Read the Greenhouse, Covered and Year Round Agriculture Program Summary
Recent Programming
View/follow our new Instagram account featuring Maine greenhouse systems :
KEY PROJECT OUTCOMES:
Sustainability analysis tools and framework for businesses: Economic/Environmental
SYRA Final Report (2020); new research and data from field demonstrations
Four demonstration greenhouses developed for testing novel approaches to heating and production
Buxton, Maine. 144 x 45 ft, PV Integrated, Insulated Year Round, Soil-based production in raised beds. Features: hydronic radiant root zone heating, PCM heat storage, roof integrated solar-electric collectors.
Waldoboro, Maine. 55 x 50 ft, Solar Electric + Heater w/ Indoor Ridge/Purlin Duct Venting. Features: Insulated north wall, Powerwise Remote Monitoring System
Brunswick, Maine. Rooftop Hydroponic and aquaponic, multiuse downtown facility. Features: Storefront and test kitchen, basement aquaponics tanks and pumping system, tomato/hot house room.
New Gloucester, Maine. Sensor and supplemental lighting test site for vegetable production. Features: LED supplemental lamps for basil, lettuce, and chard, tomato, environmental sensor arrays system.
Greenhouse Producer Survey
We collaborated with the Mid Maine Greenhouse Growers Association to survey over 30 greenhouse producers around the state. Results of the survey are linked here.We plan to conduct a new round of surveys to increase participation from more producers in Winter 2021.
(Screenshot of ME SAS Greenhouse Producer Survey showing varieties of greenhouse heating and insulation systems currently in use on commercial farms)
Three pilot programs developed for statewide applied research, curriculum and workforce training on Maine farms and Higher Ed
ME SAS Twilight Farm Tours and Public Demonstrations (Images)
MESAS hosts occasional tours of commercial farms demonstrating year round production infrastructure. Images below feature system during construction and trial phases of the project.
- Pellet fuel boilers were installed at a demonstration farm with mixed success.
- 2 Kedel 140,000 Btu boilers were great but servicing and maintenence on the units was not difficult for HVAC professionals, as parts are not accesbile and currently too expensive to ship.
- Exhaust pipes for passive ground heat ducts.
- These protoype ridge vents cool a house in summer and provide a temperature boost from in winter using only small fans and ground heat.
- ME SAS’ 2018 Twilight Farm Tours brought engineers, farmers, southern Maine food distributors, Cooperative Extension and college classrooms to four year round vegetable farms that participated in our research and demonstration program. (Photo courtesy: Melissa Winne 2018)
- Higher tech systems tend to help automate utilities such as ventilation, fertility but remain too expensive for most businesses. (Photo: Eliza Bennet)
- Prototype, low cost sensor arrays help track soil and climate conditions such as DLI, relative humidity, air temp, and soil temp a varying depths – tracking soil temps is critical for radiant heat. (Photo credit: Eliza Bennet)
- Winter season Rainbow Chard grown for Rosemont Markets in Southern Maine (2019)
- A Trombe-styled south wall can be an effective passive solar heat trap and reduce carbon fuel source heating significantly. This image shows a hybrid passive heating/active PV electric solar collector.
This short video summarizes the project and its background as an applied research program on working Maine farms. (Produced by Galen Koch, 2017.)
Current News and Events:
Certified Maine Meat Pilot Program Draft Manual
The Certified Maine Meat pilot program manual is available to read and review below: Download the full manual as a pdf (or right click to open on a new page)
UMaine Convenes Tech Teams to Build Tools for Small and Diversified Farms
A report from the field: by, William Giordano In the first weekend of March, undergraduate and graduate students from approximately 30 universities participated in a “Hackathon” Hosted by the University of Maine and their America East Academic Consortium that focused...
MESAS Winter Newsletter
Click here: MESAS Winter 2019 Newsletter
Tour of Little River Flower Farm Year Round Vegetable And Flower Production Greenhouse
Little River Flower Farm will be open for tours of their year round production facility starting at 4PM Thursday November 8th, at 160 Turkey Lane in Buxton. Tours will showcase their system of organic soil based vegetable and flower production in insulated and heated...
Agriculture & IoT Showcase at University of Maine Friday, Nov. 2nd

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MAINE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE SOCIETY
MESAS is a farmer-led nonprofit organization that that developes resources to help farms in Maine achieve a triple bottom line of PROFITABLITY, HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS, and STRONG COMMUNITIES. We work for the benefit of farms across all scales of operation and production methods.