We recently completed a project aimed at improving the ability of Vermont vegetable farms to store crops such as beets, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onions, squash and sweet potatoes, all of which have unmet demand in late winter when local supplies run out. The physiology of these crops allows them to be stored for many months …
Continue reading “Final Report – Increasing Supply and Quality of Local Storage Vegetables”
In colder climates winter storage crops have been stored in passive root cellars for centuries, striking the balance between outside conditions and storage conditions. Although modern refrigeration systems are generally used for large scale, longer-term storage of these crops some enterprises seek lower cost and high energy efficiency options. Outside air exchange systems use an …
I recently built a humidifier I think others might find useful. This could be useful for cheese aging, meat curing, and storage of winter crops all of which require maintaining specific temperature and humidity. The details are available on the Tool Wiki at FarmHack. Take a look, and let me know if you find ways …
UVM Extension with support from the USDA’s Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program will offer five one-day workshops on crop storage throughout Vermont this fall. Workshops will focus on long-term storage of crops for sale through the winter and into early spring, but will be relevant to many agricultural and food storage needs. Topics …
1944 US Office of Education video on refrigeration principles. Excellent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XADVDjzFW-4&feature=endscreen
A downloadable PDF of this blog post is available here. Demand for on-farm cold storage of produce is increasing as local markets for these goods expand. Many local producers are asking about CoolBots™, a tool that works with a window air-conditioner to make a cooler out of an insulated space. This article collects information about CoolBots …
As I’ve mentioned in several other posts, I think the continual monitoring of conditions in greenhouses and food storage spaces is incredibly important for quality and safety and insightful for any operation. There is a really clever design for a do-it-yourself temperature monitoring system called Fido, on the FarmHack site. It uses an Arduino control …
Continue reading “FIDO – A Do-it-yourself Temperature Monitor with Text Message Alerts”
I had the pleasure of joining the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Grower’s Association yesterday for their annual meeting. This event is packed with presentations ranging from the latest pests to farmer outreach in distant lands. My talk was on crop storage, and it was a great chance to summarize my recent work in this area. …
As an engineer, I love data. It turns out farmers do also. At least, Pete Johnson and Isaac Jacobs at Pete’s Greens in Craftsbury, VT do. “Is it working yet?” Isaac asks as I put the finishing touches on the remote data monitoring system we have been installing in the four zone drive-in cooler. “Just …
Continue reading “Remote Data Monitoring – 1st Install at Pete’s Greens”
Thanks to all of those who took the time to respond to the food storage survey several weeks back. The information you provided has been really helpful. A clear desire for additional programming in this area was expressed, and I’ll be working to develop that. Here are the survey result highlights: 82% of respondents expressed …
