Greenhouse Opportunity

[Rockporter]

What a fantastic opportunity you have in front of you. It will be a learning curve for sure. You might contact your local cooperative extension. They might have some information for you or be able to direct you in the right way you need to go.

http://aces.nmsu.edu/cooperativeextension/youth.html

Then there are the Master Gardener's in your area. I am positive they will have a lot of information for you.

http://www.nmmastergardeners.org/


You can ask the local garden centers for seeds and things, our Lowe's out here donates to non profit gardens or gives a discount for products needed.

[nancyruhl]

With that info about the area and the students, I think the best route would be to grow vegetables that have a tangible result for the kids to peak their interest as well as to provide some good nutrition. But, you need soil and containers to do it in. In my area, Home Depot has been generous with community gardens, so that might an avenue. As a school, you can order from wholesalers also, but funds are needed for that.

I am faced with growing in the small space of my roof top gutter garden an making it produce enough to provide some fresh vegetable for our homeless ministry. Therefore I select vegetables that are going to produce lots in small spaces. I grow almost entirely dwarf tomatoes. I really cut back on the cherry varieties because of the labor involved in picking and limited volunteers, but I think they would work very well for the students. I had some old screens left on the roof and l put them to use for growing climbing green beans and climbing spinach. Herbs go a long way and are well worth their space. Peppers earn their keep, though I stay away from thick walled bells. They take too long and aren't as productive. Cucumbers and zucchini don't do well up there, but if you can avoid the mildew, they would be great. Green onions work. Lettuces and kale work. Radishes would work, if they are interested. I stay away from things that a cheap in the grocery stores, like carrots, etc.

Toward spring, you might want to grow some of the easy-to-grow-from-seed flowers to could be put in a highly visible outdoor bed, so the kids would have something to point out was their doing.

[Worth1]

Speaking of wasting money.

Where I worked in south Texas we had a huge pipe bender that with all of the accessories cost well into the many thousands of dollars.
It could bend pipe up to the size of 4 inch.
Another guy and I shared the thing from one office to another.
It came in a huge metal box half the size of the back of a pickup.

One day I was at another office and I saw the box there.
In the box was a bunch of stuff but not my bender.
I asked were the parts were and they said I dont know.
I drove to the main office and saw everything out on the ground in the rain all rusted up and corroded.
The electric hydraulic pump was gone and half the parts were missing.
I came unglued and asked what was going on.
They said they wasn't going to buy a job box for the guys so they used the one for the bender.

You have got to be kidding me, let close to $10,000 worth of stuff ruin or get lost because you are too cheap to buy a $400 job box.

And this is after you send out a memo telling everyone to charge for every little tie wrap and wire nut because we are losing money.
The owner of that company had a habit of getting in peoples faces and punching them in the chest with his finger.
He also would brow beat women till they cried.
I was one of the highest paid workers they had and was never in trouble.
That little pip squeak steered clear of me.

I was told by my boss that another guy and myself were the only two people in the company that could get away with it.
Both of us made them tons of money and kept the customers happy.

Please do something with the greenhouse I could see it being used to store old out dated computers.
Or worse a pile of old desks and moldy books.

Worth

[Fusion_power]

EEks, everyone is going on about the greenhouse and nobody recognizes that it is set up for specialty and/or breeding work. There are Production greenhouses and then there are Specialty greenhouses. This one is very similar to the setup Randy Gardner uses at NCSU. A production greenhouse would be set up to grow a specific type of plant such as having overhead supports to grow tomatoes using strings as trainers.

Figure out what would be best for the students to grow. If they want to produce seedlings, you need cell trays and seed start mix. If for food production, you need containers. Peppers and tomatoes can be grown in 3 to 5 gallon pots so long as they are either determinate or maintained by pruning at less than 4 ft tall. Get black containers, they help with heat absorption in winter. About 100 containers will be a good start or if seedlings, about 300 trays with cell packs.

A large amount of seed start/growing mix will be needed. I suggest locating a source of Promix MPX and getting about 30 bales. Don't under any conditions bring in "potting soil" or "topsoil". Either one will result in fungal problems later.

Plan when to start seedlings for best effect. I run my greenhouse to produce seedlings which is why I start seed for brassicas in late December to sell in February and March. I start tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants the first of January to the 15th of March to sell in late February through June.

Contrary to other suggestions, I do not suggest growing exotics. I've tried growing things from oleanders to lantana and mandevilla. If it can't be safely grown outdoors in your climate, then it is a greenhouse exotic and will have low marketability. Grow things that people want to buy such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, brassicas, impatiens, pansy, petunia, etc.

[aruba1]

Fusion power has a great point - it is a Specialty greenhouse. It has equipment I've not seen except at research facilities, with equipment that requires a well-trained operator. Rather like a Lear jet compared to a Piper Cub, I'd say. Wow -Salsacharlie, run for the Schoolboard! You have a first-class opportunity with a truly first-class botanical level laboratory for advanced agricultural and botanical training, like AP classes for students, and more.
Please keep your Tomatovillers updated!

[tash11]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I sort of like the idea of kids getting this stuff and I went to a very poor school.
It was so poor.
The Junior high had holes in the wood floor the math teacher spit his tobacco juice in them.
It was built in like 1908 or something.
The heating didn't work well, we had to wear coats in class to keep warm.
There was no AC and this was in hot Oklahoma.
....

Where my 7yo currently goes was built in '25 or so. The pipes are so bad 3 plumbers won't even touch it. No AC and the heats messed up, my daughter was in one of the hottest rooms in 3rd grade. They had the heat on and the windows open in that room. And due to 'security' reasons they can't wear a coat if they get cold.
In Ohio it was ruled years ago that the way schools are funded is unconstitutional. Never changed anything though. My 9yo was going to school in a trailer, her room had no windows.

The new superintendent is trying to get a new building so the kids can get out of the trailer and the old building. A k-8 school is cheaper to build then a 9-12 school because of all the extras that 'have' to be put in.

--------------------------------------------------

So, back on topic.....

Originally Posted by Bipetual

Charley, this is awesome! It would be cool if the home ec program could teach the kids how to prepare what they grow.

Besides tomatoes, if I had a greenhouse I would TOTALLY grow basil. It matures fast and people would probably buy plants.

That is a great idea. However getting the produce from the greenhouse to the home ec or the cafeteria is a lot more involved then walking down the hall. You might be able to get in under the radar, but mostly there is a lot of red tape these days. Some schools have contracts for lunch and it's all brought in frozen or dry and then just heated and served. The smaller the school the more laid back generally. Some schools around here don't even allow the kids to carry cash for lunch. It's all done electronically and they either carry a card, or the newest thing, their account is tied to their fingerprint. Parents reload the account and the kid pays for it like a debit card but with their finger so they can't loose it. So anyway it depends on how the school works (aka how much they are willing to bend the states rules) as to how easy it would be to get the produce from the greenhouse to the home ec class or the cafeteria.

If you can't give it to them then you could see if the guidance office has a program for the poor kids to get free food to take home. Maybe some of the produce could be slipped in there. The program that I have heard of sends the kids home with a bookbag of food on Fridays for use over the weekend (a bookbag so it's less conspicuous). It's mostly non-perishable, but they might be able to slip in some fresh produce. (again, this might be a look the other way kinda thing). If that will be your outlet then things that are simple to prepare and familiar would be best, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, lettuce, etc. Stuff that is less bruise likely is better since the bus ride home can be rough.

Originally Posted by aruba1

Fusion power has a great point - it is a Specialty greenhouse. It has equipment I've not seen except at research facilities, with equipment that requires a well-trained operator. Rather like a Lear jet compared to a Piper Cub, I'd say. Wow -Salsacharlie, run for the Schoolboard! You have a first-class opportunity with a truly first-class botanical level laboratory for advanced agricultural and botanical training, like AP classes for students, and more.
Please keep your Tomatovillers updated!

If you can get something awesome going then an actual class run by a horticulturist would be great. Even just starting with an after school garden club though and teaching basic plant breeding would be really neat. I read an article the other day about 'heirloom tomatoes' and the author said that a hybird was produced in a complicated way that no normal person could understand. Ok then....

My highschool was built when I was 10, it had a nifty looking greenhouse on the end. I don't think it ever got used. Along with the photo lab. Both classes I would have gladly taken if they had been offered. But we didn't even have clubs for them.

[nancyruhl]

I have been wondering, too, what came out of that program at the greenhouse.

[Salsacharley]

Here's an update on the greenhouse.

Since nobody is in charge of the greenhouse, and just about any paid staff of the school can get a key (but I can't), there are now several projects going on so my idea is dwarfed to about 1/4 of the space. We started with a simple experimental project to observe the growth habits of the same tomato variety (Napa Giant) grown in differing conditions. Because I tested the germination of my saved Napa Giant seeds back in October 2015 and I had 5 out of 5 sprouts, and at the same time I "discovered" this greenhouse I met up with the original staff member who was working the greenhouse and we were excited to utilize it. Then, one-by-one more people got interested in the greenhouse and nobody has any "rights" to it, resulting in various projects. There is a project run by a biology teacher who is growing only native plants to plant in the nature garden (I'll get some pictures of this tomorrow...its pretty cool). There is a special ed teacher growing flowers for her students to sell, which is a wonderful project that I fully endorse. There's another project that I don't know what's going on, and then there's our project. We have the 5 Napa Giants growing and we are documenting all treatments to the plants. One plant is a single stem grown in a 5 gal container, and a 2 stem plant also in a 5 gal, then a 1 stem in a 10 gal, and a 2 stem in a 10 gal, and an unprunded in a 10 gal. All are grown in Happy Frog soil and are now getting Texas Tomato Food. We also have some other veggies just sown, but the guy I'm working with didn't let me use much of my seed so we are growing what he wants. There is also a couple of outside projects underway. It is good to see the interest and enthusiasm of the high school students involved. I've included some pics of the tomato plants back in December, and a shot I took of a 1 1/2 lb Napa Giant I took yesterday. I'll get more pics of the whole thing tomorrow (hopefully).

Thanks for your interest, and to Nancy for the seeds. None got used this year but I'll lobby for them to be used this fall.

Charley

[imp]

Looks like a good start and being able to teach kids and let them be hands on is just great! You're a good person to help them.

Like the idea of the flower thing, too.

[PureHarvest]

So many good things Charley!

Man, there are so many simple things you can do to teach the basics.
It's encouraging to hear that you have some students that are actually interested.

I've been involved in the past with a votech high school, and the kids seemed only 1/2 interested. I think it was because the teacher did not create the program with a teenager's mentality in mind (shocker, I know). Growing out pots of already rooted cuttings of boring green foliage plants will not grab the imagination of the majority of kids. Basically they helped fill pots and did some watering.
Vegetable production gives them the satisfaction of a harvest after their work, so your tomatoes should be a hit.
Teach the basics, keep it simple, track results.
Have them be able to answer for themselves the questions of reality:
Can I start seeds? What does it take?
When do I water and how much?
How much fertilizer do I use and how often?
How long does it take to get food from sowing seeds?

Looking forward to more reports on your project. Good for you for taking the time!

[aruba1]

Good on ya, Charley!

[Worth1]

Them not letting you have a key kind of bothers me for some reason.
Worth

[Salsacharley]

I had to get a background check just to attend the weekly garden club meetings. I don't have a problem with the security. Frankly, I wouldn't want to be on the property alone in order to eliminate my exposure to any allegations of misdeeds of whatever type might come out of the blue.

Here's some more pics of the greenhouse and surrounding area.

[imp]

It looks like a face. Not a good face, kind of a scary face, LOL!!

[Worth1]

Charley I can see your point completely. :yes
Have fun.
Worth