I am not planning on growing year round, although the idea is appealing... but this is my first year as a market gardener, so I am trying to keep costs to a minimum and will not buy a greenhouse if it's not really necessary.

All I want to do is have a place where I can move my seedlings once they get too big for the grow lights inside my house, and keep them there, protected, until they can go outside after Memorial day. I just spoke to a woman at Farmtek who said most farmer's marketers are using the high tunnels with a plastic cover they can roll up and down as weather permits. My goal is to have tomatoes and peppers ready for late June. What do you all use?

One of the greatest benefits of growing under cover early in the season is that crops harvested before the peak season bring in higher prices -- that means vine-ripe tomatoes in June.

You may also want to join the listserve I have linked below. Updates to the listserve are emailed directly to the email address you provide when you sign up. There has been alot of activity the last several weeks with some of the growers.

I started with a high 20x96 high tunnel in 2001 growing tomatoes and cucumbers. It was a revelation for me although my season was ended when the plants cooked in my absense(at market) in Oct of that year. So I modified the structure by bringing in electric to include a thermostaticly controlled exhaust fan and intake louver, circulation fans, stoker coal stove and lights. Now I can plant in early March and have tomatoes in early June. It's now a greenhouse.

In 2004 I was able to purchase a used 30x96 structure and I immediately ran electric to it and installed an exhaust fan and lights. Other than a second exhaust fan given to me and an intake louver I bought at an auction, I probably will not install anything else in it. I typically don't plant in it until early April but it has convinced me to stop planting tomatoes in the field.

As far as definition goes the high tunnel would not have the electricity or heat features of a greenhouse. I've heard that some growers use that term to describe a portable structure to avoid paying higher property taxes. For me, I am not in such an area and the cheap improvements with mostly used supplies has doubled the extent of my harvest season with much improved fruit quality.

Both of these structures have the rollup sides becuuse the exhaust fans can't remove the summer heat near fast enough. I usually leave the sides in the rolled up position continuously from june thru Sept. anless bad weather threatens.

I've tried peppers with poor success mainly because of light availability when peppers are grown with vertically growing tomatoes(clipped to frame suspended stringline) and cucumbers( trained onto frame suspended plastic mesh). I might try peppers again in a future tunnel).

I have a small 15x40 bench greenhouse that I use for the potted plants- probably what you are looking for. You can erect one for under $1000 if you avoid all the frills. My frame cost $400 in 1994. I put a dubble poly plastic covering over it and haven't replaced it yet. It has a $3 used barn fan as an exhaust fan and a woodstove for heat. The benches are hand made stands covered with old doors and plywood covered with plastic. By April it is packed with plants, most of which we start in our house under lights.

Sorry for the rambling but I wanted to paint a picture of SEASON EXTENSION as it works for me. June tomatoes pay for my structure costs repeatedly each year. By mid july everybody has them.

I spoke with a gentleman at a recent farm expo, who said that he used high tunnels (cant recall if he had heat or not) but said the same thing about having the tomatoes in June being a great bonus for him! He's in the town next to mine and grows organically.

I wish you all great luck this season. PS are you all getting the crazy weather that we are up here in NH? 50's last week then 60mph winds and now arctic cold??

To start out you could try to get by with a portable propane heater for the few nights in late April and May if you plant in mid-April. Check out the "Greenhouses and garden Structures" forum for other heat conservation ideas like double layering plastic or using an inner tunnel.