Efficient Market Gardening

renewablejohn · May 27, 2015

Continuation of the self sufficient market garden discussion on techniques we use on our farm to substantially reduce the number of production hours.

Having spent many years running a commercial nursery and selling at farmers markets we where hit hard by the recession in 2008 and changed tack with a diversification into biomass. As we had spent so long building up the nursery and growing areas we did not want to lose the facility so converted it into 15 family sized Landshare plots plus as part of the Landshare rules we had to maintain a plot ourselves but with my time taken up doing biomass the only way it would work was by using my experience and make the whole growing process as efficient as possible.
The basic solution I came up with was sow, transplant, harvest. The wasted time I identified was watering,weeding and pest protection. The watering was solved using our commercial growing techniques of flood tables and automatic watering. The weeding by heat treated soil/compost, carpet underlay and mulch. The pest protection by flood tables, windbreak netting and copper banding.

Gilchro · May 27, 2015

@renewablejohn, what exactly are flood tables? Is it effectively a compost/hydroponic combination system?

renewablejohn · May 27, 2015

Gilchro said:
@renewablejohn, what exactly are flood tables? Is it effectively a compost/hydroponic combination system?

The flood tables we use are basically an 8ft x 4ft table with 3 inch sides which can hold water upto 3 inches deep. There is a grid 1 inch above the base of the table what the plant pots stand on. The idea is you water your plants and the excess drains into the bottom of the table so the plants feet are not stood in water yet the tap root can take up the water when the plant needs it. Alternatively for plants that do not like being watered from above you can flood the table 3 inch deep and once the plants have been watered from below the plug is pulled and the pots allowed to drain. We use one flood table for seed germination and another for transplants. The added advantage of flood tables is no slugs or mice eating seeds or seedlings.

renewablejohn · May 27, 2015

Pasty

You where asking about polytunnels for both growing and drying wood.

We have 4 polytunnels 2x 40mtr x 8mtr for growing veg in and 2 x 25mtr x 8mtr which are set up as commercial solar kilns for drying split logs.

All polytunnels are 90 degrees to the prevailing wind with the ridge having a 1 mtr fall over the length of the tunnel. It does not seem a lot but on the 40 mtr tunnel it can make 10C difference in temperature from one end to the other and allows ventilation on a still day without the use of fans. It also has the added advantage of a wider range of crops being able to be grown in the tunnel with cool crops at one end and hot at the other. The additional benefit is the sawdust heater that we use for frost protection is placed at the cool end giving frost protection to the whole tunnel due to natural convection. We have 2 types of plastic on the growing tunnels with the insect unfriendly type used in the seed germination and transplant area with all plants needing pollination being in the other tunnel.
You asked about chickens in the tunnel personally I would keep them out as even on a winters day it can get very hot in the tunnels.

KMA · May 28, 2015

So would you have a 0.5m fall on a 20m tunnel, keep it at 1m or wouldn't it make much difference on a short length?

What do you consider an optimal width?

Sorry about the newbie questions but have just started my first proper veg plot discovered that I can actually grow things

so I'm starting to kick ideas around in my head.

Was at a garden open day and saw a big polytunnel with strawbs in hanging baskets above tomato plants, all looking very healthy and well grown for the time of year and some of the strawbs were already ready to pick. I can see huge advantages to having a tunnel, from getting things off to an earlier start/later finish, climate control, growing stuff I can't grow outside and keeping various pests off, (I've got a hen sparrow ravaging my broccoli for some reason

). I've got a few ideas of my own to help get the season off to an earlier start.

renewablejohn · May 28, 2015

KMA said:
So would you have a 0.5m fall on a 20m tunnel, keep it at 1m or wouldn't it make much difference on a short length?

What do you consider an optimal width?

Sorry about the newbie questions but have just started my first proper veg plot discovered that I can actually grow things so I'm starting to kick ideas around in my head.

Was at a garden open day and saw a big polytunnel with strawbs in hanging baskets above tomato plants, all looking very healthy and well grown for the time of year and some of the strawbs were already ready to pick. I can see huge advantages to having a tunnel, from getting things off to an earlier start/later finish, climate control, growing stuff I can't grow outside and keeping various pests off, (I've got a hen sparrow ravaging my broccoli for some reason ). I've got a few ideas of my own to help get the season off to an earlier start.

0.5m on a 20m tunnel will be fine. I find 8 mtr tunnels work well for us. Where to exposed on a hill top to put up larger tunnels and smaller tunnels leave to much wasted space on the sides and does not allow us to use the alpine tractor. We have tried straight sided tunnels but again where to exposed.

KMA · May 28, 2015

Thanks.

Is it practical to harvest rainwater by having a lined gravel trench round the outside to catch and channel the run off into a sump? Then either a wind or solar powered pump to raise it into a header tank as required. I'm trying think of ways to make the whole system as self contained as possible.

renewablejohn · May 28, 2015

When you bury your plastic in the ground on either side place a plastic land drain pipe in the bottom before you backfill the trench. Then bury an IBC container at each side and run the pipe into it. Simple submersible pump will pump direct into your sprinkler system. Try and avoid gravel as the wind can easily lift the plastic as the gravel moves. Soil works far better than gravel.

Stuart J · May 30, 2015

Is overhead sprinklers the only real option of irrigation?

Been looking at trickle tape but it seems to work out even more expensive!

KMA · May 30, 2015

Spoke to my son about a bit of ground for a polytunnel and got the go ahead, think I'll cut my teeth in a small one in the garden before I scale up.

renewablejohn · May 30, 2015

Stuart J said:
Is overhead sprinklers the only real option of irrigation?

Been looking at trickle tape but it seems to work out even more expensive!

Besides overhead sprinklers I also use irrigation hose on the outside beds in dry spells and ring culture using activated alumina as a substitute for gravel. I use overhead sprinklers in the polytunnels as its very cheap to have an automated system. If all else fails you could always use a watering can but thats not an efficient use of your time.

renewablejohn · May 30, 2015

KMA said:
Spoke to my son about a bit of ground for a polytunnel and got the go ahead, think I'll cut my teeth in a small one in the garden before I scale up.

You will find a small one far more difficult to control temperature which then restricts the variety of crops you can grow you either run it as a hot greenhouse or cold greenhouse. With our tunnels we easily maintain 10C difference in temperature from one end to the other so we can grow a large variety of crops all year round.

Snowie · Dec 16, 2022

hello all,any advice for an ex livestock farmer who has lost most of his rented ground and am left with with about 5 acres and a couple of poly tunnels about 150 foot by 30 and wanting to produce something which can be sold at the farm gate ,we are selling logs which have been dried in a tunnel and eggs and a bit of lamb and beef which we are kept on land which we haven't lost yet,we are south manchester and the landlords are developing land and signing rest up for wilding,thanks for any advice

renewablejohn · Dec 28, 2022

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SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Up to 25%

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100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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