Author: Caron Wenzel

Gary Gauger is a true organic farmer; in fact he is a true organic original and really gets what Organic means on many levels. Organic is a word with multiple meanings; the science definition is very simple: if it is or was once alive it is organic and therefore containing carbon. Pretty dry. Organic food, however, is another matter. Yes, it is alive but how alive is it really? Is it able to be grown without pesticides? Can you compost it? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, than you are ready for a trip to Gary's truly organic farm.

A greenhouse and two hoop houses are a critical part of going organic at Gary's farm. On a very cold early April day, things were busy in the greenhouse at the farm. The outside temperature was hovering at around 35 degrees but inside Gary's converted chicken coop baby eggplants are basking in a balmy 85 degree heat generated by passive solar sunlight streaming through the salvaged glass windows and a water jacketed wood stove.

The theme here is "free" heat and lots of it. The greenhouse is a deceptively simple cross between a reclaimed chicken shack, machine shed and greenhouse. The glass cladding on the solar south side of the green house is a salvaged redwood skylight from a vary old office building raised in Chicago years ago. The panes are so old that they are wavy and seated into redwood frames aged to a warm gray patina. The seedlings are set into deep wooden boxes filled with Gary's "special recipe" growing medium. Thermometers line the boxes monitoring the tropical temperatures required by the heat-loving vegetables that were started in succession in late February. The greenhouse is a primitive masterpiece of form following function. The form is unexpected but the function is suburb. Assisting in the heat gain from the sun shining through the window is a small woodstove that is surrounded by metal water tanks of varying origins. Eclectic but effective.

The water tanks are filed from roof runoff of rainwater (1/2 an inch of rain will fill a 500 gallon tank!) and act as a multitank cistern and warm water reservoir for the little seedlings with woodstove- warmed rainwater. This system provides thermal mass to re-radiate heat on the coldest nights and warmed chemical and mineral free water for the plants. As a building heating system, it also functions as the main heat source as a year round machine shed. The only grid inputs are the light bulbs. After the seedlings from the machine shed/greenhouse are large enough to be transplanted they are moved to the two production hoop houses until they have grown large enough to be transplanted into the fields adjacent to the hoop houses.

The really interesting thing going on in these two houses is that the heart is generated only by a 12 to 14 inch deep compost pile of corn screenings and horse manure covered with plastic tarps running down the two sides of the hoops with an aisle running down the middle. The transplanted seedlings are placed in large plastic totes filled with composted planting medium. The farm special recipe is a 50/50 mixture of horse manure from the stable down the road and corn screenings, a waste product from grain elevators that is composed of chaff, bits of cracked corn husks, and dusty debris which falls to the floor and can be a fire hazard. A larger pile is to the left of the door and is an "atomic pile" that contributes to the heat in the hoop house at night. This is the working pile that makes heat plus next years potting soil. An older pile sits next to the newer, hotter pile this is next year's fertilizer. The interesting and important thing here is that both of the components are waste products. Horse manure is the medium of choice for this organic farmer. The horses are cosseted pets that get the best hay, grain and hand baked horse cookies available. Any clean herbivore manure will do as long as the hay and grains eaten are relatively pesticide free.

Gary makes sure that the compost pile is working by adding water when needed and turning it regularly, which insures that that the pile gets "hot". This provides the needed heat for the hoop houses and also raises the temperature in pile (160 Degrees plus) enough to kill the weed seeds and pathogens. If you are wondering if this is enough fertilizer needed to grow the seedling, it is. The tomatoes plants in the hoop house are 2 feet tall mammoths that buy Gary a three-week jump on getting his tomatoes to market ahead of other growers. This translates to profit at the local farmer's markets.

The key is to monitor the temperatures registered on the many thermometers in the growing totes; to quote Goldilocks "not to hot, not too cold, just right". The temps drop at night but remain above freezing inside the greenhouses. Gary believes in tough plants for optimal field performance, so stress in tolerable limits is OK.

When I walked into the hoop house my glasses steamed from the warm, moist humid air filled with the overtones of earthy green, growing healthy plants. The hoop house had herbs, strawberries, eggplant and many varieties of heirloom tomatoes.

These greenhouses, devices and methods look as they are not high tech enough, but a truly good technology is one that does the most with the least technology. The ability to do the most with the least amount of input is true energy savings.


This article was originally published in Garden & Greenhouse Magazine. Garden & Greenhouse is written for small commercial growers, hobby greenhouse owners and indoor/outdoor gardeners and is free to qualified readers. For more information visit http://www.GardenAndGreenhouse.net .

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