MUD SEASON GREENHOUSE VISITS

by Joey Klein 

1. FOUR SPRINGS FARM, ROYALTON, VT. The road out to Jinny Cleland’s farm was soft and rutted, the wind held spits of snow, but the welcome was warm and the view (all the way to Killington) was inspiring. Four Springs Farm runs a CSA and is open for camping and on farm education visits , but this time of year Jinny’s focus is on her pansy crop.

Jinny’s greenhouse was bursting with well grown pansies and herbs, destined for several large wholesale accounts and for retail at the Norwich Farmers’ Market.

Jinny uses Vermont Compost Fort V Potting Mix exclusively as her potting media, and has been impressed with its lack of weeds. Weeds are frequently a problem in compost-based potting mixes, because there is a long period of aging between the high heat of the early process and when the compost is suitable for a potting mix. The piles need to be managed carefully during this period. The whole composting site needs to be managed with weed control in mind. Vermont Compost gets Jinny’s approval on this issue: “I hardly ever find a weed, they are just not a problem,” she said.

Jinny tested the Fort V mix with the UVM Soils Laboratory and decided to do some minor amending to increase the pH with lime and the available nitrogen with pelleted chicken litter.

The amounts she adds are slight, and I think they compensate for how early she starts up her greenhouses and the cold temperature of water she uses. Her pansies were just about to bloom and were moving into to a colder greenhouse to hold them back a while. She had chosen to use Kord brand peat pots, which she likes for their breathable nature. She has not needed to fertilize beyond what she added at the start, and her plants looked great.

Jinny’s tip to share is her use of overhead radiant propane fired heaters in her greenhouses. The thermostat that controls this heater sits right on the top of the soil; the 60 degrees are sensed in the top of the potting mix, not in the air. The air is heated less, and the soil heated more by this type of heaters. This increases plant growth relative to fuel consumption.

2. LUNA BLEU FARM, SOUTH ROYALTON, VT

The mud was even worse on the way out to Luna Bleu, reaching a peak of muddiness right in their farmyard. Tim was all smiles.

Working in the greenhouse really cheers him up at the end of March, and his greenhouse was full of the results of his efforts.

Tim Sanford’s early greenhouse was just about full the day I arrived. He runs the air temperature cool but makes up for it with 8 large rubberized heating mats that keep the heat loving tomatoes and peppers for greenhouse plant germinating quickly. He would have to start heating another house very soon, as he started to pot up his earliest blocks.

Tim grows mostly in blocks, but uses open 1020 trays for onions and leeks. He also had a large set of these trays growing several different Mesclun blends, which he planned to market a the Norwich Winter Indoor Farmers’ Market.

Tim has observed a difference between the Fort V he holds over the winter and the growth he gets from Fort V freshly delivered. He either has to blend the two for growing seedlings, or he just uses the left over material as a soil amendment in his tomato and pepper greenhouses. We are doing some testing to try to find out what is going on for him.

Luna Bleu Farm uses many yards of Vermont Compost Fort V every year, growing seedlings for their 7 acres of vegetable production.

They are more focused than ever on their CSA and direct retail customers, and have dropped wholesale accounts to keep up with this direct demand. Luna Bleu counts on Vermont Compost to get them off and running every spring.

3. RED WAGON PLANTS, SHELBURNE, VT.

Julie Rubaud used to be a vegetable grower as well as a greenhouse plant producer, but whe had let the vegetable growing go for some one else to do. Her focus on wholesale organic plant production has earned her loyalty from the 25 customers she services, delivering primarily into the booming Burlington, VT market. She has a solid reputation for quality plants and excellent service, and her focus on the greenhouse production has made it possible. She is opening a retail greenhouse this year, rather than have to chase away customers.

Julie is a long term Fort V user. Vermont Compost Company has been providing this product to her since her organic greenhouse production career began 10 years ago and she is not shy with her praise for the product. “I tell all my customers that this is the mix I use, and how I can rely on it to grow out seedlings, plugs and liners without the need for additional fertilization.

The key is to pot the plants up in a timely manner.”

Julie has a neat way of handling the bulk Fort V Potting Mix. She does not pre-wet the mix before filling the flats. She feels that too much loft is lost if the flats are filled with moistened mix. The inserts are placed in the 1020’s, mostly 804’s and 1801’s. The flats are lined up in two or three rows on the weed mat floor of the filling area. The dry mix is shoveled onto the flats, and then a push broom is used to strike off the flats. The flats are laid out on a bench and watered thoroughly 3 times over about an hour’s time. This wets the mix well, and it is ready.

Julie waters as little as possible. During the many cloudy days of March, she still turns on the fans and the heat together, every morning, to vent moisture. “It is best for the mix to be dry on the surface before watering. I do all the watering in all the greenhouses myself. That’s how important watering is.” Judging from the results, Julie has a excellent system in place at Red Wagon Plants. Vermont Compost Company is proud to be her potting mix supplier.

Karl and Joey’s Excellent Midwest Road Trip 

Vermont Compost Company took to the road this February to visit with growers in the snowy upper Midwest. 

Angelic Organics

After flying into Chicago and getting our minivan at the car rental, our first stop was Angelic Organics.  Their farm is just off the interstate on the Wisconsin / Illinois border, and they strongly embody the farm to city connection.  Their land is a beautiful piece of gently rolling deep soil, and their CSA production is concentrated into one large field.  Quite a contrast to what we are used to back home in Vermont.  Bob Bower, the farm manager, explained that Angelic has been busy in the promotion of the feature film about their founder, The Real Dirt on Farmer John..  The film chronicles the history of John Peterson and his family on this land, his struggle to find a way to make a living there, and the farm to city connection that stabilized the business and made possible their great outreach program.  The Angelic Organics CSA Learning Center is now as big an enterprise as the farm itself, and share the farmstead as its offices and classrooms.  It runs year around programs for student groups from the suburbs and inner city. 

Angelic Organics was Vermont Compost Company’s first midwestern customer.  Farmer John was in Vermont looking at soil blocking machines to speed up the seedling starting for the large scale of production for his 1200 share CSA, distributed in Chicago.  He found the machine he wanted, and learned that Vermont Compost’s Fort V All Purpose Potting Mix was the first choice of Vermont’s organic vegetable growers.  He bought a truckload, shared some bags with neighboring farmers, and our connection with the Midwest organic farming community began.  

Angelic Organics has built a set of wooden trays for handling the blocks as they come out of the machine1’ by 2’ boards hold 120 1 ½” and 66 2” blocks. Their entire 30 x 96 foot greenhouse is devoted to seedling production for their own transplanting, and they have purchased a Dutch made transplanter that is made specifically for blocks.  The tip that Bob wanted to share with block growers is to cut the blocks with a knife as the roots start to emerge, to keep the roots confined to one block only.   

It was great to see the 2 yard sling bags from Vermont compost thawing in the greenhouse in anticipation of the beginning of their season. 

Bob and his staff have made real advances in their own compost production since our last visit, but are still happy to have us provide the Fort Vee compost based potting mix on which  the start of their production depends.

The Upper Midwest Organic Farming Conference

Hoards of organic farmers, about 3000, gathered in La Crosse, Wisconsin, for this conference, and it seems like half of them stopped by at Vermont Compost’s booth at the trade show.  Karl and Joey were talking and listening non-stop for 3 days. We met with many of our customers, some of whom we had never met in person, and introduced our products to many who had not yet tried them.  Our conversations emphasized the importance of the finely finished compost that makes up 40% of our blends, and how our products are sufficiently rich in nutrients that no additional fertilization is needed until the roots have filled all the mix in the cell or pot.   

We enjoyed meeting everyone who came by.  We sold 7 pallets of mix in lots large and small to farmers large and small.  Many people now look for us at the show to buy Vermont Compost Co. products in small lots, as we still do not have a regional wholesaler.  Our main distribution system is still groups of farmers buying a truckload together.  

The evenings at the Conference featured live, danceable music and a regional organic beer.  This Midwestern folk really know have a good time!

We were snowed in at the conference’s end, but were fortunate to hear an excellent lecture by biodynamic grower Gunther Hauk. 

Harmony Valley Farm

The next morning we followed Annika’s directions onto slushy and snowy back county roads, through some lovely valleys and over some steep hills in the country between the Mississippi River and the Kickapoo Valley where the Bad Axe River runs.  Richard DeWilde has been on this farm for 30 years, and now crops 70 acres of the deep topsoil.  Their first class vegetables are distributed by a 400 member CSA and by wholesale deliveries to the Twin Cities in Minnesota and to Madison, Wisconsin.  He also sells at the famous Madison farmers’ market at the Capital. 

Richard switched from his own potting mix to Vermont Compost’s Fort Light two seasons ago, and has been happy with results, both in the growth of his seedlings and the time savings that has enabled his crew to get the plantings done on time. 

Richard cuts open the 2 yard sling bags on the seams, runs our mix through a ½” screen, loads it into bins and moistens the mix.  He fills his ¾” cell rigid plastic trays by hand.   

There were many flats of onions and leeks up in the greenhouse on the day of our tour, and we helped Richard roll up the Remay that covered the flats as they germinated.  The row cover holds in warmth and moisture in the cloudy weather and speeds growth, but need to be removed when the sun comes out.   

Vermont Compost is proud to stand behind regional organic vegetable suppliers like Harmony Valley Farm.  Richard is typical of the intensity of commitment that these Midwest growers bring to their farming.  These guys want to really meet the demand in the surrounding urban areas with the highest quality organic produce, in quantity.  

Avalanche Organics 

Over more hills, and after a good lunch at the Viroqua Coop, we followed the Kickapoo valley and found Joel and Jai Kellum having a big snowball fight with their kids.  Joel gave us a great tour of the production facility at the farm, where the focus is on large scale salad mix production.  Vermont Compost’s Fort Light potting mix comes into their plans when it is time to start their other major crop, heirloom tomatoes.  These are all started in 2” cell trays, and three large plantings are set out every season.  Joel says their season is hot enough and long enough that it is easier to grow and transplant another set of plants in a different field than it is to spray copper to protect the tomato plants from diseases .  Using this approach, the best early fruits are what gets shipped, and the season is extended.  It takes a lot of potting mix to get those hungry tomato plants off to a good start. 

Avalanche Organics has evolved over the years, and now the farm is adding more land to extend their crop rotations and to provide housing for their help.  We are grateful to Joel and Jai for acting as a regional distribution point for Vermont Compost in his area, and for hosting us overnight on our travels.  It is good to see such enthusiasm and talent ready to roll out the organic produce for an eager market. 

Green Earth Institute 

We carefully followed Steve Tiwald’s directions into the depth of suburban Chicago, but we were a little worried there was really a farm at the end. We went through miles of malls and gated communities, all on some of the flattest, richest tillage  in the world.  We found our way along, and came to an open spot in the midst of all of this development, a large open block of land with fields and ponds, geese grazing on grain stubble and some classic farm buildings.  This is the Conservation Foundation, the holder of the land that the Green Earth Institute farms.  Steve was a healthcare administrator before taking on the lease of this piece of farmland.  He feels he is still in the healthcare business, only now he is helping people not to get sick in the first place.  250 member shares receive the farm’s high quality, super fresh organic produce. The land is in a trust that restricts its use to agriculture and conservation.  The mission of the Green Earth Institute includes a broad commitment to environmental education, so teaching children and their parents about farming and healing the earth is a big part of the work.   They host over 1000 of their neighbors at an annual event, the Green Earth Fair, which features many educational session, and a fund raising plant sale.   

Steve grows using soil blocks and then pots on into various sizes for his retail customers.  He has been very happy with the Fort Vee from Vermont Compost, which replaced a less consistently performing mix of his own blending.  We left many 6 quart bags of our products for Steve to sell at his fair to help with his fund raising.  Maybe they be able to offer a scholarship to their excellent day camps.   

Kilbourn Park Organic Greenhouse 

We were on our way the next morning to towards downtown, where Killbourn Park serves a changing neighborhood, now mostly Hispanic and Eastern European.  The greenhouse was built in 1929 to supply plant material to the parks department, but fell into disuse.  The park was a dangerous place for a while, a focus of gang activities.  In the last few years the park has been revived as a family-centered location, and the greenhouse has been a big part of that. 

Kristen Acre, the director of the Greenhouse, has developed lots of programs for the local kids, including community garden plots and greenhouse time.  Many volunteers participate in growing many plants for a big spring sale.  Most of the customers are users of community gardening plots.  So Vermont Compost’s Fort Vee is moving out into the urban gardens of Chicago.  Kirsten is very excited about using our product, and happy to get away from commercial soil-less mixes and unfortified organic mixes.  Vermont Compost potting mixes will give her more time to focus on the plants and the program development, with supplemental fertilization no longer a worry.  We left a big batch of 6 qt bags with her as well, to sell at their fund-raising plant sale.   
 

Growing Home, Inc. 

We met Della Moran when she stopped by at the Conference and invited us to visit her project on the South Side of Chicago.  We figured that we had better see all sides of the city, and promised to come find her.  Growing Home runs both inner city gardens and a farm out of town as a training program for the recently homeless.  They provide employment in an economically deprived part of the city, where there are few businesses and many abandoned houses.  We met with Della at the inner city gardens, which are a spark of hope in a landscape that speaks of discrimination and neglect of infrastructure.  The Growing Home program emphasizes ecological management and small business skills.  Angelic Organics has supported this program, including contributions of Vermont Compost Company’s Fort Vee potting mix.  We gave Della 25 20 qt bags of our Fort Light to use in their potted flowers, which they will grow in their new greenhouse complex on Woods Ave.  We like the idea that Vermont Compost root balls will become a regular part of the community gardens of Chicago, and a proud to contribute to the fine work of Growing Home Inc. 

We returned from Chicago and the Midwest impressed with how the people we met out here tackle their problems head on, and have a strong commitment to organic food for the many, social justice and environmental preservation.  We were welcomed wherever we went, and had many valuable dialogs concerning food security, regional agriculture, composting and greenhouse growing.  We met a lot of great growers and hope that Vermont Compost products will continue to be a tool they use to achieve their goals.

The Nose…

Our mixes all feature our own compost, which is made specifically for this use. This compost is turned and heated to kill weed seeds and disease organisms, and then is carefully aged in a cooler process to stabilize the humus. The presence of a high percentage of compost in our mixes gives them a high level of water and nutrient retention with just the right drainage, and excellent disease suppressive qualities. Our mixes are blended to provide sufficient nutrients for 4 to 6 weeks growth of seedlings, given adequate cell size.  Plants grown in our mixes are ready for continued growth under organic management.

Vermont Compost products seem expensive compared to other choices.  How can I justify this?

Your potting mix is there right at the very beginning of your growing season.  Whether you are growing a greenhouse full of plants for retail or acres worth of transplants, your success is riding on the good growth of those seedlings.   When the cost considerations of greenhouse overhead, heating, seeds and labor are considered, the cost per plant for the potting mix is not a major cost relative to the value of that plant to your business. 

Incompletely finished compost can have phyto-toxic properties, which is why most potting soil blends have avoided compost altogether. 

We highly value the role of compost in our mixes and test every batch of compost and finished mix for vigorous plant growth.  We also do thorough in house and university laboratory testing for other crucial factors such as pH and conductivity.  We are confident in the performance of our mixes, and have the horticultural expertise within our organization to help you with any questions. 

Many experienced growers have switched to our potting mixes for reliable plant growth under organic conditions.  Often,they have made their own satisfactory mixes, but found that their time and hired labor was better used in attention to other factors of plant production. 

In general, buying the cheapest available material is not a wise investment because too much is riding on the success of the mix.  Our growing customer base is a testament to the value received with the purchase of our mixes.  Ask us for grower references, and we will put you in touch with a grower of similar scale who is a happy user of our products.
 

How do you justify the claim that Vermont Compost products are “acceptable for use in Certified Organic production?”  Why are Vermont Compost products not listed with OMRI?

Vermont Compost products have a very simple list of ingredients.  Our composting meets the National Organic Program (NOP) standards for heating, which is to achieve a temperature of 131 degrees F five times over 15 days.  We refer to this process as “tracking,” and we keep careful records of this.  We know which compost pile is used in the mix you purchase, and will provide you and your certifying agency a log of this information. 

All the other ingredients we use are on the NOP generic list of accepted materials.  Every certifying agency we have dealt with has accepted our documentation as adequate.

OMRI is a private company, set up to review products and to protect trade secrets while allowing for review to see if these products will pass NOP requirements.  Vermont Compost has sold directly to organic farmers for years, and we feel this additional cost and effort is unnecessary with a simple product such as ours.  Have your certifying agency give our office a call if there are any questions.

Why have you chosen to include granite sand in your mixes?

Heinz Grotzke writes in Biodynamic Greenhouse Management:

“The best addition to the soil blend is granite crushed to the size of river sand or somewhat larger.  For root growth the particle shape is an important factor.  A crushed screened rock, in our case granite, has sharp and irregular edges, a physical advantage for both drainage and root formation, especially the development of secondary roots as they occur on cuttings and young seedlings.”

Heinz also emphasizes the value of material with “fresh edges” from the bedrock, for its silica content and its formative influences.  We are fortunate in having a major granite quarry just down the road from us, and this manufactured sand is made to our specifications.  

The sticks are part of the grade of Sphagnum peat we choose for our blends. We choose not to use finely milled and screened peat, because the coarser peat gives better loft and drainage characteristics, and provides more sites for nutrient retention and slow release. 

We screen through a ½” mesh before we ship you product.  Some growers chose to screen it again.  Most just pick out the larger sticks as they are filling their trays.  In larger pots, the sticks are desirable for their drainage properties.  We are researching a more finely milled mix and hope to have it available for the 2008 season.
 

This is mostly a matter of personal preference, watering habits, and weight concerns.

Fort Vee potting soil is a complete growing mix for soil blocks, trays, or small containers. Fort Vee is our most popular general-purpose mix for starting garden vegetables and annuals and is also great for houseplants.  Fort Vee is heavier and more water retentive than the Fort Light potting soil. Fort Vee potting soil is made from manure compost, sphagnum, rock phosphate, gypsum, protein meal, crushed granite and vermiculite.

Fort Light potting soil is an excellent choice for growers who prefer a lighter mix for landscaping and gardening applications. Fort Light is a blend similar to Fort Vee but does not have any crushed granite and most of the vermiculite is replaced by perlite. Fort Light is great for growers using smaller celled trays and is an excellent choice for hanging planters.

We have among our customers those who grow a full range of varieties in Fort Vee, and others who use Fort Light exclusively.  We will be happy to send you samples so that you can trial the mixes and decide for yourself. Get in touch.
 

Our mixes all feature our own compost, which is made specifically this use. This compost is turned and heated to kill weed seeds and disease organisms, and then is carefully aged in a cooler process to stabilize the humus. The presence of a high percentage of compost in our mixes gives them a high level of water and nutrient retention with just the right drainage, and excellent disease suppressive qualities. Our mixes are blended to provide sufficient nutrients for 4 to 6 weeks growth of seedlings, given adequate cell size.  Plants grown in our mixes are ready for continued growth under organic management.