B d Jaeckel
Brad
J
k l (Idaho
(Id h – Farmer/Rancher
F
/R
h Grant)
G
)
Project Number: FW06-036
FW06 036
Actions:
Title: Winter and Summer Hoophouse
p
Production for Small-Scale
Small Scale Growers
Project Coordinator:
Brad Jaeckel
Orchard Farm
2351 Orchard
O h dA
Ave.
M
Moscow,
, ID 83843
(208) 892
892-0655
0655
j k l@
[email protected]
d
This high density seeder
allows more plants to be
grown, increasing
i
i winter
i t
production.
T h i l Ad
Technical
Advisor:
i
C l Miles
Carol
il
Washington State University
Associate Scientist/Extension Specialist
WSU Mount Vernon NW Rec
Mount Vernon
Vernon, WA 98273
98273-4768
4768
((360)) 848-6150
848 6150
milesc@
[email protected]
@ s ed
Winter Trials
Of th
the 23 crops
p seeded
d d Nov.
N 4,
4, just
j t 10 had
h d germinated
g
i t d bby
yN
Nov. 26:
26 tturnip,
ip,
radish,
di h green onion,
i
arugula,
l salad
l d mix,
i spinach,
i h A
Asian
i green mix,
i mizuna,
i
tatsoii and
d bbokk choi.
h i These
Th
were the
h only
l crops from
f
the
h first
fi planting
l i that
h
grew to a harvestable size by late winter.
winter
Of the 10 crops seeded Dec
Dec. 12
12, four had germinated by Jan.
Jan 26: watercress,
watercress
claytonia spinach and lettuce mix
claytonia,
mix. Again
Again, these were the only crops to
continue to harvestable size.
size Greens continue as the best winter crop
crop.
p
Summer Trial
The hoophouses at Orchard Farm on
the north edge
g of Moscow.
Early-emerging
E
l
i crops in
i the
th
summer hoophouse trials.
trials
Wi te
Winter
W
t Trials
T ials
Cooperators
p
Mosco Food Co
Moscow
Co-op
opp
R lR
Rural
Roots
t
To begin
g the trial
trial,, a 1-inch
1 inch layer
y of compost
p was applied
pp
inside the hoophouse,
hoophouse
p
,
th soil
the
il till
tilled
d and
d th
the area llaid
id outt iin th
three 42
42-inch
i h beds.
b d Twenty-three
T
ty th crops
p were
planted
p
l t d on N
Nov. 4 iin ttwo bbeds,
d , each
h crop
p receiving
i i g 4 ffeett off bbed
d llength:
gth
W
Western
SARE G
Grant: $6,235
$6 235
Situation:
Results:
Orchard Farm
Farm, on 11.3
3 acres at Moscow’s
Moscow s north edge
edge, is a family farm that raises
three dairy goats
goats, 15 layer hens and vegetable
vegetable, herb and fruit crops on ½
cultivated acre and in two hoophouses.
hoophouses Orchard Farm markets through the
Moscow Food Co
Co-op,
opp two local farmers markets and a small CSA
CSA.
The winter bed is prepared at Washington
State University
y hoophouse,
p
, which hosted the
winter crop trial.
trial
Moscow, Idaho
Moscow
Idaho, sits on the eastern edge of the Palouse prairie at 2,500
2 500 feet in
USDA climate Zone 55. Shipping
pp g costs for this rural area are costly
y for anyy
product At the same time,
product.
p
time, demand is ggrowing
g for locally
y ggrown pproduce yyear
round.
d
A hhandful
df l off small
small-scale
ll scale
l M
Moscow-area
Moscow area growers hhave employed
l d hhoophouses
h
to
t
extendd the
h growing
i season ffor summer crops. But
B none have
h
attemptedd winter
i
crops
crops.
In similar northern climates on the East Coast,
Coast organic growers have succeeded
with year-round
year round hoophouse production,
production suggesting potential for success on the
Palouse
Palouse.
g
green
onions
carrots
t
b t
beets
dill
f
fennel
l
spinach
arugula
g
parsnip
p
ip
rutabaga
t b g
turnip
i
radish
di h
lettuce mix
cilantro
A i ggreens
Asian
parsley
p
l y
sorrell
mizuna
i
chard
orach
endive
di
t t i
tatsoi
k l
kale
b k choi
bok
h i
O D
On
Dec. 12,
12 another
th 10 crops were seeded
d d on the
th remaining
i i bed:
b d Asian
A i green mix,
i
watercress, minutina,
i i radicchio,
di hi claytonia,
l
i bbroccoli
li raab,
b spinach,
i h beet,
b
lettuce
l
mix and arugula.
arugula
Summer Trials
In February
February,
b
six
i summer hhoophouse
h
crops (peppers
((peppers, tomatoes
tomatoes, tomatillos
tomatillos,
ill
eggplants cucumbers
eggplants,
cucumbers, and melons) were seeded in a lighted
lighted, heated greenhouse
greenhouse.
Transplants were transferred to the hoophouse on four 42-inch beds prepped with
compost tilled and irrigated with two drip lines in each bed
compost,
bed.
Objectives:
j
1 Id
1.
Identify
tify a di
diversity
ity off winter
i t and
d summer vegetables
g t bl that
th t can be
b ggrown iin
unheated,
h t d unlighted
li ht d field
fi ld hoophouses
h
h
2 Develop
2.
l an efficient
ffi i organic
i method
h d off production
d i ffor those
h
vegetables
bl
3 Promote the results on a farm webpage
3.
Early-emerging
E
l
i crops in
i the
th
winter trials.
trials
Brad Jaeckel assesses summer crops at his on
onfarm hoophouse.
p
Peppers, tomatoes
Peppers
tomatoes, tomatillos
tomatillos, cucumbers and melons were all productive in
the hoophouse though some varieties had higher marketability than others.
others
The eggplant
ggp
varieties tested in this study
y were not pproductive in this
environment
environment.
x Anaheim
A h i ppeppers:
pp
pproduced
d d well,
ll, bi
biggest
gg t seller
ll att ffarmers markets
k t
x Matchbox
M t hb pepper:
p pp produced
p d d well,
ll, sales
l weakk
x Celebrity
C l b i tomato: bbest all-around
all
ll aroundd variety,
i
producing
d i well
ll season llong
x Black
Bl k Plum
Pl
paste tomatoes: produced
d d well,
ll sold
ld poorly
l
x Double Rich tomatoes: problems with splitting
x San Marzo paste tomatoes: high number of splits
x Purple tomatillos: challenge to keep pruned,
pruned produced heavily,
heavily sold
well at farmers markets and food co
co-op
op
x Tasty
y Jade and Suhyo
y Long
g cucumbers: both heavyy producers;
p
Suhyo
y
Longg preferred
p
variety
y at farmers markets
x Eight
Eight Ch
Charentaise
t i melon
l pplants
l t – a true
t
cantaloupe
t l p from
f
E
Europe;
p ; thi
thin,,
ssmooth
ootth sskin,
ki , li
light
ghtt ggreen
ee st
stripes,
t ipes, fi
fine-textured,
e te
t ttu ed,
d sce
scented,
tted,
d sweett oorange
a ge
fl h averaged
flesh:
d seven fruits
f i per plant,
l
all
ll ddevouredd by
b the
h Orchard
O h d
Farm ffamily
il and
d crew bbefore
f
they
h made
d it
i to market
k
x Black Beauty and Purple Long eggplants: grew poorly
Tomatoes cucumbers and peppers continue as the best summer crops.
Tomatoes,
Potential Benefits:
The project identified crops and varieties suitable for growers to market to
the community as well as for personal consumption
consumption. It also demonstrated
that hoophouses:
x Are easy to operate
x Require
q
no additional heat or lighting
g
g to be productive
p
x Easily
y extend the ggrowing
g season for manyy crops
p alreadyy grown
g
in the
area
The project
The
p oject
j t coordinator
coo ddi ato
t learned
lea edd several
seve al important
i po ta
t t lessons:
lesso s:
x To
T ensure goodd production
d i off winter
i
crops, seedd early
l in
i the
h season
x Iff hhoophouses
h
are planned
l
d for
f spring
i andd summer crops after
f the
h
winter season
season, seed no later than November
x Trial the recommended crops at multiple seeding dates
x After seeding
seeding, lay fabric row cover over the bed to help retain soil
moisture during
g seed ggermination
Th ffull
The
ll pproject
j t report
p t iis pposted
t d at:
t
Th nextt generation.
The
ti
htt // wsu edu/organicfarm/Research
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