n Rogowski farm uses low-tech to expand growing season

Pine Island — What would you say if someone offered you a fresh-picked spinach salad right here in Warwick - in February? Not spinach trucked in from California, but fresh spinach grown in Pine Island and picked in the middle of winter. Cheryl Rogowski, a MacArthur Foundation fellow and longtime advocate for the poor, seniors and migrant workers, is growing lettuce, kale and collards and, yes, spinach, on her farm in Pine Island year round. “We rely on the sun to provide warmth to our unheated greenhouses,” said Rogowski. The large unheated greenhouse is called a tunnel; the smaller ones are called caterpillars. They are nothing more than sheets of plastic covering the plants. The caterpillars are literally PVC pipe stuck in the ground and covered with plastic. In all, Rogowski has 5,500 square feet of indoor growing area where she has been growing vegetables throughout this winter and the past four. Rogowski first heard of four season farming from a Maine farmer named Eliot Coleman at a conference about six years ago. Coleman, who has written several books on farming throughout the year, raises crops year-round in his home state of Maine. Rogowski was intrigued by his theories. Vegetable blankets “Farming the backside of winter really intrigued me,” said Rogowski, who noted that the normal growing season here in southern New York usually runs from March until September. “I never realized how little sunlight there is in winter until you rely on the sunlight to provide warmth to the crops. It is really a slow growth pattern this year. We use vegetable blankets to protect them from frost. “But this is great for the environment,” she added. “No machinery is used. Everything is hand planted and harvested. It’s so low tech it’s scary. It is energy efficient. And it is really great to have a salad green year round. It’s so wonderful to walk in there and come out with a salad.” Rogowski said she did lose some plantings early on due to freezing. But, she added, it is important to plant early enough so that the plants grow strong enough to handle the cold weather. And some produce, like spinach, thrive in the colder weather. “Their sugars come out in the cold. It’s a natural defense mechanism,” she said. “It’s doing what it is supposed to do. And it tastes great.” Rogowski established the first low-income Community Supported Agriculture program in all of New York State in 1998. In 2001 she started the “Senior Share of the Harvest” program where seniors pay a fee and receive fresh vegetables throughout the growing seasons. ‘Back to our roots’ Rogowski is also a big advocate of buying locally grown produce. Not only is it better for the environment—it takes much less energy getting Pine Island-grown produce to the Farmer’s Market than it does California-grown produce to the supermarket—but the products are fresher and taste better. “We are going back to our roots,” said Rogowski. “We grow heirloom crops, nothing that has been genetically altered.” Heirloom crops are vintage varieties which have been preserved by passing seed from generation to generation, according to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture Web site. Varieties are usually 75 years old or older and are chosen more for their taste and tenderness. Conversely, hybrids are grown for uniformity in size, shape, and durability in shipping. While Rogowski is growing her crops throughout the year, she still finds time to spread her knowledge throughout the country. She is the keynote speaker this weekend at the Michigan statewide organic conference where she plans to talk about her year-round farming, amongst other topics. The Rogowski farm is located at 327 Glenwood Road in Pine Island. The farm stand is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Beginning in March or April, it will be open seven days a week.