Available this week we have beautiful English Cucumbers from Julie Barham of Barham Farms in Zebulon, NC. Julie operates a series of greenhouses south of Zebulon, where she grows year-round. Julie has experimented with a variety of crops in her greenhouses, but has recently focused on cucumbers. She likes cucumbers because they grow quickly and there aren't many other farmers growing year-round cucumbers in our area. Also, unlike other popular greenhouse crops, like tomatoes, cucumbers are self-pollinating, so they do not require maintaining a bee population for pollination.

Inside the greenhouses, you can find hundreds of cucumber plants at varying stages of growth. Each cucumber plant is maintained in a soil substitute and connected to drip line and water recovery system. The drip line is connected to tanks of phosphate and organic fertilizer where Julie can easily control the level of nutrients that her crops receive. Each greenhouse has it's own drip line system, so she can also control nutrient levels based on the stage of growth each greenhouse is in. The drip line sprays a controlled amount of water into the soil substitute where the cucumber plants are rooted. Soil substitutes are often used in potted greenhouse plants because they stay looser in the pot allowing for faster root growth, free flow of air, and good drainage. As the fertilized water filters through the soil substitute, the plant roots are able to suck up what they need. The excess water then filters down to the base of the plant, where it drains into a PVC pipe and is pumped back into the irrigation system for reuse.

While bees are not needed in the greenhouses for pollination, Julie does maintain a population of beneficial insects to help keep pests under control. The beneficial insects are natural predators to common greenhouse pests such as aphids, and are very helpful to maintain in a controlled greenhouse environment. Julie also employs a low tech, but effective system of hanging fly paper strips throughout the greenhouses. The hanging strips attract flying pests, and serve as additional pest control. The two techniques allow Julie to maintain her greenhouses without the use of any pesticides.

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