A22-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 13, 2003
The DeVault farm backyard has two production high
tunnels. The largest one is uncovered because it is still
under construction. All photos by George DeVault
Farming On The Edge
(Continued from Page A 1) beans and annual flowers in the
, field. Inside our high tunnels, the
This March, the ground cov- cro p S were n i ce an( j dry. They
ered by the thin plastic skin of were so d in fact that while it
our high tunnels seemed like it raining outside , we were wa .
had been magically moved to . . . r, ,
Georgia. tenng ( We use garden
We would have been nearly J 1 ® 868 * drip irrigation, mini-sprin
wiped out by the lousy weather klers, and overhead sprinklers, as
this season without our high tun- needed.)
nels. True, they couldn’t replace Don’t let the name “high tun
the sun during a May and June nel” throw you. That’s just the
that were cloudier and
rainier than Seattle.
But the high tunnels
did protect our early
tomatoes, peppers,
basil, and flowers from
pounding rains, high
winds, cold snaps, and
deer that get hungrier
and bolder every year
as more house farms
spring up on the edges
of farm country.
Let the neighbor try
to sell his flagpole lots
for six-figure price
tags. As far as we’re
concerned, the “high
est and best use” for
farmland in an area of
rising land values and
real estate taxes is to
build more high tun
nels (and start more
producer-only farm
ers’ markets).
We have three high
tunnels. Each is 96
feet long. Widths are
14, 21, and 30 feet. To
gether, they total only
6,240 square feet
under cover. That’s
barely one-seventh of
an acre. Subtract the
amount of space nec
essary for walkways,
and usable growing
space shrinks to
maybe 5,000 square
feet
But when cropped
intensively (year
round, if you want)
and planted only to
high-value crops, that
sliver of ground earns
about $1 per square
foot. Not just once or
twice per season, but
three or more times a
year. Compare that to
traditional field crops
and you’re looking at
the cash equivalent of
hundreds of acres of
some grains and other
commodities.
High tunnels make
sense economically.
Our first high tunnel,
a quonset-style Hoop
house, cost about
$l,OOO in 1995. It more
than paid for itself
twice the very first
season.
When the monsoons
came early this sum
mer, four inches of
running water
drowned our*Vnhf»V
latest name for something that
has been with us for more than
half a century. Earlier
generations called them cold
frames, fieldhouses, hoophouses,
or just plastic greenhouses.
High tunnels are not a new or
experimental technology. Build
ing and managing one is not
rocket science, either.
The late Emery Myers Em
mert, a professor of horticulture
at the University of Kentucky,
built his first plastic-covered
greenhouse in 1949. It was the
granddaddy of today’s high tun
nels. Emmert pioneered unheated
winter production in high tunnels
using an inner layer of plastic
held about one foot above the soil
by wire hoops. His ideas caught
on quickly in Asia and Europe,
but that’s another story.
By the mid-1960s in North
America, plastic covered green
houses had been researched in
more than 16 states and at least
one Canadian province.
“Greenhouses covered with
plastic film can be used to grow
any crops that are currently
grown in glass greenhouses,”
University of Illinois Extension
reported in 1965 in a booklet ti
tled “Plastic Greenhouses” (Cir
cular 905). “Because of low cost,
plastic greenhouses have distinct
advantages for seasonal use such
as the growing of spring bedding
plants or summer flower crops.
Think a high tunnel can’t hold the weight of snow?
Think again and it can be warm enough inside for
crops to grow during cold season, too. This was a heavy
April coating.
The structure can remain unheat
ed and unused during the severe
winter months.”
That seems a terrible waste of
space to us. So, when we’re not at
least overwintering crops in our
high tunnels, which is rare, we
use them to store machinery, sup
plies, dry firewood, or even graze
chickens. The chickens eat up all
of the bugs hiding out there.
We bought our two larger high
tunnels from Ed Person of Ledge
wood Farm in Moultonboro, NH.,
after seeing his structures in use
on other farms around the state.
Person began bending pipe in
1967 when his old wooden green
houses needed replacement.
“Our search for a high quality
frame at a reasonable price was
not successful. The decision was
made to purchase a few pieces of
equipment, apply some Yankee
ihgenuity, and construct our own
frames,” Person explained in his
greenhouse brochure. “The idea
worked out well and we built a
(Turn to Page A 23)
John Deere Dealers
See one of these dealers
for a demonstration
MARYLAND
Hagerstown
Carlyle & Martin Inc
Whiteford
Deer Creek Equipment. Inc
NEW JERSEY
Elmer
Pole Tavern Equipment Sales
NEW YORK
Auburn
O’Hara Machinery. Inc
PENNSYLVANIA
Adimstown
Adamslown Equipment Inc'
Allentown
Lehigh Ag Equipment Inc
Carlisle
Gutshalls Inc
Centre Hall
Ounkle & Gneb, Inc
Fairmount City
Miller Equipment Co
Halifax
Valley Ag & Turf, L L C
Hanover
Finch Services Inc
Lancaster
Landis Bros, Inc
Lebanon
Landis Bros. Inc
Mansfield
Maple Mountain Equipment
Martinsburg
Wmeland Equipment, Inc
Mercersburg
Smith's Implements Inc
Mill Hall
Dunkle & Gneb, Inc
New Alexandria
Lone Maple
Sales 4 Service, Inc
Oakland Mills
Lost Creek Implement Inc
Oley
Pikeville Equipment Inc
Oxford
Deer Creek Equipment, Inc
Somerset
Scheffel Equipment Co
Towanda
S PE, Inc
Tunkhannock
Bartron Supply, Inc
Uniontown
Maple Mountain Equipment
Watson
Valley Ag & Turf, L L C
VIRGINIA
Rocky Mount
Anderson Tractor & Equip, Inc
John Deere
SolW Stab* Still John D«ir«