TOM WASHING CARROTS
GREENHOUSE FRAMEWORK
WHO KNEW OKRA GREW IN NY??
With one rolling greenhouse in place, Juniper Hill Farm is expanding their operation and building rolling greenhouse number two. After applying for a federal grant, they waited and waited, as bureaucratic decisions are slow to process. Getting tired of waiting, they just built a greenhouse. The logic was if they waited, the greenhouse would go up too late in the season and serve no purpose. Later in the season, they received notice they had been awarded the grant and decided to construct another greenhouse. The catch is, they had to front the money, erect the structure, and have it approved by government agents before receiving the subsidizing funds. In theory this prevents someone from earning this grant and spending the money on something unrelated, but in practice it puts farmers who don't have thousands of dollars at their fingertips in a tight spot. Raising that kind of capital is no easy task. The farmers are taking a major risk and hoping their building will be "up to snuff" and their funds reimbursed. Adam and Melody intend to plant strawberries, raspberries, and spinach in their new greenhouse, enabling them to extend their season and have fresh berries in spring before anyone else, and also in the fall, later than anyone else, something impossible under normal conditions in a cold climate such as the Adirondack Mountains. We're excited to help construct the greenhouse and we're taking careful notes; this rolling design seems excellent and it's something we'd like to emulate on a smaller scale in the future.
We're not the only ones helping Melody and Adam at Juniper Hill. There is one other WWOOFer, Haley, who comes from North Carolina and is 21. She has also been WWOOFing all summer. Juniper Hill Farms also employs a few young kids to help out, some who are still in school. The operation they run is simply too big and demanding for just the two of them. Without WWOOFers, and on days their workers mysterious don't show up, getting by seems mindbogglingly difficult.
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