to business management and marketing. Specific chapter topics cover greenhouse construction, heating, and cooling; environmental control systems; root substrate; root substrate pasteurization; watering; fertilization; alternative cropping system; carbon dioxide fertilization; light and temperature; chemical growth regulation; insect control; disease control; postproduction quality; marketing; and business management. For individuals entering the greenhouse business." -- Amazon.com viewed December 8, 2020.
Author: Robert Houghton Publisher: ISBN: 9781736979907 Category : Languages : en Pages : 52
Book Description
You will enjoy food and flowers grown in a multi-season Transformer Greenhouse at a fraction of traditional cost and complexity using a novel, but simple-hinged design with standard materials and solar plastic covering. Quickly switch between covered growing space or fully opened to rain and sun or any place in-between, which makes the same growing space as useful in the summer as in the winter. Part One's rich, full-color photography shows operational possibilities and 3 different working one- and two-sided designs. Part Two includes illustrated construction details for a 12x18 foot greenhouse, with practical ideas for its year-round use and further refinement. You make the sheltering walls of solar transmitting plastic shift to fit the day's weather by using ropes to lower and raise one or both sides that curve over the arched ribs above the growing space. During the many months of the brown-grey lifelessness of the colder seasons, it is truly one of the finer spirit-lifting things in life to walk into the warm scents and sights of edible and colorful plants in a greenhouse. The Transformer Greenhouse's incredible affordability adds to the options for mental and physical health. Equally engaging is to contribute a portion of the crop to services for the food challenged, and to model for local schools the options for carrying out real-world science and math activities in a garden during the actual school year. Our ability to change is key to our survival and thriving. Solve heat venting issues efficiently and effectively. As the warming world increases the frequency of more extreme weather fluctuations in rain, cold and heat, the Transformer Greenhouse's changeability provides an affordable means to match the challenge. Think global, act local. It is possible for one person to build the included design or for a construction crew to complete the design in a day. 8.5x11 inch layout, 52 pages.
Author: Andrew Mefferd
Author: Andrew Mefferd
Author: Pam Dawling
Author: Andrew Mefferd
Author: Pam Dawling
Author: Ben Hartman
Author: Jean-Martin Fortier
Author: Eliot Coleman
Author: Jesse Frost
Author: Paul V. Nelson
Author: Robert Houghton