By: Erin Oliver, Erin’s Geothermal Greenhouse in Nathrop, CO.
Restoring our local food shed is possible. We are lucky to live in this valley where productive farmland with water is still available. There is the potential to put these valuable lands into food production. Although our growing season is shorter then some, it is still possible to grow most crops and we even have micro climates within our valley where we can produce corn. Tony Madone has proven this on his Farm to Table site in Salida. There are countless home gardeners producing food for their family right in their backyards. We also have the unique resource of geothermal water which can heat greenhouses for year round production. This is especially wonderful for those heat loving crops we all love like tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers. If it is our desire to produce food in this valley, it is possible.
So, back to the banana.
I was inspired to buy this banana tree by Paul at The Crystal Shop in Salida, he had one years ago. Five years later, I have fruit on the tree and not just a few. It lives in my greenhouse here on Chalk Creek where it is kept warm with our 160 degree geothermal water. I continue to nurture it in hopes that the fruit will ripen into the sweetest bananas I have ever tasted. I’ll keep you posted.
This winter in the greenhouse has been very productive. Lots of sunshine means faster growth and an abundance of tender greens. We were able to keep some of the tomato and cucumber plants producing until Thanksgiving when we pulled them to prepare for the next crop. Although the tomato plant is a perennial, I find we have much better success with a fresh crop every year. We have planted a round of sugar snap peas to take advantage of the space before this year’s tomatoes are transplanted. Our starts table is heated with our geothermal water and is full with tomato, pepper and perennial flower starts. They are also happy with all of the sunshine and will be ready to transplant into the large containers in a few weeks. We may just break our earliest vine ripened tomato record this year! (April 20th is the date to beat) As the days get longer, we are gearing up for our spring starts sale and will have a variety of vegetable and flower starts available.
This is my favorite time of year. Watching the hundreds of starts grow and knowing that they will feed our community is very rewarding.
Judie