Winter Greenhouse Farming

Rick Steffen could be thought of as a small farmer for all seasons. That's because he grows a variety of crops, some unusual like his fruit orchards -- inside a series of 55 greenhouses, some up to a half-acre in size, near Portland, Oregon. As a result, he has been able to extend the growing season, and bring earlier to the local Portland Farmers Market food (like cherries) that traditionally are still out of season here.

Originally posted on Food.Farmer.Earth

 

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Comments

[artleads]

05:49 AM on 05/03/2012

Thanks. While there is no mention of chemical use, it's hard to believe that this is chemical-free. But it is certainly no less so than other large-scale agriculture, and it is holding down near-urban land for agriculture instead of sprawl development. It would be nice to see more people do the organic version of this for themselves.

[Rebecca Gerendasy]

12:12 PM on 05/03/2012

Urban growth is definitely an issue for many large cities. Thanks for bringing up that point. I'm sure there are organic farmers using greenhouses in a similar way. I know of one in MN, so there are bound to be many others.

[jonoruf]

10:59 PM on 05/03/2012

I know many people who organically farm using greenhouses, but not on such a scale.