Ledgewood Farms 



Seedlings are Important 



Seedlings are central to Ledge- 

 wood Farm, a 40-acre greenhouse 

 and market garden operation run by 

 Ed and Sally Person in the foothills 

 of the Ossipee Range in Moultonboro, 

 New Hampshire. 



In the back section of a 28x48 pipe 

 frame poly house are four 6x12 

 benches, each with wooden side walls 

 and hoop roof frame — four miniature 

 greenhouses. Their poly coverings 

 can be rolled up or down, depending 

 on the venting needed, and on top is a 

 wooden sliding vent — two 2x6's with 

 a slots cut in them, the top piece 

 sliding to allow its openings to cor- 

 respond with those in the piece below 

 it— somewhat like an old-fashioned 

 lime spreader. 



Hot water heat comes from standard 

 baseboard fin-tubing installed un- 

 der each "greenhouse" and each of the 

 four has its own temperature control. 

 Temperatures range from 68 to 80 

 while the house enclosing them re- 

 mains around 60. A mi sting system is 

 being added. There are no artificial 

 lights — "they tend to make the seed- 

 lings stretch." 



Seeds are sewn from the first of Feb- 

 ruarythroughmid-April.Each'house" 

 holds 36 trays. Plugs and trays are 

 sewn on a weekly basis — the houses 

 aren't necessarily refilled each week, 

 but "every Monday, something is 

 seeded." 



"We're unusual at Ledgewood Farm," 

 Ed Person said, "in that we use up 

 this much greenhouse space for our 

 seedlings. But we feel germination is 

 the most important part. If your 

 seedlings are poor, youll have a bad 

 crop." 



The original farm was built to 

 house the crew building Castle in 

 the Clouds, just down the road. Five 

 hundred workers camped on the 

 edges of the fields. The front third of 

 the barn was originally two apart- 

 ments — probably for chief foremen 

 or managers. Now it is Ed and Sally's 

 home. 



Ed's father's career was in education. 

 Growing plants was a hobby and Ed's 

 parents bought the farm in 1957 as a 

 place where he could pursue this in- 

 terest when he retired. But from the 

 first, the farming was serious — there 

 was poultry then, and vegetables. 

 Ed's mother ran the farm on a day-to- 

 day basis; his father worked evenings 

 and weekends. The money earned 

 was an important part of the family 

 income. Two glass houses were 

 boughtCin 1960 and 62) and moved up 

 from Massachusetts for bedding 

 plant production. They are still in 

 use. And Ed's parents still help out, 

 coming up from Florida each March 

 to their house across the road. 



Ed followed hi s father's career path- 

 teaching high school science in 

 Plymouth, working the farm after 

 work. After four years of this, he saw 

 that the farm was growing and that 

 he couldn't do both well. The decision 

 was made to farm full-time. His first 

 task was to expand the summer sea- 

 son into late spring and early fall and, 

 still within this time frame, increase 

 production enough to bring in a rea- 

 sonableyearlyincome. Hesucceeded: 

 today, along with Ed and his parents, 

 his sister and brother-in-law are able 

 to work on the farm too. 

 Ledgewood Farm hits a very specific 

 market window — the summer Lakes 

 Region tourist trade. There are two 



stands — one at the farm and one on 

 Moultonboro Neck, nine miles away. 

 The season is short and it's important 

 that by June first, these are stocked 

 with home-grown vegetables, bed- 

 ding plants, and flowers. 



Eight new houses, ranging in size 

 from 14x48 to 28x96, have been built. 

 All are pipe frame poly houses. (Ed 

 experiments with different cover- 

 ings within the polyethylene lines, 

 but not anything else.) There are six 

 walk-in tunnel houses as well. 

 The houses are simple. The floors are 

 dirt; the benches, often wood and wire 

 frames set on concrete blocks. Be- 

 cause they are empty from October 

 until February, Ed sees no point in 

 building more expensive structures. 



There is no specific potting area. The 

 pots, the seedlings, the mix (Fafard 

 #2) is brought to the house where the 

 plants will be grown; a portable table 

 is set up, and the potting is done 

 right there. Space is saved, as well as 

 carrying time. In one of the longer 

 (28x 96) houses, Ed converted a stan- 

 dard overhead monorail track into a 

 circular system that conveys a three- 

 shelf cart that can carry 24 trays to 

 any spot along the central aisle. 

 A house was built this year— a 28x60 

 double poly with a sand floor and — 

 for the first time— rolling benches. 

 ("We'll increase our growing space by 

 25%.°) The end walls are 7/16 wafer 

 board painted white. Because the 

 house won't be used until mid-Feb- 

 ruary, the light loss isn't critical. 

 Each house is used for a specific 

 crop— or for crops that are compati- 

 ble. 'This way," Ed says, "the cropcan 



April/May 1991 21 



