Page 61 - Summer 2019 Journal

and end vents. While many are mechanical and require a person to open and close them, some companies now make vents that will automati- cally open and close based on the temperature in the tunnel, with no electricity required! Other companies make electronically controlled systems, which, coupled with modern Internet technology, let you check on—and open and close—the tunnel with your phone.
If there is one area of a tunnel to automate as much as possible, especially if you are away from home a lot, it would be the venting. Storms come and go in the summer, and it is generally best to close a tunnel completely when a storm strikes. But you can’t do that from the office if your tunnel is all manual. Instead, imagine pulling up your high tunnel on your phone and closing the sidewalls and ridge vents while at work ten miles away. Or imagine that instead of having to rush out of bed in the middle of the night because of a thunderstorm the Weather Channel failed to warn you about, you just tap a few buttons and go back to sleep. That is technology that truly serves us!
THE OLD IS NEW AGAIN
When it comes to regulating colder tem-
peratures, greenhouses and tunnels generally still depend on conventional approaches (such as electric and wood-powered methods) to provide supplemental heat. There are two interesting innovations in this area that use the power of thermal mass, although truth be told, both are old approaches.
The walipini (meaning “place of warmth”) is an underground greenhouse that uses the earth, venting and good solar orientation to control the inside environment. The earth may also be lined with stones or similar material to create a heat sink. Depending on location and soil, plants are grown in the ground or in raised beds with soil brought in for growing.
A Chinese-style high tunnel, which can refer to either tunnels or greenhouses, involves a structure that generally has a southern orien- tation and a northern wall made of materials that serve as a thermal sink. This northern wall is crucial to maintaining the structure’s temperature stability—during the day, it helps keep the structure cooler by absorbing and stor-
SUMMER2019
ing incoming solar energy, while at night it keeps the structure warmer by slowly releasing that stored heat. The structure may be either partially or fully above-ground. Chinese-style structures will sometimes still use supplemental heat sources as well, but in many climates, they may not need them.
UNIQUE GROWING ENVIRONMENT
Greenhouses and high tunnels are a unique growing environment.
Because the square footage in a tunnel is limited compared to outdoor space, as well as more expensive, more valuable and subject to specific disease and pest pressures, growers have developed particular plant variet- ies that perform best in this environment. Many are specifically adapted for greenhouse growing conditions, including lettuces that grow more upright (to use less space per large head), pelleted seeds that allow tight and accurate spacing of carrots and other small seeded crops.
All of these developments are a good thing. Three-week-old lettuce that requires a three-thousand-mile cold chain journey to reach our plates (and now may be grown in plastic pots on glyphosate-sterilized soil and yet still carry an organic label!) isn’t a good use of technology or of the resources that make such technology possible—but year-round growing that gives people more local access to fresh foods is. High tunnels and greenhouses are helping make this happen.
John Moody is the fortunate husband to Jessica, father to five fantastic kids and a well-known writer and speaker on issues relating to health, homesteading and more. Embracing the wisdom of Weston Price allowed him to save his health and help countless others over the years. John’s book, The Frugal Homesteader, is available at homesteaderhandbook. com. Fantastic traditional foods like elderberry syrup made by his farm and family can be found at abbyselderberry.com.
REFERENCES
1. California Department of Food and Agriculture. “Agricultural statistical
review.” In California Agricultural Resource Directory 2010-2011, pp. 17-39.
Available at: https://www.motherjones.com/files/2agovstat10_web-1.pdf.
2. Local vs. organic: which is best? https://responsibletechnology.org/local-vs-
organic-best/.
3. https://www.viemose.nu/greenhouses/.
4. https://www.hridir.org/countries/norway/index.htm.
5. Greenhouse building materials: should I choose glass, polycarbonate, or poly
film? https://dengarden.com/landscaping/greenhouse-glass-guide.
HEALTHY SOFT FOOD ARTICLE YOUR HELP NEEDED!
Writer Katie Singer is working on a story about using raw milk, the baby formula in Nourishing Traditions and other nutrient-dense soft foods for people with dental challenges or stomach tubes.
If you have any experience with using soft food in this way, a story to share or know someone who does, please send the information with your phone number to healthysoftfood@gmail.com or ask the other person to do so.
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