Growing
plants in a greenhouse is an excellent option for the small organic
grower. Because the growing area is enclosed, it's possible to manage
soil, water and potential pests much more closely than in the outside
garden.
Because they are protected from excessive rain and wind, and therefore
nutrient leaching and plant damage, greenhouse plants are likely to be
healthy and productive.
Each of my greenhouses has paid me back many times over in the value of crops they produced. I'll be building a new one in Spring 2024 to expand this capacity.
Right after the picture above, I started carrots, beets, and bunching onions in raised beds in my greenhouse. These crops are cold-hardy and will stay there until harvest in June.
These crops also do very well at my early market; I am usually the first grower to have them for sale and I get a nice price premium. I can usually sell all that I can grow.
I have also started broccoli and cabbage seeds; these seedlings will be transplanted to the outdoor garden in mid-April. The hardy broccoli and cabbage seedlings will be able to survive with just row cover protecting them at that time.
Once the early crops are harvested or transplanted, you can add some compost to the beds and plant later crops.
For example, when my broccoli and
cabbage seedlings are transplanted to the outdoor garden in April, I can
replant those beds with tomato, pepper and cucumber transplants that I
grew in my (smaller) heated greenhouse.
The tomatoes are trained up a line secured to the cross-pieces of the hoop house.
One of the secrets to successfully growing plants in a greenhouse is to prepare your beds properly. Here's how I do it to ensure a good crop and reduce future work.
Depending on the crop, the 'workflow' of plants might be from heated greenhouse to unheated high tunnel, or heated greenhouse to the outdoor garden, or unheated high tunnel to the outdoor garden. The secret to efficient growing is to figure out the sequence that works best in your circumstances, for each crop.
If you are think about building a hoop house of your own, check out these two resources. In Canada, I've used Harnois Greenhouse for many years to buy my greenhouse plastic cover. In the US, Bootstrap Farmer offers a DIY Greenhouse Kit in a range of sizes that come with the poly plastic cover. You can read my hoop house kit review here.
Our latest Bootstrap Book will show you step-by-step how to build a greenhouse and use it to best advantage your small farm.
We include plans and directions to build each of the 3 greenhouse designs we use on New Terra Farm - all for $10!
Check out Bootstrap Greenhouse here.
Or get Bootstrap Greenhouse as part of my Complete Start Farming Pack and save even more.