I heard our little budget greenhouse took a hit from the wind the other night. Lost a panel. Poof! Apparently it is MIA. Probably on the roof of the “Super” WalMart or something. I’m up at my cabin in Eldora during the week, so I have yet to see this. I’m just thankful that we didn’t have plant starts growing in there or we would have lost them in the cold. Maybe we’ll need to duct tape the panels so those gusts can’t grab an edge.

I heard Rowan at Jay Hill Farm had some wind related problems too. While it didn’t affect the greenhouses with the inflated double poly covering, it did rip part of the corrugated fiberglass roof off her planting shed.

Well, our little greenhouse will get a new panel in a few weeks, and we’ll be installing a second one up by Sue’s house any day now. Micro farm, micro greenhouses… a great way to start! Part of our idea is to create an inexpensive model for creating a small farm so that others can duplicate this, and more micro-farms will pop up. With our little 1/4 acre farm, we are trying to keep the cost down several ways. The garden will use a weed barrier to help suppress weeds and to cut down the time needed to weed. We chose the minimal greenhouses to allow us to grow our own plant starts. We are having our CSA members help us with some of the labor. This helps keep labor costs down, but most of all lets members work on the farm, get a deeper understanding of how their food is grown, and be a bigger part of making this community what it is.

I have to say I am excited as hell to get growing, to work with all of you with working shares, and to grow the best food possible for all of you!

-Jim