Josh 608-332-5020    plahnts@gmail.com

We opened up the greenhouse in the middle of February. Some of the vegetables we grow have a very long growing season and require a head start in order to produce well. This year we built a heated bench using an old water heater to circulate warm water underneath the plants through little plastic tubes. In years past we used electric heat mats but as the operation grows in size each year we needed something larger. With this new system we will be able to have bottom heat for 48 trays compared to last years 12. Certain plants benefit from this extra warmth more than others and most of them come from tropical climates such as tomatoes, basil, peppers and eggplant. With warm feet and the sun in their hair these plants should be real happy.

August 30th

We are pleased to announce that this year we can offer health insurance rebates through Dean health care and Physicians Plus health care. These companies see how important good food is to health and are offering rebates for choosing to join a CSA and eating healthy. Feel free to contact me with any questions you have about the program or for further details contact your insurance provider.

During February my father and I spent a few weeks getting firewood from a woods north of town. A farmer there is clear cutting 100 acres of woods and there is a lot branches and other wood that they are burning to get rid of. In addition to the firewood I also cut a lot of hardwood branch logs to be used for growing shiitake mushrooms. This is a new endeavor for me and something I am very excited about, I love shiitake mushrooms. The process is fairly simple, you simply drill a number of evenly spaced holes around the circumference of the log and inoculate these holes with shiitake mushroom spawn (mycelium) and cover with wax to prevent moisture loss. Then you wait, it can take as long as 6 to 12 months for the mushroom to colonize the log before it starts to produce. If were lucky we could get some production this fall.

Inside the hoophouses it can feel like spring on any Wisconsin winters day. These hardy lettuce plants were direct sown into the hoophouse in early October. They are doing quite nicely and should really start to take off with the longer days and warmer temperatures that are in the forecast. Some of the other beds will be reseeded to a quick spring crop of radishes before the tomatoes are planted here in April. The early spring radishes are some of the sweetest you can get.

We finished the new hoop house a couple weeks ago. We will be harvesting some greens from within this structure early next spring and then transplanting tomato plants for extra early tomatoes. It’s a half a year away but our supply of frozen, canned and dried tomatoes should hold out until then.

It looks kinda fake, but I took a bite outta one of the radishes and they are real!

spring hoop house

In foreground: broccoli rabe, then Hakurei salad turnips, then beets. These Crops did great. We are still harvesting beets and broccoli rabe but the turnips are gone and the space has been replanted to tomatoes.