Saturday 13 October 2012

Growing spinach 49-weeks of the year using NS solar. Honestly.

This county never ceases to amaze me.  This afternoon I dropped in on Ronald Muis on my way down Lakewood Road in Steam Mill.  It was a biting day.  Lots of wind, lots of bright sun, a real chilly one.

I noticed several large low-slung greenhouses in his backyard.  I soon learned that Ronald Muis grows spinach.  In abundance.  And, that last year there were only 3-weeks in the dead of winter when the greenhouses weren't producing.  Ronald sells nearly all his spinach to retailers at the Halifax farm markets.

When I stepped inside it was warm and cozy---a sharp contrast to the temperature outside.  These greenhouses really solely on passive solar heat that flows through the plastic to the soil and plants.  Amazing.  The spinach in this photo is 3-weeks old.  At the far end of the greenhouse a smaller patch of arugula is also growing.

Greenhouses are something I really love.  The smell of them reminds me of taking my 2 toddlers strolling in the afternoon up the road in Greenwich for a visit with Judd and Charlie Pulsifer at their greenhouses.  They loved to see things planted and growing.  I've feeling thankful tonight for the skill of people like Mr. Muis.  We're blessed to have people in our community  who can make so much great stuff grow... Come rain...Come shine.

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