Saten recollects the successful, and less successful, experiments in our farming practices in Oregon (Part 3)
I will do a story on the evolution of our greenhouses. We began at Surdas with a rudimentary south-facing passive solar greenhouse that was carved out of the hillside above the office trailer and faced towards the future location of the wash house.
We lined the front of the space inside with 55 gallon drums painted black and then put a double-walled plastic roof on top. The drums and the earth back wall were designed to capture the heat during the day and moderate the cold night temperatures. All the raised beds were built out of plywood.
This definitely gave us some season extension, but was quickly way too tiny. We then moved into the Quonset hut half-curve designs. These were free-standing and much quicker to erect but required a lot of manual venting and hands-on management to maintain the right environment inside. We made them work exceptionally well though, and they were very productive.
The picture above shows the big vents and fans at each end that were key to their success.
Bringing in the soil.
Grow lights were installed over each bed. Then they were stocked by beautiful sannyasin growers.
Then came the technological marvel which we built down on the flat. It had so much more capacity and was primarily designed to just raise the transplants we needed to get a jump start on the season.
The building had sensors that would allow automatic venting; the window vents opened on hydraulic pistons all by themselves to maintain the correct inside temperatures. The beds and pathways were all concrete, the skin a solid double-walled plastic laminate. And we also had a strong artificial heat component.
In the shot below you can see the back top and bottom vents in action…
The system we used to grow the plants was called a Speedling production system. The trays were all designed to specific depths according to the rooting depth of the plants. They were made from thick polystyrene to further insulate the plants and to make the job easier when the babies were ready to be planted.
The Speedling trays were planted with a matched air seeder which could singulate the seed and match it to the tray design. We put the trays on moveable wooden frames so that we could plant into the beds also other kinds of seedlings.
Once the seedlings were ready to be planted, they were first placed outside in rustic, but effective, cold frames whose purpose was to harden off the seedlings under careful, watchful eyes before they were planted out into the fields.
From there they went for a ride on the transplanter for their final home:
We also grew lots of wheatgrass and peas:
We used to get bus loads of our lovers from the office down during the festivals (and other times) to make sure we could get the harvest off the farm. It was always a joy to see how much they loved spending a day down in the soil, the plants and the sunshine… The farm relied heavily on everyone helping out at these crunch times.
Navina found these two photos and writes, “These are coldframes, but I love how it shows the vast scope of the operation.”
These notes were first published as Facebook posts in a closed group for Ranch Residents. They are being re-published in Osho News with Saten’s permission. Edited by Osho News and curated by Navona. Photos: all shots in this article are by the author, except the last two.
Related articles
- Boys (and girls) love machines! – In Part 2 of his notes, Saten reminisces on the faithful machines used for all farming chores
- Dryland Farming in Oregon – Experiments and innovative ideas thanks to brilliant minds coming together in Dadu farming on the Ranch. Part 1 of Saten’s notes
- Alfa-Alfa / The Enlightenment Saga – Two chapters from Arjava’s memoir, Still… Here and Now: Growing Wings in Osho’s Garden, this time from the Oregon era
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