12 month food production

Okay guys give it to me straight. How do I produce veggies for 12 months in Michigan? Building a greenhouse now and planning on growing staple foods like Tomatoes, Potatoes, squash, Green beans and sugar beets. How do you cross pollinate plants in an enclosed greenhouse? If you want to produce fresh veggies 12 months a year how does one go about this? Keep bees in the green house? are there veggie plants that do not require pollination? I need answers here . Thank you all in advance. KF

 

Good post thanks

 

I would have said a fan because most green houses have fans but the fans don't blow directly on the plants. Depending on the size of your greenhouse you could always get a feather and do it manually.

Good question @Kingfish I look forward to the feedback also.

 

Bees are not the only insect that pollinates plants.
You can do it yourself by pulling a flower from one and rubbing it into the flowers of another, Very time consuming.

 

Plant twice as much in summer then can, pickle and dry ?

Might sound more labor intensive but hey, it leaves more time for ice fishing !

 

Rooted through some of the links YD posted and harvested what you needed...added a lil of my own BS fertilizer.
Pun intended.

Tomatoes:

Shake your tomatoes when you're cutting suckers.
If you're doing a soil greenhouse - grow them aboot a foot tall before transplant and plant them SIDEWAYS...you'll get a LOT more out of a single stable plant that way.
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If you're growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, be certain to agitate the plants every day or so while blooms are present as this aids in pollination. Pollen grains from the male portion of the flowers can be shaken loose to land on female portions of the flowers, thus causing fruit to "set."
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For your greenhouse cucumbers you want to do specific kinds that don't need to be polinated.

Cucumber 'Tiffany'
Cucumber 'Tiffany' F1 Hybrid - Salad Seeds - Thompson & Morgan


Cucumber 'Carmen'
Cucumber 'Carmen' F1 Hybrid - Salad Seeds - Thompson & Morgan


Cucumber 'Delizia'
Cucumber 'Delizia' F1 Hybrid - Salad Seeds - Thompson & Morgan

 

Potatoes = dont do in the greenhouse - waste of space....do them outside in tires, bags or boxes.

"
What veggies do not need pollinators to produce:

• All leafy greens
• Brassicas: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kohlrabi
• Below ground root veggies and tubers such as carrots, parsnips, salsify, potatoes, sweet potatoes, horseradish
• Ground level root veggies such as beets, turnips, rutabagas
• Most legumes including peas and beans
• Corn—like other wind pollinated veggies, giving them a little shake helps distribute the pollen.
• Herbs, like the lemon balm pictured
• Celery
• Onions and leeks
These veggies will all grow by themselves when planted from seed.

Exceptions: There are a number of hybrids, some cucumbers and tomatoes for example, that are ‘parthinocarpic’. These varieties do not need to be pollinated and will not produce a viable seed, either. They are good for growing in greenhouses or where the availability of pollinators is limited.
"

 

We had a cheap greenhouse a couple years back...used it as to start a pile of grow bags...

 

Main Problem I had this year was when it dropped down to 17* one night! Killed off my Cauliflower and Half my Broccoli. I just built a rocket stove out there! Works great but still have to decrease the diameter of pipe for better draw flow.
Growing veggies can be challenging as well as space consuming, so I prioritze what to put my energy into using this chart.
Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Cauliflower, raw
Helps to know if I'm wasting my time on a veg, that has no Impact Health wise. Also I have found it useful to grow Veg. that can be readily canned. Greens grow better in the cold months and do not require pesticides.
Lettuce does not have much nutritional value, etc....
Good luck, but man is it fun! (Must be getting Old)!

 

I've got a similar dilemma on the eastern plains of Colorado. Elevation is just over 6000 feet, so between the cold and the wind, growing fresh produce economically during the winter has me stumped. I can recommend books by Elliot Coleman who grows year round in Maine, but he seems to focus mainly on crops like spinach and kale that are cold-tolerant. My wife and I have had to settle for doubling up on our summer crops and canning like fools in the fall, but it sounds to me like you've got a hankering' for a vine ripened fresh tomato next January. Let me know when you get it figured out.

 

Thank you guys for the responses. I took notes.

 

I think some vegetable just are not for the greenhouse. I have something growing year a round but different things. For example even though it snow last night I have pea coming up, they are covered with a foot of snow but with forty and fifty degree temps this week they will do well. I take a chance every year planting peas early like this because they will die if it gets below twenty degrees for any extended period of time. Our kale and chard is doing fine but I cover them at night if it is going to get below 25 degrees or so. I imagine Michigan represent a whole different set of problems than where I live. I found with peas that the ground needs a little help heating up this time of year so I make a small tunnel with plastic and with milk jugs fill with water that I have dyed black. Once the peas start coming up I pull back the plastic. We also plant our fruit trees on the north side of the house so that they do not bloom too soon which happens here often with a late freeze. I think gardening year around is all about learning your area and its climate. I have learned to work with the seasons in my area and occasionally cross my fingers.

 

You can starve eating only green vegetables so learn to grow starches, sugars and proteins. I grow potatoes, beets, corn and beans and take vitamins. If space is limited grow only what will keep you alive.

 

Im a little late to the party but.... don't hesitate to grow sweet potatoes and yams in a 5 gallon bucket. This is a cheap inexpensive method for getting vit C. The leaves are beautiful and the harvest is bountiful. These are good decorative plants as well (how do you think Disney does all those greens in flower beds so cheaply =)
The Bucket Method
Cook green leaf

 

I wouldn't have known t ask. All of mine would be dead with no production value. Haha.

 

Disney’s Epcot Greenhouses are Amazing! Part I : The Land « ThePhotoGardenBee

 

Trippy.