032919 – YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Curtis Stone
Mar 29
03:01 – Mike Johnson
Hi Curtis,
I bought your book back around Christmas, and was going to take your microgreens class, but back away at the last minute.
I have a small farm in Colorado, I was planning on, approaching you, later this year. I am planning to make a major investment in infrastructure, per your farms design, this summer and start
A microgreen, small farm operation this late summer/fall, when ready to go. I have been making big plans and ready to spend fair amount of money to get set up.
I must be honest, you have stated in presentations from time to time, that you are NOT farming right now. Well!!! To an astute business person, that raises
Some really serious red flags, WHY NOT!!!!, there can be a million legitimate reasons why you are not farming, but this concerns me, greatly!!!
Is the business to volatile (restaurants and chefs), for the amount of money, time and energy you make??? That your burned out, in just a few years???
Is it not profitable?? Is it too risky, from a liability view point??? On and On, concern is now in my mind, and before I proceed, I must try to understand
Why you are NOT FARMING.
I mean, it seems to me, if your making good money, you could easy delegate tasks, to a manager, if you need a break or time off, but why are you not
Keeping it going, your business appears to have lost all of its value and customer goodwill, why would someone walk away from that?
I am most certainly not trying to be rude, or anything of the sort! Your statements and comments have raised a red flag in my mind.
Anything you can share, would be very helpful, thanks again for all you do.
Regards,
Mike
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26:30 – James Salmons
A short question, Curtis. I am getting ready to build a new washing table. Your most recent table looks great and I expect to adopt it as a model. There is no need to repeat what you have shared in your YouTube videos but there are a couple of details I would like to ask about.
First, from your experience and in view of the various uses of the table, what would you recommend for the height of the table top? I can make a big difference, comfort wise.
Second, are their any changes or new recommendations you would care to add?
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30:03 – Nicolò
Hi Curtis,
as I could see from your videos, a big difference for growing microgreens between a pp tray and a normal 10/20 tray is that when you stack them the pp tray don’t touch the seeds of the tray below. Might this be a limiting factor for germination especially on peas and sunflowers micros?
Have you already grow them on the pp trays? Are/Would you using something (ex:wood tablet) for guaranteeing a better seed/soil contact?
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33:08 – Lew
Curtis
could you discuss what may be thermal dormancy.
as weather gets warmer, lettuce does not germinate very fast (10 days) inside my germination chamber. unit is in climate controlled room.
the temp inside chamber is 72*, high humidity (not measured, but see condensation on glass) i also leave led light on 24/7. the light is what maintains temperature. suggestion?
also have issue with pelleted seeds not germinating well whether in flats or direct seeded. the seeds are always from j******’s and fresh. any tips?
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35:56 – Michael Libsch & Ellen Poggi
Hi Curtis, We have started transplanting our spring crops with the paper pot transplanter. We have been using this tool for a few years and have had good results with the 2 inch pots. We have struggled with seedlings in the 4 and 6 inch pots, however. When planting, the 4 and 6 inch chains tend to break or the cells flip on their sides when planting. It also seems harder to cover the cells with soil. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again, Mike
P.S.Thank you for the video that you did with Erich on using fertilization on the farm. That was really helpful. We are going to try installing a Mazzei injector here this summer.
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40:16 – Patrick Mortenson
Hey Curtis, love the site. were getting a lot of value out of it.
So there is a non-profit in my area whose goal is to support local AG.
This is our second year farming commercially and we are a part of their farm incubator project where we are renting two large High tunnels.
they are looking at starting a local food hub as well as a regionally grown certification (similar to Appalachian grown).
they are in the discovery process. no solid ideas yet as to how these will look.
my question is
what are your thoughts on the positives and negatives of these ideas?
we are in a rural part of oregon. this is a very big tourist destination with a burgeoning food scene.
thanks!
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44:38 – Elliott Musgrove
Hi there,
First off, just want to say thanks for the book, the videos, everything you do to teach others about farming!
We just received a grant to purchase a JP-5 and did our first sowings with it 2 days ago. I followed the chart on Paperpot.co as far as gear ratios and rollers. The chart on the page for the JP-5 seems to reflect what Steadfast farm mentioned in a recent video… 3 rollers, similar gear ratios, 6 or 10 rows. The page for the rollers themselves doesn’t match entirely with the previously mentioned chart, but is similar. Your original edition book doesn’t discuss gear ratios if I recall. So I did a bit of experimenting indoors to see if I could dial in the specs for my own use. We haven’t seen things come up from our outdoor planting of course, but I checked the rollers and the main seeds we use… arugula, red russian kale, radish, mustards, lettuce. After counting the seeds that drop from each roller with different seeds, and comparing the specs on the chart, I was a bit surprised/confused.
Lettuce, for instance, is recommended for the F24 which holds about 11 seeds on average, and a 14Fx9R or 0.5″ spacing. Thats about 264 seeds per row foot. A few sources out there like Johnny’s or Tend.aghave a recommendation of about 60 seeds per foot. I’ve seen other growers like Jeremy Mueller recommend 24-48 seeds per foot depending on the green and the season.
I understand that context is important, maybe even harvesting method and seasonality could affect the spacing, but I’m wondering if there is a need for a discussion/investigation to fine tune the seed spec information out there? I’m not trying to suggest your supplied information is wrong, or that it is your responsibility to produce this information, but that it could be an interesting video or call for input from people in your sphere? Forums are helpful but sometimes hard to trust when the information is thrown out there without context in an informal way. Thanks for listening and hopefully this wasn’t too long or annoying!
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52:13 – Lorelie Shoesmith
Quick question. If I lay Sunbelt ground cover over my veggie beds and plant as you so beautifully illustrate, can I still overhead water my garden and everything get enough water through the ground cover to live (including my soil)? Is this what you do?
Thanks!
