soil climate battery

The top left picture shows me looking over the second half of the soil climate battery being put in. The first layer of tubes has been put in and two layers remain. The other photos show more examples of the climate battery as well as display the importance of community in low-budget, high maintenance projects. In the last photo Jerome decided we were done with doing dishes so we ate our sandwiches off comfrey and banana leafs from the greenhouse.

The Soil climate battery was being put in for a forty foot growing dome that is being put in at a local high school. The school provides agriculture classes and will be using the produce. This is also the site of the two acre CSA Farm School. The soil climate battery is a low energy heating system that is used in all of Jerome's Greenhouses. Basically tubes are connected in layers to tunnels with output and input tunnels at each end. There are fans being run off solar panels at the ends of each tunnel. The fans on one side suck down hot air in the day, where the heat is stored in the soil. At night the fans are set to go so that the hot air is released back out into the greenhouse. This keeps the soil at a moderate temperature and helps prevent frost. It is also extremely low energy when compared to conventional greenhouse heating and cooling systems.

I was excited to be involved with this project because I had been studying this heating system, but was unsure how the installation took place. It was encouraging to see how simple and cheap the whole system is. 

-speaking of comfrey leaves, I started making batches of my own comfrey compose tea to use as fertilizer. There is a lot of quack grass coming up everywhere and I just learned that this 'weed' can make a great compost tea for fertilizer as well. 

Left:

Pond on property with duck-house. This pond is located on the eastern side of the property. It is half surrounded by terraced Forest Gardens and the bench from which the photo was taken, has a trellis overhanging with hops. Ponds uses are many including;

- Reflects light onto terraces

- Slows and sinks all water running onto the property. (We can irrigate from the pond.)

- Fish and ducks!

Photo Right: this is a bad picture, but I was trying to capture the propagation technique of layering. This is a branch off the fig tree. The center of which has been scratched and covered with dirt and leaves. This will hopefully form roots and we will eventually be able to dig this up and use as a new tree. We have also been talking about experimenting with air layering. 

The work keeps piling on for me here and I am so thankful to have Justin, the new intern, here to help. These weeks are by far the busiest of the year for Jerome and I look forward to the ease of summertime harvesting, watering, mulching, and relaxing. I feel right now as though I am working at more of a nursery than a farm. Hundreds of starter seedlings flood the greenhouses and outside hundreds of more fruit trees are being lined up. Jerome has been ordering rootstock from a variety of nurseries and today we got some blackberry and elderberry starts that were potted up. Tomorrow we are getting grapes in and next week more fruit varieties. All of this nursery has either been pre-bought for the CSA Farm School project in carbondale or will be sold throughout the summer. 

Besides the nursery work there has been multiple outside beds to mulch and get ready for planting and pruning of all the fruit trees that need it on the property. 

The steps for pruning go as follows:

- Understand the internal process of the tree. This means understanding that in the spring the tree is moving stored energy in the roots up the tree into the leaves. If a tree is pruned correctly than more of the rising energy will end up in the fruits, rather than in branches.

- First remove all dead wood from the tree. (Easy to identify)

-Identify and remove branches impeding growth of other plants around the tree or branches on the tree. Remove branches impeding a human flow zone. 

- Remove branches that are inferior to other competing branches.

Pruning is not necessary and unpruned trees can produce beautiful fruits, but by pruning a tree we are generally able to consolidate the trees energy into more fruit.

Spring time is in full effect as green things are poking up just about everywhere and there are figs on the fig tree! Yesterday Jerome, Justin (new intern), and I piled into Jerome's old truck and took a field trip down to a big ranch in the valley. I stood under the sun, watching horses run at the base of rising mountains, admiring the  100+ year old orchard and began to in-vision what the true western homestead was one day like. We were there to pick up manure, which we filled the whole bed with, and to cut scion wood off some of the very old apple trees in the families orchard. the scion wood is being refrigerated and will be grafted onto some rootstock  in a few weeks. The pruning/grafting workshop has been postponed for a few weeks due to late season cold weather. 

I used the gathered manure today on the outdoor terraced beds, which in my opinion should have been mulched in the fall and wintered over. I covered the manure with leaves and we will plant directly into this sheet mulch in a week or two, after adding worms. I used humanure from the composting toilets and leaves to mulch some trees in the forest garden.

I have been learning a lot about soils lately and come to the conclusion that the most important factors are: keep your soil covered 

Lots of organic matter.

Plants require 18 chemical elements to grow (9 micro/ 9 macro nutrients) Plants get these nutrients through mineralization, which is caused by soil organisms decomposing organic matter into mineral forms that plants can use. Good soil has strong soil aggregates which promotes better drainage, aeration, and water storage. Aggregates are destroyed in the process of tilling. Aggregates can be developed and stabilized through a sticky gel secreted by hyphae. Hyphae are the root like hairs sent out by beneficial mychorrizal fungi. Mychorrizal fungi enters roots and is fed sugar by the plant in exchange for gathering more nutrients and water for the plant. 

I had no idea how important sustainable soil practices were in regards to carbon emissions. Carbon stored in the earths soils is three times that which exists in the atmosphere and loss of soil releases massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. I have been getting interested in large scale grain farming and want to research the potentialities of small scale grain growing.

Everything going good, but I cant believe the speed in which April is flying by.

A new intern has arrived, which is exciting. Someone to share the work with is good, but I am a bit reluctant to start sharing the cabin which I have been greedily enjoying alone. Looking forward to have someone to work with though and outdoors work has picked up so there is plenty for both of us to be doing. Started pruning the fruit trees. Right now I am just identifying and removing deadwood from the trees. Jerome is going to go around and marking the trees he wants pruned and I will go around and prune marked branches. The prunings are fed to the rabbits which eat the bark and buds off. They are then mulched. 

We have started adding to our aquaculture tanks. I just put in a bundle of water lettuce collected from RMI's ponds and the tanks will be ready for fish in a few weeks. We had a few volunteers up the other day and got a lot of work done. Thinned out new starts, planted more seeds, built a bench for the sauna, and put the conduit bender together and began bending conduits for a small outdoor hoop-house. Weather remains springy with a flux between sun and clouds. Looking forward to Thursday and Friday because we are going down to the high school and planting a cover crop,  with some students, on the two future agricultural fields.

So things have slowed down a bit up here due to some pretty crazy winter weather that has come through. Wouldn't be surprised if we got a foot of new snow by tomorrow. This is actually a good thing though because it is undoubtedly one of the last big storms and will soak all the outside sheet mulch and fill the pond. It also stalls the trees bloom a little bit which is a safeguard against frost later on. Jerome has been commenting on how this is the most 'difficult' time of the year for the greenhouses because the weather is so unpredictable and can change quickly. Thus constant monitoring is needed, especially because of all the new starters. We have approximately 30 trays of seedlings and sprouts around the greenhouses and they need to be watched quite a bit. Our biggest problem with them has been mice eating the seeds out of the trays. Our solutions so far have been locking the cats in the greenhouse and setting traps. The most effective trap is a five gallon bucket filled half way with water and peanut butter smeared around the edges. A piece of wood leans against the bucket and we have been able to get quite a few little mice with this technique. 

I took inventory on all the rootstocks outside and Jerome has ordered a few hundred more. We just got some fig cuttings in the other day and we potted those up in one gallon containers. Been meaning to ask Jerome why he didn't just take cuttings from his own fig. I'll ask him tomorrow. I worked a paid Job with Jerome last week at the Rocky Mountain Institute. RMI is a think tank for energy efficiency and it was a treat to be able to work there and meet Amory Lovins. 

They have a passive solar home with a interior greenhouse acting as a living room. Some plants growing include; banana, avocado, pineapple, coffee, papaya, ginger... and more. Jerome and I came in and built the wall on their pathway higher for more board space and then began putting down all the soil remedies. Manure, coffee grounds, worms, leaves, mycelium, and water. We moved two of their bananas and did some planting. 

I have begun reading Robert Harts book, 'Forest Gardening' and it has proved to be the most informative resource for me thus far. 

Scavenging at the dump!

Jerome and I made a trip to the dump yesterday and it was a true lesson in 're-use.' Jerome explained how he has built both cabins with scraps from the dump and I was stunned to see the amount of quality wood and other building supplies that were laid out for grabs. We collected a truckload of wood chips from the dump, which will primarily go towards pathways as well as some good treated lumber. The weather is heating up and today was a full day of sunshine. A few volunteers came up and we seeded about 20 starter trays which will be going into the greenhouses as well as the gardens for the CSA farm school. Had today off so I went for a great hike and I look forward to another full week of work.

Fungi!

As the snow melts the work load builds and builds. Cleaning up and organizing outside and preparing to take inventory of the hundreds of nursery trees and root stocks scattered around the property. Inside the greenhouses there is planting everyday and I recently constructed a number of trellises for the beans and peas. I am very excited because I started some Oyster mushrooms two days ago. It was simple and I am excited to see what kind growth occurs. We ordered the spawn from FungiPerfecti. It came as a bundle of inoculated wood chips. I put about three gallons of coffee grinds into a five gallon bucket. Moistened them and then mixed them with the inoculated wood chips. FungiPerfecti provided a 'humidity tent' which I covered the bucket with and now I mist twice daily and wait a few weeks. Easy.

Jerome and I prepared a bed in the Phoenix greenhouse today which was a new variation on the sheet mulching. The procedure went as follows:

1) Cover pre-existing soil and leaves with perennial Mycelium. 

2) Layer of manure and straw. (Cleanings form rabbit coop)

3) Layer of coffee grounds

4) Layer of ash

5) Inoculate with worms from worm bins

6) Cover with lots of leaves.

7) Moisten

It sounds like tomorrow we are going to be doing a whole new variation on the sheet mulching for a different bed so I am excited to see what that will be. It all depends on what is available.  This is a part of Jerome's 'stream-of-consciousness' gardening. Basically there is no stopping.  No beginning or end. 

Top left: The propagation zone!

Top right: Some freshly thinned and transplanted sorrels.

Bottom left: Front door to Cabin where I am staying from within greenhouse.

Bottom right: View of CRMPI from hike down from cabin.

Top left: Jerusalem Artichoke, Nasturtium, Rock wall, Tomatoes, and on the right are the salad greens.

Top Right: Jerome's Archery practice target, soil battery vents, and solar shower.

Bottom left: Over story of Bananas and Papayas. Understory of about ten different vegetables, flowers, and herbs. (All planted just a few months ago.)

Bottom Right: Myself and some volunteers that came up for the day planting out a greenhouse bed. Notice Fig tree looming overhead

some photos

          

 

Ok so here are some images from CRMPI.

 Top left is the 'Sunny John' a passive solar bathroom with composting toilet. Also in the photo is one of many rainwater tanks and some grafted root stocks waiting to be sold.

Top right is a bad photo of the phoenix greenhouse up close and the main house behind.

Bottom left is the Mana Greenhouse all covered in snow.

Bottom right is my little off the grid cabin at the top of the hill.

CRMPI Info

I think a brief explanation of CRMPI is in store. Jerome Osentowski was a winter time ski instructor at vail and summertime sailor in the summer back in the 70's. After a successful summer working on a commercial boat Jerome returned to Vail with $5,000 and a desire for land. He searched out the cheapest chunk of land he could find. With no knowledge of or desire to farm he purchased a half acre on the side of basalt mountain. The selling point was the stream flowing right though the property. He bought the property for $13,000 in 1975 and began building himself his dream cabin in the woods.  Jerome then got really sick for a few years and became interested in the food he was eating. So he started to grow it to ensure optimum health. He built two greenhouses on the property and began selling greens to local stores and restaurants. Jerome was eventually run out of business by Earthbound and other mega-organic corporation farms. As a response Jerome began a nursery business and eventually the demonstration site that is now CRMPI.

There are currently four passive-solar greenhouses and two cabins on site. The whole property is edible landscaping at it's finest. Every tree and shrub you see is intentional and everything is based on Forest Garden principles. The Central house serves as the kitchen, classroom, living room, storage, and housing for Jerome and one intern. A five minute hike through pinon- juniper forest takes you to a joined cabin and greenhouse. This is where I am currently living and where interns generally stay. This is the only greenhouse not planted and though I want to right now, Jerome says we have to wait until the summer due to heating issues and lack of water.  Mana Greenhouse is attached to the central house and is the location of Jerome's 15 year old fruiting fig tree. Phoenix is the only free standing greenhouse on the property and was completed last summer. It is the reincarnation of Pele Greenhouse, which burnt down a few years ago. Inside Phoenix Jerome maintains a semi-tropical climate in which Bananas, Papayas, artichokes, 5 varieties of citrus, peppers, tomatoes, and salad greens grow. This is all maintained through passive -solar heating. 

There are two composting toilets and all water used for irrigation is stored rainwater. There are only four chickens right now, about a dozen or so rabbits, bees, birds, cats, deer, and three humans here at this time.

Back to work

Last Sunday some past students of Jerome's came up and we planted the last three greenhouse beds. We also transplanted three young Kiwis. Since the planting was finished I was given a few days off, which came right a long with some great weather. I started working again today and spent the majority of the day transplanting and watering. I first thinned out 5 trays of sorrel and marigold starts. This was the first time I used any kind of store bought soil here at CRMPI. Jerome had me plant the thinned out plants into a extra fine peat starting mix. I almost killed all of the transplants by leaving them in the greenhouse with me where they were getting fried! Luckily I got them in some shade in time. It was a very hot and sunny day, my first of the kind up here, and it taught me the importance of regulating and ventilating the greenhouses. Jerome showed me the multiple openings in all the greenhouses that need to be open and shut as the day goes on. It is important to have everything shut, doors included, before the sun starts dropping so we can charge them for the night.

My other transplanting was just transplanting broccoli and cauliflower starts into 4 inch containers. I foolishly didn't put enough soil in these and am going to have to go back and fix them tomorrow. As you can tell I made multiple mistakes today. My head seemed to be drifting away with the good weather, but I will have to pull it together because tomorrow will be a lot more transplanting and some planting from seed. Oh, and a quick fix on my earlier post about worm bins: The best method is to have three of those 15 gallon containers and to stack them after filling them. After a month or two you can separate them and then make more buckets by taking worms out of them and starting new batches under them same procedure. 

Thanks for reading and I promise pictures will be up soon.

Putting down some roots!

The past few days have been filled with the next best thing to harvesting...planting. I have planted three separate greenhouse beds with a wide variety of plants. Each beds contain at least 6 or 7 different vegetables or herbs. This produces wide biodiversity, which helps control pest, enhances the soil, and is just plain more fun than linear rows of the same crop. The plants I have planted are; Peas, Beans, Cabbage, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cilantro, Marigold, a Italian Salad green, and some flowers. As you can tell these are all colder weather crops. Do to the irregular frosts at this high altitude it is necessary to plant these hardier annuals even in the greenhouse. When these are done than the sun lovers, aka, tomatoes, melons, basil, peppers, etc. will go in. 

before planting each bed there was a 'ritual of Jerome's' to be performed. The beds which had a layer of leaves on top were moistened, coffee grounds were then spread, followed by another moistening, than another layer of dried leaves, more moistening, and finally planting. After planting the plants were watered with a mixture of water, fish emultion, and a mycorrhizal fungi especially adapted to bind with the coffee grounds. This last part was a new experiment for Jerome. He usually uses wood chips as a host for the mycorrhizal.

Today is Thursday the 11th  and my fourth day working at CRMPI. I will have photos up hopefully in the next few days. The two books I have been reading and taking notes from most lately are; Secrets of Plant Propagation 

by Lewis Hill

Permaculture: principles and pathways beyond sustainability

by David Holmgren

The work has remained steady and I am excited for tomorrow because I will be doing my first planting. There has been a lot of 'spring cleaning' as we clean and reorganize the house, property, and greenhouses. Jerome is a firm believer in the forest garden model of farming, heavy sheet mulching, and he attributes all success to his worms. Jerome's worm bucket making process goes as follows:

Step 1) Find some local worms

2) Get one or more 15 gallon nursery pots

3) Place layer of straw/hay/leaves on bottom

4) Place nitrogen source i.e. kitchen waste or stable cleanings (manure)

5) Add worms

6) Add coffee grounds

7) Place top layer of straw/hay/or leaves

8) Moisten

9) Keep moist

A basic rule of Jerome's is that if worms are alive in the soil than seeds can be planted and plants grown.

Jerome inoculates wood chips with Mycelium and uses this in soil. Mycelium helps plants assimilate needed nutrients.

I have been working a lot with the tomato plants and these are some notes from the work:

- When pruning tomatoes it is important to differentiate from vegetative growth and fruiting growth. Tomato plants will just get bigger and bigger and can take up a lot of room so it is good to prune back vegetative growth, which is identified by broader leaves and lack of flowers or fruit.

- Tomato plants can be cut back to practically the stalk, then transplanted to a pot to be moved or sold and will continue to produce despite the shock.

well, I got lots of notes from the books but I will incorporate them into writings later hopefully.

Thus, it begins

Bouncing up a muddy, rutted road I can't help but wonder; am I lost, again. But not to worry because lost or not this is a beautiful drive with a spectacular view. I continue to climb and slide around muddy turns until I come upon an old mountain cabin and a little sign (piece of paper) simply stating, 'CRMPI.'  I take a few minutes to breath some pure mountain air and admire the heavy clouds above and lightly falling snow. Silence fills the open space around and I set to knocking on doors, hoping somebody is home. I am then greeted by Jerome and Danita with warm soup and hot tea. Jerome is the founder/ owner of CRMPI and has been living here for 35 years. Danita is a past student of Jerome's who has returned to live and work here because of a deep respect for the place. She has been here all winter and though snow still covers the ground and yesterday's high was 38*F her and Jerome fully recognize that Spring is arriving and are both very excited. They also agree that I have arrived at the perfect time. I couldn't agree more.