Winter Projects Part II: The Germination Chamber

******Reminder*******

We are now accepting registration for the summer CSA share!  Whether you are new to the farm or a long time member, now is the time to secure your share of this year’s harvest.  You can print the brochure here.  If you know someone else who you think would enjoy sharing the bounty, please pass this invitation along!

and now onto another introduction…

Tayne is our propagation proprietess, the plant mama, the germination sensation.  When she’s not ushering forth and nurturing along our beloved young plants, she can be found picking the banjo, knee deep in sauerkraut, or breaking the sound barrier on her bicycle, though rarely all at the same time.  Now this may sound like a tall tale, and I’ve told a few in my day, but this one is not.  Tayne is certifiably related to Johnny Appleseed, or John Chapman as the records would indicate.  Go figure…

Tayne, layin' down that seed

Tayne is very intuitive and organized and will be directing traffic in and out of the greenhouse in the year to come.  This is a huge job as the greenhouse is one of our most important resources and in the early season it is usually packed to the gills with plants.  It is also the place where the food we grow is most fragile and needy as seeds emerge and grow until they are strong enough to make a go of it out in the fields where all sorts of other adversity awaits.

The greenhouse highway ...and now we cross our fingers

Tayne has quietly gone about re-vamping our whole greenhouse area and making some great improvements for the year to come.  She has increased our space within the structure and re-organized for a more efficient flow of the activities we carry out.  The biggest new feature of our greenhouse this year is a “germination chamber” that Tayne designed and built on site.  She brought this idea from her experience working in greenhouses in Colorado.  Behold…

In all it's glory

The “germ chamber” is essentially a micro-climate that achieves conditions that are most ideal for seeds to germinate.  This primarily means high humidity, and warm consistent temperatures.  It is a simple design, using industrial shelving wrapped in greenhouse plastic.  A bucket heater sits in the bottom and heats water to maintain temperature and humidity.  A thermostat allows us to control the temperature depending on what the seeds want. It can fit 60 trays which also increases our greenhouse space substantially!

The greenhouse is filling up fast with all the promises of the season to come.  We have already had several successful trials that show the germ chamber is doing its job!  We will keep you updated on how things progress in there.  I hope everyone enjoyed that incredible weather last week.  We will see you next week for another share!  and stay tuned for part III of Winter Projects…

– Ian