Hey, Tom,

Good story today, thanks.  One of the things that small farms and all farms can do to increase their growing season is look at EcoCover as a mulch for seasonal row crops.

We have research in process at Trondheim University in far north and cold Norway that will affirm the other research we have done regarding EcoCover as an effective mulch to moderate soil temperatures against both cold and heat.

Read more about EcoCover and the research in my web http://www.roncastle.com/ecocover/

It looks like we might have a manufacturing plant in operation in the Carolinas in time for next planting season.  More to follow.

Cheers,

Ron Castle     (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) //= 0; i=i-1){ if (l[i].substring(0, 1) == ' ') output += "&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";"; else output += unescape(l[i]); } document.getElementById('eeEncEmail_GmGGQkLRfK').innerHTML = output; //]]>

What's the potential in western North Carolina for solar greenhouses made of straw bale and other alternative building materials?

Check out this farm that grows organic raspberries from May through December (in Wisconsin, no less):

http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/atlas/farms/fruit.htm
(scroll down to Sow Little Farm)

Although it's hard to see how anything like that could be done on a large scale, who says the scale has to be large?

A great post, and one of some interest to me. I am in the process of planning our move back to BC or Alberta and would like to understand the limits of small scale production of fresh produce.

@roncastle: Thanks for the links to the Norwegian research too.

Mike
urbanworkbench.com

Perhaps it might be interesting for someone. A canadian couple tried to find out, what it means to  reduce food only to locally produced food.

100 Mile Diet  

For one year, they bought or gathered their food and drink from within 100 miles of their apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Good post Tom. I manage the Hillsdale Farmers Market in Portland OR. We are open year round, weekly May through October and twice monthly November through April. We have several farms selling through the winter. Some use hoophouses and greenhouses but at least one farm, Ayers Creek Farm, doesn't use any season extenders. Temperatures in the Willamette Valley don't drop as much as Western NY (where I lived for 18 years)  but we have had a number of cold days over the past few years. The variety of produce available all winter long has been excellent. To get a sense of what came to the market last winter, visit this link.

We're not the only winter market in Oregon either. People's Co-op in Portland, Indoor Winter Farmer's Market in Corvallis, Salem Public Market in Salem are open through the winter as well.

Following-up on Tom's closing sentance, "The research money is there; all we lack is the political clout," the Organic Consumers Fund (http://www.organicconsumersfund.org), the partner organization to the Organic Consumers Association (http://www.organicconsumers.org) is organizing a 2006 Political Candidate Survey and Voter Guide.

How do we redirect $20 billion in annual federal farm subsidies from corporate factory farms to local and organic farming, fossil-free fuels/energy and turn back climate change? By putting organics on the table in the '06 elections. Find out what the candidates think and get engaged at http://www.organicconsumersfund.org

ryan
OCA/OCF
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