The greenhouses keeps ‘em growin’.
“How does your Farm Market stay open year-round?” is a question we hear often at Belkin Family Lookout Farm, especially during the cold winter months when snow and ice blanket our outdoor vegetable fields. And the answer is: with our greenhouses.
Throughout winter, we grow vegetables in greenhouses and hoophouses. Both allow us to regulate temperature and moisture, and maximize the benefits of sunlight. The main greenhouse has 100 foot long vegetable beds where we grow lettuce, broccoli, carrots, spinach, radishes, and more.
How Greenhouses Work
- Glass or plastic panels allow the sun’s warmth to be absorbed into the ground inside
- Insulation keeps heat from escaping, and additional heating is provided
- Air circulation is closely monitored to maintain ideal humidity
- Temperature is kept at 65 degrees Fahrenheit, regardless of the outdoor temperature
- Crop beds are rotated periodically to maintain the balance of nutrients in the soil
- All beds have irrigation
One of our greenhouses serves as a propagation house, where we raise over 500,000 plants each year. It’s here that seeds are sown and seedlings are transplanted and nourished until they’re ready for planting in the production greenhouse or in outside plant beds.
We also have hoophouses. These structures are very similar to greenhouses — they’re just built differently. Greenhouses have a square frame and a box–like appearance, and hoophouses are circular and tube–shaped, like an enormous piece of pipe half–buried in the ground.
Growing Indoors Year–Round:
- Chinese Cabbage
- Beets
- Egg Plant
- Leeks
- Scallions
- And more!
- Lettuce
- Radishes
- Arugala
- Swiss Chard
- Baby Spinach
- Parsley
- Broccoli
- Figs
- Cilantro
- Herbs