AdAgrA Conference 2024: Growing Better

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AdAgrA: Adventist Agriculture Association

Advanced Track

Adner Abreu

Optimizing Your Greenhouse Production Part 1

All right, my name is Adner Abreu and I'm the farm manager of Eden Valley Farm.

I've been farming there now as the farm manager for the last 2 years, and I've worked there in the past for a few years as well.

And this will be my fourth season starting.

So, but of course I've been farming now for Over a decade.

My mom will tell you that it's like it's more than that, but officially really getting into it for the last 10 years and I have learned just just methods and techniques and simple methods 1 of the things I want to share with you that once you leave this class and once you go through any of the courses that I teach, whether it's at Eden Valley, whether it's here at Niagara, it's basically simple steps that you can go home and just do it.

Yesterday we talked about turning tomatoes into profit.

Looks like we had a lot of fun with that as well.

So today we'll be doing in this advanced track, which is advanced, but at the same time, This is, you know, I think agriculture is beginners, always beginners, because you're always learning.

And I'm like, sometimes I make mistakes that it's like, how did I make my, you know, how did I made that mistake?

And I wanna share with you just what I have observed, what I have learned, what I do every day.

My greenhouses there at Eden Valley, the Tomatoes just in tomato this past year we went over $70, 000 on 3 greenhouses that we planted.

We provided a lot of tomatoes to the community, gave tomato away, and I just had a good time.

Now, yesterday we talked about growing inside the greenhouse, but today I wanna talk about the greenhouse management, how to really deal with your greenhouses so you can have good crops in there, because it is a huge step.

And as well, if you are in the process of setting your greenhouses, how to understand greenhouses so you can set it up in the best location of your land.

And if they're already there, how to optimize it then to have good success.

So write down your questions as I'm going to.

And then towards the end of my slides here, I'll start asking questions so all of us can participate.

All right, so optimizing your greenhouse production.

We're gonna go over location, position of the greenhouse, selecting and building, weed control, watering, fertilization, beneficial insects, inside the greenhouse, outside the greenhouse, and I'm gonna give you a breakdown a little example of revenue, a cost and revenue of the greenhouse.

So how much can you expect to put in, how much can you expect to get out of there, and at least in 1 year, and then that way you can have an understanding about greenhouses And later on I'll share Some stories as well because sometimes I tell people you do not need a greenhouse right now And so I'll tell you that part too.

Let's dive right in into the position of the of the greenhouse and And this 1 right here south to north It is what I recommend what many recommend to put your greenhouse.

And 1 of the reasons we focus our greenhouse facing north and south is because the sun comes from the east, goes to the west.

So basically, if you grab this water bottle, and If I face the cap of the bottle towards the east, what happens is that the back end of the bottle, which is the west, will have shade for too long.

But if I flip it like this, the side of the bottle facing east and west, then when the sun comes from the east, it will take very little to reach the other side.

And basically, as soon as it comes up, it goes over.

Your rose, every rose in your greenhouse will get more sun right away.

And we have 1 greenhouse in Eden Valley that is actually facing east to west.

And So make sure you put them north to south.

But of course, there is another factor that you have to take in consideration that I think is perhaps even more important, which is the wind.

Now here in US, the greenhouses are just round, most of them.

And the wind, the way you put it, If you have very strong wind coming through you, I would put in facing the wind.

That's what I would do, like facing the wind.

If you have very strong wind, just if east, For example, if your greenhouse are supposed to go to your left, just to make it very simple.

If your greenhouse is supposed to go facing to the left side of your property, but your winds are coming very, very strong from the right-hand corner of your property, just shift it a little bit.

So basically, you have to favor the wind more than the sun because you might lose your greenhouse and then it's gone.

There are other greenhouses in other countries and here in the U.S.

For example, ASI set out several greenhouses throughout ministries, and they have a top that opens.

So if that top, when it opens like this, it's right, it's facing that wind tunnel that you have.

When that strong wind comes, it's just going to pick up that greenhouse.

It's going to go in there and pick up that greenhouse and throw it in the woods.

But if it goes over it, then you won't have any problem.

So, yeah, just have those things in consideration.

This is a big factor when it comes to drainage and putting in high grounds.

Sometimes we're having problems, like we had a question early here.

Sometimes we're having problems in our greenhouse just simply because they are in a low land.

They are in the lowest part of the property.

They are next to an area that is super wet and and then you end up probably having problems with fungus and you're like I don't know how what to do here with this fungus And it's just the location of your greenhouse, it's not optimal for growth inside the house.

So when you place a greenhouse in your property, Make sure you go in an area that has a good wind flow and as well is It's it's on high grounds Now you don't want to put it if you have a hill you don't want to put like right on top of the hill if you Have a lot of wind because otherwise you you'll have a problem with a wind but basically do it in an area that is not wet.

Not big because the thing is when you have, like especially here in Florida or in a big part of the South, they have a lot of swampy areas.

And that's 1 thing, like if you look for property in the South, make sure you go like in the spring, because that's when you will know when the springs are.

You know, that's when you'll know where the swampy areas are in your in your property There is I've seen properties that are like 400 acres But 200 of it it's it's useless because it's always wet it floods all the time unless you have cattle there in the summer, then they're not good for anything.

And they're nice and flat and beautiful, but you can't do much there.

And now, if you have it already, and it is in an area that it rains a lot or It's a little wet.

Just make sure then you kind of Graded your the surrounding of your greenhouse away From the greenhouse and of course, you know if you build houses do the same thing, but for the greenhouse, it's very Very critical because the last thing you want, it's your greenhouse getting watered by rain.

When you don't need watering, you need that soil to be dried to fertilize, you need to have that soil to rototill and prep your soil.

So if it's wet, then it's not gonna be good.

I used to work in a greenhouse that 1 of the beds was always wet.

Even with a slope that I built, and I built a very good slope, but still a vein was coming up, the water table was too high, there was a spring next to it.

It was just a really not good location for a greenhouse, but that's basically what I was having problem with.

And of course, that greenhouse still today deals with a lot of fungus problems.

We think like, oh, if I get the soil right, get a good variety in there, and use my technique from this person or that person, I'll be fine.

But understanding the fact that greenhouses do not like wet environments.

Matter of fact, greenhouses were really developed and are used greatly, like in Israel, and places that doesn't rain, because greenhouse is not about the rain, protecting from the rain.

And in the tropics, That's the main reason to build greenhouses for the rain, but the idea for the for the greenhouses is to Have that greenhouse effect which is to diffuse those those rays the sunlight very nice and evenly all around it.

And your tomatoes, they will do a lot better.

And so that's very, very important steps.

If you look at these greenhouses that I'm building right now Here I kind of broke the rule a little bit But I'm in Colorado.

It doesn't rain there in the summer and You know it snows, but I'm not planting there and everything is frozen.

Optimizing Your Greenhouse Production Part 2

This is part 2 of optimizing your greenhouse, your greenhouses.

So we're gonna be talking about now watering for fertilization.

And what I use is when it comes to irrigate my greenhouses is drip tape and that what I've used and it works just amazing I mean the benefits of drip tape that I've seen it's it's something in incredible I I shared yesterday that I had a greenhouse without drip tape and when I When I after I put drip tape I saw soil improvements Better crops better yields and it's all I did was simply Change the watering method we were watering by hand prior to that and when I added drip system Was was just great there in the in the in the mr.

Paul greenhouse there and so Yeah But so it has once you when you water with your drip tape, you have deep water penetration.

That's what I use to fertilize my greenhouses right through the drip system.

And of course, if you're selling things like lettuce, cilantro, spinach, other things, it keeps it real nice and clean.

So sometimes, for example, with spinach, what we do is that We cut it.

We throw it into a, they sell like a pillow bag that has a bunch of holes in it.

I forgot what they use it for as well, but basically it's just a bag that has a bunch of holes in it.

And you throw your spinach in there, you throw it in water, and then we have a washer machine that just spins.

And you throw that bag in there, and then you spin the lettuce, I mean the spinach or any of the greens and it takes the water off your greens and so it's nice and washed and there's no dirt in it at least.

But it helps that the spinach aren't loaded with dirt.

So having the drip system really helps with that.

Now, what do I use to fertilize my greenhouse?

And if you've been in this class or you've heard from me long enough, I like simplicity.

And I like stuff that don't require a lot of money either.

Just something big enough, not a 5-gallon bucket, but at least 30 gallons and up.

And what I do is I basically, I put a 1 and a half inch sump pump down there and hook it up to to a hose to a flexible hose just to get it out of there and then hook it up to my water system and then that's how I apply all my fertilizers and And I have 2 pumps 1 to circulate the water down there and another 1 to pump it out.

Now there are other methods that I have and I have used to mix your fertilizer and things like that.

But then you have to be dealing with ratios and water rates and water pressure and all these things.

Unlike this system that you say that you read in the package or they tell you okay it's you know 20 ounce of this fertilized per acre or whatever so you just say okay for this greenhouse I need 10 pounds of this or I need half a quart of this.

And basically, I just throw it in there, mix it real good, make sure my drip lines are actually full of water before I send my fertilizer.

That way, 1 corner of the greenhouse doesn't get more fertilizer than the other.

And then once it runs with water, I switch to my pump.

And 1 of the things that this thing allows using this sump pump is that it has quite a bit of pressure.

So with a good amount of pressure, especially when you're dealing with fertilizers that are organic that have a lot of, that are not quite as soluble, because even fertilizers that are organic and they say they're soluble, they still have sediments, very fine sediments.

So, basically with a good pressure, it will actually go through without problem.

And 1 of the key steps that I do as well, if I have to fertilize, let's say, today, or let's say Thursday I guess today's Thursday so let's not have to fertilize Thursday that means that the last watering that I do on my greenhouses it's Monday okay when I fertilize I actually make sure that my ground is dry.

And as well, I fertilize as fast as possible, send that fertilizer through, and then I fill that water, that drum, with just clean water and let it then flush out because any fertilizer that you use, you wanna flush your lines.

You don't wanna just apply the fertilizer and then turn it off because that fertilizer then will create sediments and then it will plug your drip tape.

1 thing is when using this method and when applying this is that you want to watch for when you're using drip tape, 1 of, I guess, downside is that you want to have a moisture meter and I know you can check your soil with your hands and I have done that for many years and I'm you know I've used it I've done it but I still have my moisture meter and I just go and check in different areas of the greenhouse.

And if you're having like 1 area of your greenhouse that is doing really good and another 1 not as good and your tomato plants are doing really good in the middle and not in the corners, then you go with your moisture meter and you check there.

And there's a high likelihood that you will see that, oh, this is wet here and this is dry.

And what has happened is that your drip tape has gotten plugged up.

And you see a little bit of moisture there, but not so much water, so they dry faster.

So 1 area of your greenhouse is thirsty, and the other 1 is super wet.

So you have to always, to monitor your greenhouses.

It's not, you know, sometimes we think, okay, if we do things right, if we say, if we do this, do this, everything will go perfect.

We always have, it's not a plug and play thing.

You have to always be optimizing, looking, adapting, paying attention to the details.

OK, why is that plant wilted in the middle while, in the meantime, while these in the middle here are not?

So you go and check those things and that's then how you start learning what's happening.

1 of the things that I do is that every single day, at the end of the day, it takes about 30 minutes for me to leave the farm.

And so I go to all my greenhouses, check, check, check, check, check, drive through the fields, everything looks good.

And as well, 1 of the things actually, like we have a lot of produce and The farm is a little big.

So sometimes I could have a corner where the broccoli is really good and we don't even notice that the broccoli is ready.

And then sometimes it happened that it goes to flower because we didn't get to it.

But that happens very little because what I do is that I just I just check my fields.

That's kind of like my distressing moment.

It's like, okay, I'm done for the day, but I'm still on the farm.

And I just go around, check, and then with my phone, texting then the main person that is helping me with harvesting.

And okay, hey, broccoli's ready in the south corner of the garden.

By the way, eggplant looks like that'll be ready next week.

Oh, wow, these peppers are doing amazing.

In 2 weeks, we're going to have lots of peppers.

Call the market manager and say, hey, tell everybody on markets that we're going to have peppers soon.

And all this happens as I'm leaving the farm.

1 thing that I found, another aspect to have your eyes open, because sometimes I drive by the greenhouse and the fans are off, right?

But then, and this happened to me a couple of times now, a few minutes later, I drive by the greenhouse and they're still off.

And then I walked around, they're still off.

Oh, something happens and I go in there and it's 110 degrees.

But if you're not paying attention, if you're not alert of these little details, you might lose a crop.

I remember 1 time, and in the winter, this is critical.

I remember 1 time it was the first night that was gonna be cold, so I turned on my heat and it was working, I left it working, everything was good.

But then we were on a gathering, eating at someone's house, and I'm like, I gotta go to the greenhouse.

And everybody was like, where are you going?

So, and when I went there, the greenhouse was 40 degrees, the heating wasn't coming on, and then I had to call maintenance and I was there until midnight, fixing the, you know, fixing, getting the heat going.

And it was a brand new heater, by the way, you know?

So, because you, Sometimes there is air in the line, there could be a million things why a heater doesn't work.

But I avoided losing that crop just by simply paying a 2 minute, 3 minute visit to the greenhouses.

You know, carelessness in farming, it's very obvious.

And other parts of life are like, you'll get away with it.

But 1 of the things about gardening and farming is that it doesn't let you get away with things.

You're late, you will notice that it's late.

You see, you didn't plant things right, you will notice that.

You know, you can't, and that's 1 of the things, for example, when I used to work at academy, like teenagers, they have a hard time with it because they're used to cheating all the time, right?

So, so they're like, you know, oh, I'm done with planting.

And the plants are, you know, this way, sideways, you know, the roots are upside down and you know, it's like, no, you didn't do this right.

John Dysinger

Deep Dive into Cover Crops: Developing a System that Works for You

So my name is John Dysinger and as you can see this is called Deep Dive into Cover Crops.

The idea is that in the first hour, first I want to kind of get a feel for who we've got here.

We're gonna, you know, kind of go over the basics of cover cropping, and we can do that faster or slower depending on our audience here.

I mean I know some of you probably know more about cover crops than I do.

So you know they asked me to teach classes and if I don't know about it I say yeah because I'll learn.

That was what happened with the weather class.

But I learned a tremendous amount preparing for the class.

I don't claim any expertise in cover crops.

We've used them for many years but I learned a lot in preparing for this class and there's still a lot I don't know.

So hopefully in the second hour there'll be time for some of you who've had experience to share some of your systems that you've come up with and what's worked well for you.

So let's start by seeing how many people have used cover crops.

Okay, well that's pretty much everybody, so that's good.

How many are, this was labeled as advanced or what is it?

So how many of you are market gardeners, gardening on scale, let's say?

And the rest are home gardeners or wannabe gardeners.

Well, so we'll go through this and and if if it's information you already know I guess repetition is a good teacher, right?

So, and then we'll try to get to some stuff.

We've been doing a lot of experimenting the last few years with no-till cover cropping, So that's kind of where my passion is right now.

And I can share some of our experience and then hopefully I can learn from some of you.

But let's start officially with a word of prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege to be here with like-minded people and the privilege to learn and grow together, growing better together.

And I just pray for your spirit to be here with us in the next couple hours that it will be time well spent that we can learn and grow, that we can learn from each other and that we can apply better the methods that you have given us in your natural world to improve the soil and grow higher quality crops.

So just bless in our time together we pray in Jesus name, amen.

So my other classes I started off with the scripture and I realized I didn't do this with this 1 but certainly there's plenty of scripture about sowing crops, right?

I mean the parable of the sower would be the classic 1.

We're all familiar with the idea of sowing crops.

So let's start out with some definitions and let's make sure we're all on the same page with this.

So a cover crop is a crop grown for the protection and the enrichment of the soil.

So it's not a crop you're growing to sell.

In fact, you know, many times I hear people saying, Well, you know, I'm growing cow peas as a cover crop So why not just harvest the cow peas and then turn in the rest?

Yes but my understanding is if you harvest off the cowpeas you are basically neutralizing the positive effect of the cover crop.

I mean, basically the nitrogen you're getting from the beans and taking off the field is the nitrogen that should have been going into the soil to improve it.

You know, either you take your cash crop and, and, you know, sell that or you grow a crop specifically for soil improvement.

Now there's another term that is often used interchangeably.

What's the difference between a green manure and a cover crop?

I think you cut the grass or the foliage and leave it around on the top legs?

I mean, I think people use the terms interchangeably.

A fertilizer consisting of growing plants that are plowed back into the soil.

So specifically it's a plant in the more vegetative, nitrogenous stage, you know, higher nitrogen that's being worked into the soil, plowed or tilled, and it then breaks down in the soil and feeds the soil.

But I think The cover crop is a broader definition.

I think you could say green manures are a subset of cover crops.

And then there's another term you may have heard, smother crop, which is referring to a highly dense and rapidly growing plant species.

Yeah I feel more comfortable to the left Or the right or what I don't anyway, I guess it depends on your perspective It's a plant species that's intentionally grown to effectively suppress weed growth by out competing So there are certain cover crops So again some other crops would be a subset of cover crops.

But some cover crops grow so vigorously and so quickly.

And to me, a classic example in the summer would be cow peas, at least in our part of the country.

They quickly take over and smother out any weeds.

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Advanced Track

Optimizing Your Greenhouse Production Part 1

Transcript

Parent Series

Parent Conference

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Recorded

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Turning Tomatoes Into Profit Part 3

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Level 2 Home & Market Gardeners

Small Scale No-Till Methods

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Market Gardening

The What & Why of Market Gardening

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Specialty Crops Track

Growing Greenhouse Tomatoes

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Intensive: Home Gardening

Home Gardening - Part 6

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Soil Health for the Home Gardener Part 1

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Sound Doctrine