A note about the grits: last week I listed the wrong price. They are actually $8 per bag, not $6. Wanted you to know why the price jumped up this week!
We are adding more tunnels to the farm, this time much smaller versions of what we've built before. These mini tunnels are called "Caterpillar Tunnels." Like the 3 other ones we've built in recent years, they are not heated other than by the sun. Simply having a single layer of plastic allows the ground to absorb all the heat from a sunny day. Even if its cold outside, these tunnels will be nice and toasty on a sunny day, so the plants grow much faster. These structures allow us to grow longer through the winter and get an earlier start in the spring, which makes a big difference in our farm's economic sustainability. Having the cover also keeps rain off the crops, which is extremely helpful for mitigating diseases, esp. in the summer when rainfall can be heavy and cause diseases to spread on tomatoes and pepper foliage.
We've been able to fund these through a 0% interest loan from an organization called Kiva. Several of you contributed and we thank you so much! We pay the loan back within 3 years. Small businesses all over the world get funded through Kiva, and its pretty amazing that this non profit allows businesses to pay back with NO INTEREST! We got our first Kiva loan 3 years ago when we built our greenhouse, and now very excited to capitalize on this opportunity again. If you or someone you know is looking to start up a small business and needs a loan less than $10,000, tell them about Kiva!! Its all online....www.kiva.org
