Before the unplanned hiatus of this blog’s activity through the summer due to my market garden absorbing every last bit of my time, I had a bit of momentum going. People were…sending me stuff to post! The blog was functioning as it was intended! But those days are long gone. We all became too busy to take, let alone send, photos, and now it’s the day after the party and I’m walking around with a black plastic garbage bag picking up empties and wondering who took a shit in the sink.

It’s a few days later now, and I’ve got good news. I made, like, $22 from the empties I collected, and it turns out that it was just some Japanese Burdock that a well meaning friend had washed and left in the sink to dry. So, flush with cash and full of energy from Burdock Stew, it’s time to plan the next party. I’ve got a good number of Podcast episodes planned and in the works, and I’ll be combing the web for good farming ideas. But I can’t plan this party alone folks…send me your photos! Don’t have a specific idea to share? Take after this here post and just send me a few shots that most represent your farm or garden! Together we can throw a party so great someone will actually mistake my sink for a toilet! Ok. On to the post:

Curtis Stone is a friend and colleague who has built a really successful urban veggie farm based on SPIN Farming Techniques. The farm is called Green City Acres. Curtis is really good with systems, and so fastidious he’s able to farm in a tuxedo. He’s basically The Wolf from Pulp Fiction but instead of fixing gangsters’ problems he grows tomatoes and bok choi. Curt does a lot of winter production. These photos are taken from his farm’s Facebook page, which I recommend you check out–he posts lots of photos there.

Curtis covers some beds with poly film and some with remay depending on the veggie being grown. “Asian greens do better under remay than poly. They can handle cold better than lettuce.”

In this 10′ by 20′ hoophouse, Curtis and crew produce microgreens for chefs and farmers’ markets through the winter.

Another shot of Curtis’ main winter plot. Note how dense the SPIN Farming approach is–very little bare soil to maximize production on small urban plots. I would feel claustrophobic but Curtis and crew are like tightrope walkers in there. Literally, almost. One of his best workers is a bear on a bicycle. Those low tunnels are made with hoops formed using 1/2″ emt tubing and a Johnny’s Seeds Hoops Bender.

Curtis has built a few of the Johnny’s Seeds-style high tunnel hoohphouses. Here’s one with greens planted. “This tunnel was tomatoes up until mid October. Now it’s lettuce mix for the winter. We’re waiting to get some dry weather so we can erect the next tunnel and plant more greens in it.”

“This kale has been producing since April. Still going. In fact, it’s got so tall, I had to trellis it. Still pumping out at least 10 lbs a week though.”

Ok. New publishing approach: In November 2012 I will begin producing an email newsletter for my regular readers. It will contain the best of The Ruminant’s recent posts, as well as a link to The Ruminant Podcast, which I plant to produce on a regular basis after a successful trial last spring. Subscribe if you like this site but don’t find yourself getting here without regular reminders that The Ruminant exists.

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