1997 Annual Report for FNC97-191
Great Circle FAr, CSA/Permaculture Demonstration Site
Summary
Lengthening the marketing season with a permaculture system can benefit both producers and consumers in the North Central region.
Objectives: 1) To create a permaculture demonstration site for use as an educational tool for current and future producers and 2) to increase the length of the growing season and the variety of foods produced. To lengthen the vegetable growing season, a greenhouse was constructed of straw bales and material that was donated and sacvenged. The greenhouse was constructed in two workshops that provided a learneing experience for the participants. To add variety, a permaculture workshop was held to design a site and plant fruit trees, asparagus, raspberries, herbs and vegetables.
Results: The most obvious result concerned the building and use of the straw bale greenhouse, which turned out to be successful. Two restaurants were added to the producer's CSA, each provided with eight shares per week of early salad mixes, spinach and green onions, as well as fall chard, kale and tomatoes. The outdoor permaculture site, when in production, will show that a significant amount of food can be produced on limited acreage.