August 2019 - 14

FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
Sunlight, dates key to high tunnel production
By Dean Peterson
VGN Correspondent
It was time for Angela and Ray Magney
to settle down. Ray had been in the
military for more than 20 years and the
family moved regularly. Ray's transfer
from Georgia to Fort Campbell on the
Kentucky-Tennessee border led to the
opportunity to buy a farm near Princeton,
Kentucky.
" We came up from Georgia with 25
chickens and four lambs, " Angela said.
" We thought that was what we were going
to do on our farm. When I learned how
little I could sell for eggs here, we put up a
high tunnel. "
That led to the establishment of
Magney Legacy Ridge Farm, developing
a CSA (Community Supported
Agriculture) and acquiring the skills to
grow fresh vegetables in high tunnels
year round.
The CSA is based on a 36-week plan
that supplies members with boxes of fresh
vegetables from April through December.
In 2019, for the first time, boxes were
delivered to CSA members for six weeks
in the last half of January and all of
February.
" We've never done a winter CSA before,
but it was really successful, " Angela said.
Choosing the right planting date is a
key to winter production, said Caroline
Garcia, a key partner in Magney Legacy
Ridge Farm.
Angela Magney of Magney Legacy Ridge Farm near Princeton, Kentucky. Photos: Dean Peterson
The Magneys use the USDA Agricultural
Research Service's Plant Hardiness Zones
as a guide to help properly time planting.
The zones are based on the 30-year,
average, annual, minimum temperature
divided into 10-degree Fahrenheit zones.
The zones are intended to be a guide to
help growers determine which plants are
most likely to thrive at a location and can
be accessed at: https://planthardiness.ars.
usda.gov/PHZMWeb/
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The Magneys use the information to
help estimate the day of the first frost.
" It's generally around Oct. 15, " Angela
said. That's the target deadline to get
everything planted for the end-of-theyear
CSA boxes.
" Be diligent with the timeliness of
the plantings, " Garcia said. The goal
is to get the plants well established
and up to a healthy size while the
days are still long enough to provide
good sunlight - and each vegetable's
planting date may be different.
" It's really not the cold that's the issue
in the winter, " Angela said. " It's the lack of
sunlight. "
Wood-fired heat in the greenhouse
helps keep the seedlings alive, although
Ray has to get up twice during each night
to restoke the fire.
Choosing the right crops is
important. Cool-season brassicas
like kale, cabbage and mustard still
grow when it's cold - as long as
there's sunlight - and Magney Legacy
Ridge Farm grows a number of them.
Brassicas are hardy and the leaves of
leafy brassicas can sweeten after a
light frost.
The operation also grows a number
of spinaches, which is also a hardy, cool
weather crop. Spinach will withstand
temperatures slightly below freezing,
although it'll stop growing until more
sunlight is again available.
" A lot of deciding what to plant is just
trial and error, " Angela said.
This year's first winter CSA supplied
members with lettuce, root vegetables,
brassicas and other leafy greens.
Frost cloths are used in the high tunnels
when temperatures are cold to further
protect crops from frost. What's covered
and uncovered inside the high tunnels
is a key decision in the winter and is
determined by the weather - both the
temperature and the amount of sunlight.
" Every time you cover a crop in a high
14 | VegetableGrowersNews.com
tunnel, it moves you one more hardiness
zone further south, " Angela said.
Frost cloths go on at night to prevent
frost and are removed during the day.
The position of the high tunnels is
another key to maintaining year-round
production. " Our high tunnels are on
south-facing hills, " Angela said, " and
everything heats up sooner. "
Even when low sunlight is predicted,
it's important to monitor high tunnel
temperature in the winter and ventilate
as needed. The Magneys have seen early
morning, outside temperatures below
freezing where bright sunlight eventually
warmed the inside of the high tunnels to
where they needed ventilation.
" It can be up to 70 degrees in the high
tunnels when it's sunny, " Angela said.
In January and February, Magney
Legacy Ridge Farm starts seeding in the
greenhouse for spring production. " We're
getting ready for our first out-the-door
production, " Angela said. A typical spring
box for CSA members includes several
types of lettuce, and probably broccoli,
cauliflower, cabbage, mustards or kale.
Root crops and other cool-season crops
start being planted outside in March.
" Once we hit the ground in March, we
plant every week, " Angela said. " In midApril,
we get the summer crops in the
ground. " These include and cucumbers,
tomatoes, squash and the more heattolerant
types of lettuce. The goal is to
have warm-season crops like tomatoes
ready to go in the CSA boxes by May.
Magney Legacy Ridge Farm also
plants several types of eggplants,
peppers and beans, and a lot of herbs.
Pumpkins, watermelon and winter
squash are also planted outside when
the weather warms up.
" We plan in December, " Angela said.
" What do we want in those CSA boxes for
each of the 36 weeks and what do we seed
for those specifications? "
Excess production must be avoided. " It
https://www.planthardiness.ars http://www.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ http://www.ProducePackaging.com http://www.VegetableGrowersNews.com
August 2019

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