We are deeply grateful to all who participated in our Greenhouse Heater fundraising campaign this fall. Thanks to our combined efforts, we raised enough to purchase and install a greenhouse heater, and we came close to our goal of 100% sharer participation in the campaign.
This investment is a critical part of our long-term plan to make the farm more sustainable. Our high-efficiency greenhouse heater will provide the following benefits:
- Allow us to get into the propagation greenhouse a full month later than we currently do, freeing up the farmers to do other important work in late winter and early spring.
- Grow healthier starts. The heater is typically used ONLY between early March and mid-May, to keep the greenhouse temperatures above freezing and, later, to keep tomatoes and other nightshades at temperatures above 50 degrees. This minimal use of fuel can have a huge positive impact on the health of our starts.
- Increase the farmers’ quality of life. Have you ever lost several nights of sleep because you are miles away and worried about your tomato seedlings freezing because it is late April and 15 degrees outside? It’s not fun!
- Enable us to grow many more, and higher quality plants that we can sell in an expanded May Plant Sale and Spring Celebration! This is a critical part of the plan to diversify our revenue without stressing the land. We are planning a fun weekend event around the plant sale, to which we can invite the broader community.
We plan to purchase an Effinity heater from Modine, which is up to 97% efficient, compared to most heaters which are only 80% efficient. Stay tuned for updates about the installation.
Thank you again for making this investment possible. We couldn’t have done it without you!
