Piney Creek farmer is lauded for efforts to "float" his crops By ROBBY LUCKE Staff A Piney Creek farmer has gained statewide attention for growing his crops in a non-traditional way. Bill Osborne was a dairy and tobacco farmer. "The market kept going on tobacco; it kept expanding," he said. He got out of the dairy business about five years ago and started trying different ways of growing his tobacco. Cooperative Extension Agent Jerry Washington helped Osborne buy some plugs from Florida. Osborne transferred them to trays and grew them in outdoor float beds. Then Osborne built greenhouses and started seeding tobacco directly and growing it in indoor float beds. "Tobacco can grow better in a controlled environment," he said. Afterward he became the first to grow cabbage that way. "Cabbage is real easy to grow in a greenhouse....cabbage is tougher (sturdier) than tobacco," said Osborne. He said while tobacco takes seven to eight days to germinate, cabbage's period is only two days. "It comes the quickest of anything we've grown."

GROWING - Bill Osborne (left) and his employee, David Brown, look over a bed of seedlings in a greenhouse on Osborne's Piney Creek farm.

The method minimizes wilting. "They live a lot better when they're planted like this," Osborne said. "The crop stays more uniform, more even. They all germinate at the same time."

He uses a "seeder" machine to increase efficiency. First, trays are placed underneath one part of the machine to fill with dirt. Then a Dibble wheel makes a diamond-shaped indention in each compartment to center the seed. "When it comes out, it's ready to set on the water," he said.

David Brown, who works with Osborne, said what took two weeks when loaded by hand can be done in one day.

A greenhouse load requires 12,000 to 14,000 gallons of water. The tobacco plants spend about 55 days in the greenhouse, cabbage 40 days. Osborne and his crew started seeding those crops last week. He added strawberries to his line-up to utilize his hydroponics facilities later in the year. Strawberry seedings start in mid-August, with those plants spending 30 days in the greenhouse.

Osborne said state agriculture officials say a better quality strawberry plant is produced at about 3,000 feet than at lower altitudes. The mountain climate helps prevent some diseases seen elsewhere, he said. "Guys off the mountain in Surry County buy strawberries."

Osborne's approach has its particular difficulties. "Gas prices are eating us up," he said. Germination requires temperatures of at least 75 degrees.

In addition, he said, "The tobacco business is changing. Everybody's going to contracting (rather than selling through auction houses)."
 
 

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