HIGH TUNNEL CONFERENCE PRESENTATION NOTES (taken by Rachel Schattman)

High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
HIGH TUNNEL CONFERENCE PRESENTATION NOTES (taken by Rachel Schattman)
Tips on Tunnel Design and Construction
Ed Person, Ledgewood Farm Greenhouse Frames
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Pre-drill screw holes when installing plastic, either using wiggle wire or otherwise, because
otherwise the boards pull apart.
Double layer plastic sheds snow better, retains heat, less condensation, resists wind better.
Only benefit to single layer is that light transmits better in winter, and it’s less expensive.
When putting on roll up sides, put the plastic on straight. Keep the ends neat. Don’t have more
than 1 foot of plastic beyond the end of the house.
Door latches: Drill a hole through one of the doors, use a 3.5’ piece of steel rod (not threaded,
not aluminum) to put through the hole and bend it; on inside and outside.
Screening for large insect exclusion: You can use regular construction screen. Pricey, but worth
it. Has zero effect on airflow. Smaller screen holes = less airflow. You may have to use white poly
on the roof to compensate for heat gain.
Different materials for base boards: Zegerk (sp?) 3/16 steel. A little pricey but compared to
putting on 2x10 pine that you have to replace every few years, it may make sense.
Two doors at the end of every greenhouse, peak vents for early season airflow before you start
with roll up sides.
Roll up end walls: Good ideas but often they are not secured in a high wind. You need to make
sure it’s secured on the outside.
Jack Manix, Walker Farm, Dummerston
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The more technology you can put into a tunnel, the more money that tunnel is going to make
you (irrigation, electricity) proximity to main farm is important.
Ground prep before you put the structure up is important, especially if you won’t be able to get
in there with any equipment after you put the structure up. Chisel plow, subsoil etc.
Orientation: perpendicular to the prevailing wind. North-south, east-west doesn’t seem to
matter. What works for your farm is the key.
Shade cloth is good if it’s over 90 degrees in your greenhouse, especially if you don’t have good
venting or natural airflow. Also good for workers in July.
Wiggle wire is great. Has been able to fit 4 sheets of plastic on a single wiggle wire track.
Endwalls: design is crucial. If you can get in there with a low profile cultivator, compost
spreader, etc. it saves a lot of work. Poly Tek sells a 8’ side wall roll up and you can ask for a 4’
extension. Securing it in the winter is key. It has to be really well anchored.
Baseboards: don’t skimp and go for 2’x6’ or 2’x8’; 2’x12’ gives you added weight and security.
Insulate the base boards with 1” blue board. Cuts down on cold infiltration in the spring. Bury
the blue board around 1’ in the ground… don’t go much deeper because you don’t want to
disturb your posts. You can also use Tek Foil (metallic bubble wrap) reflects heat, but doesn’t
insulate much.
Get an alarm system for your greenhouse. $50. Run it with telephone wire. Will tell you if the
power goes out, or if it’s too hot or two cold. March sunny day it can get to 100 degrees.
p. 1
High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
Winter Growing Systems
Corie Pierce, Bread and Butter Farm, Shelburne/South Burlington
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Focuses on winter greens production, also beef, raw milk dairy, winter greens. Greens = 1/3
farm revenue by next year.
Winter covers are about 4’ high, uses electrical conduit that spans the width of the greenhouse,
you can just push back the whole cover.
House placement: look at shadow cast. Any cut down in light will hurt. Space houses far apart.
Plant in July, August, September. Timing of crops is a big deal.
Work flow throughout the year: if you do more season extension you can spread out your
income (and the amount of energy you spend working) throughout the year.
The 4 “rights” of growing in the winter: (1) plant the right crops that can freeze and thaw, freeze
and thaw (2) plant at the right time (3) harvest in the right way so you can get multiple harvests
off of one crop (4) give the plants what they need (water, light, air, nutrients).
Categories of crops: (1) Leafy cooking greens (spinach, collards, kale, chard, etc.) Double duty
(can be sold as baby or full leaf), (2) Heading greens (escarole good, head lettuce doesn’t make it
through January) (3) Root crops (you can do some stuff like carrots, turnips, radishes, cool
weather stuff.) (4) Baby leaf salad (consider size, color, growth rate, etc. 16 rows of salad mix
per 40” bed.
You want everything to be mature (for stockpiled crops) by Nov 1st, and time your plantings
based on that.
Joe Buley, Screamin’ Ridge Farm, Montpelier
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Uses double layer, anti-condensate poly on greenhouses for winter production. Does not and
has never had roll up sides and things work pretty well without them.
Endwall construction: Bolted framing with lag bolts. Realized how lucky he had been that he
hadn’t caved in the greenhouse with tomato trellising weight. Has large 3’x9’ butterfly vent
above the door on either end. Has to do a lot of running back and forth to open them manually.
Doors are almost able to totally open – this is enough ventilation.
Planting dates are difficult because if you have a warm fall, everything will bolt or over-mature.
40 feet between houses, uses a snow blower to clear between houses. Too little snow and you
lose some insulation. Allows the snow to build up to the hip board but does not allow snow to
building up on the top of the house.
Row cover inside the house is #19 Agribon. Plastic hoops placed every 5-6 feet. You will get frost
damage if your row cover touches the plants (and water condenses on it.)
Early season snowmelt goes into the greenhouse where the ground is frozen outside. Drainage
inside the greenhouse is important, so he added a perimeter drain along the inside edge with
tile drain then filled with stone. Added benefit you keep the voles out.
Winter irrigation: uses a miniwobbler as well as drip. Ran the mainline down the bed, hooks into
the driptape mainline. In September, you have to keep topsoil moist while doing transplants.
$50/house for wobbler irrigation. When he uses drip tape, he runs 4-6 tape per bed. Bury them
3-4” into the ground. Spot watering by hand is still important, but starting in Feb use drip again.
p. 2
High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
Moveable Tunnels: Design, Cropping Systems
John Wells, Rimol Greenhouses
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Rimol make a movable house on wheels called the Rolling Thunder. A standard greenhouse
frame except for the fact that it’s movable. It has an extra track and wheel system, ground posts
and struts every 8.5” that goes down 2.5”. Extra purlin. It has a skirt instead of a baseboard to
seal where normal houses have baseboards. Removable panels on the end.
Construction: (1) layout the track, (2) assemble the bows with wheels, (3) put up the first bow
and secure, (4) attach purlins as you put up bows.
Benefits: disease and pest pressure is lower. You can cultivate with a tractor in the area that you
grow. Use for multicrops that have overlapping seasons. (Not ready to rip out your tomatoes
when it’s time to plant your winter greens? No worries.)
Things that he things makes a difference in a high tunnel: extended posts for a taller sidewall,
double wirelock track at hipboard, motorized roll up sides, motorized peak shutters on a
thermostat, metal endwall framing, double sliding front door.
Mary Skovsted, Joe’s Brook Farm, St. Johnsbury
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Reasons why you may want to use a moveable high tunnel: better management of pests,
diseases. Better soil health. Plan on 3 crops a year.
Reasons why you may not want a movable tunnel: Risk integrity of tunnel structure. You may be
able to have the same effect by having 2 high tunnels or using grafted rootstock on toms. It
takes 2 people ½ a day to get it ready to move, and 4 people to actually physically move it.
Experimental crops: Carrots (Mokum – couldn’t get a better price than storage carrots so not
worth it), spring leeks (King Richard -- customers didn’t care for them), Earliest potatoes (Rose
Gold – couldn’t meet the demand), Spring beans (provider—couldn’t justify the time it took to
grow), Cherry tomatoes (black cherry, sungold, mojo, yellow pear—only at the ends, can’t rely
on the hoops to support the weight of too many tomatoes.)
Conclusion: benefits of a movable tunnel are subtle. You can achieve the same goals by other
means. It has, however, become a part of their farm’s identity and attracts customer interest.
Tunnel Production and Marketing
Pleasant Valley Farm, NY. Sandy & Paul Arnold
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Have grown in high tunnels from 1992-2012. Value is over $150,000 gross per acre with more
than $4,700 worth picked per house in a 4-5 week period in June.
Put up the first tunnel themselves (took 1yr), hired a construction crew to put up the second
tunnel (3 weeks), hired a professional high tunnel putter upper crew to do the 3rd (5 days).
Spring planting: Head lettuce: seed in Feb., plant out in late March, ready for sale in May. Full
size: NRF, Green Star, Carmona, Nancy. Miniheads: many from Johnny’s. Salinovas are great
(dense heads at 8” spacing.)
p. 3
High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
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Summer crops: Squash, beans, cukes, tomatoes, basil, onions, broccolini. Drip irrigation, straw
between rows. Cherry tomatoes. Pickling cukes produce more per square foot than slicers. (Sells
them as gourmet baby cukes.) Covercrops in summer is good because you tend to plant the
same families in the winter over and over.
Winter Production: Kale, Swiss chard ,spinach, Asian greens, lettuce mix, arugula, broccolini or
broccoli raab. December – May. Asian Greens: Toyko Bekena, etc. Try to plant everything in by
October 15th. Do a lot of transplants.
Puts Biotello down on top of the beds. Any black plastic can be used, but biotello is not yet
approved by NOP for use on organic farms. Straw mulch in aisles.
Keep peak vents open all the time to keep humidity down. If your row covers are wet in the AM,
you’ll likely see more disease. You want to have the row covers as close as possible to the crop.
Wishing Stone Farm, RI. Skip Paul
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Grow a lot of greenhouse tomatoes. Usually getting into the greenhouses in March. Having
greens at market has doubled the sales of other crops they sell. They use the tomato houses to
grow their winter greens. Grow as much outdoors in winter as they do indoors. Tries to stay
outdoors until December 5th. Uses low tunnels and Johnny’s tunnels.
One of the hardest things to do is that you have to choose a date to rip out the tomatoes. One
of the biggest challenges is getting rid of thrips. But if you solarize the house, you take
everything out and get the house up to 110 degrees for 3 or 4 days, and that helps gets the
thrips out. They you start adding compost and rototilling the beds. 12” between rows.
You should take the top off high tunnels if you can and let the rain wash the salt out of the soil.
Varieties: White kale. Using more baby Swiss chard in winter salad mix. Baby bok choy. Red bok
choy is not well colored, but red kamatzu is great.
Biocontrols for Insect Pest Management in Tunnels
Margaret Skinner, UVM, trap crops etc. for insect pests
Jake Guest, Killdeer Farm, experience with tomato and ornamental pests
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From UVM Entomology Research Lab. Research on western flower thrips: They are hard to
detect. Populations grow very, very quickly. Wide host range, transmits viruses, and resistance
to chemicals. More growers shifting over to biological control because the chemicals just don’t
work anymore.
“Bait and Switch” and how to use it in IPM for high tunnels. Fool insects by using plants that
they really like. 4 different types of plants:
(1) Indicator plants – the only purpose is to provide growers with an easy way to know if they
have the pest or not. Gerbera Daisies, marigolds, etc. You need the plant to be highly
attractive to the pest, but you don’t want them to be very susceptible to other pest species.
You don’t want the plant to be a carrier of a virus.
(2) Trap plants – example is Blue Hubbard for stripped cucumber beetle. You have to keep
looking at your trap plant because you may lead to a heavy population of pests that will
eventually make it into your crops. Grow in or around your crop, remove (destroy) trap crop
or treat to kill pests.
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High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
(3) Banker plants – use a plant to infest with a non pest insect. Use it as a way to may produce
the natural enemy of your pest. Ex: Aphid banker plants. Low cost source of natural
enemies, sustained source over a longer period of time. Will save you money, higher quality
population. Effectiveness of predator species can be compromised by commercial
production. Marigolds, wheat/oat grass, papaya, sunflowers.
(4) Guardian/Habitat Plants – attracts insects out of the crop, and on that plant is some sort of
biological control that can control the pest. Simultaneously you would have a natural enemy
that would disperse out into the crop.
Organic Disease Control / Organic Spray Efficacy in Tunnels
Sandy Arnold, Joe Buley, Skip Paul: specific diseases and results of sprays tried
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Diseases come into high tunnels because you’re not able to rotate plant as much as you can in
the field. It’s important to go in and monitor.
Ventilation helps with downy mildew on lettuce. Fans help, keep row covers dry, use Actinovate,
Regalia or Cease. Also, Double Nickel by Certis biofungicide. Keep rotating.
Winter growing is a narrower range of things to worry about. Downy Mildew in October and
November. Some powdery mildew. You have to get out there and look at stuff regularly. It will
come in really fast. Pay a lot of attention to crop spacing to keep humidity down. Don’t over
irrigate. Prevent the disease from ever getting in there. Started playing around with nematodes.
Soil Management in Tunnels
Bruce Hoskins, UMaine soil testing lab. Test options and what they mean.
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Challenges with high tunnels: Temp extremes, requires ventilation, may aggravate insect
problems, faster growth rates worsen nutrient deficiencies.
Nutrient salt buildup: plants don’t take up all the nutrients. Faster mineralization, especially
under black plastic. Unless you’re running the well dry, you are only giving the plants enough
water to grow, not to flush soils. You have nitrogen build up and carry over for anything that is
not used by the plants. You are essentially creating an irrigated desert in your high tunnel.
Soil plant/water relationships: Most nutrients are taken into the plants as water-soluble ions.
Only a small number of these ions are held in soil water at any one time. The rest are held in
reserve sites (CEC sites and in organic matter.) As nutrients in water are used by plants,
nutrients are released from the reserve site.
Types of soil tests:
Traditional soil test: extracts both the nutrients in reserve (held onto clay and organic matter)
and those that dissolved in the water between soil particles.
Saturated Media Extract (SME) Test: measures nutrients dissolved in water in the soil. Use it
when the nutrient levels in the soil have exceeded the soil’s ability to store them. This is the test
used in irrigated deserts. Often used when nutrients are applied as water soluble nutrients.
SME accounts for moisture retention and has a constant relationship to the field capacity, so
more water is used to test the same volume of clay vs. sandy soils. The test is intended to
measure water soluble nutrients when reserves have been maxed out. Also looks at soluble salt
level.
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High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
Basic High Tunnel Soil Package: regular soil test plus soluble salts (conductivity) and nitrate and
ammonium forms of N are added as these are important in the tunnel.
Long Term High Tunnel Package: Use it after 3 years, but use it sooner if you add fertility to your
soil aggressively you may use it sooner. Good for continuously covered houses. Looks at
saturated media extraction + soil organic matter.
How to approach testing system for high tunnels: When you first put up a tunnel, you need to
have all your soil nutrient reserves up there, at the upper end of optimal. After the tunnel has
been up for 2-3 years, you should still use a traditional field test, but you need to start
monitoring for salt buildup and nitrate carryover using the basic test. Then the Long Term
package is better once all the reserved are high.
Andy Jones and Becky Maden, Intervale Community Farm
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In Burlington VT, Hadley and Winooski soils, river bottom. Tunnels put up for tomatoes and
some winter greens, primarily spinach. Old approach: toms are heavy feeders, we should
provide a lot of nutrition. We have sandy soil with low levels of humus. We should add a lot of
organic matter. Therefore, add a lot of compost. Typically 3-4 yards of compost in each house
(=100yd/acre.) Was not satisfied.
New approach: get SME tests plus organic matter level (aka long term tunnel test), Vern
interprets, he tells them what to do and then they do it. Now they use less compost, which has
helped with labor. (Spreading compost is more awkward than bringing in amendments.) Yields
have increased. Nutrients are pretty easy to source locally. Avoid blended fertilizers because
your macronutrient levels will vary and want to only add what’s needed. Soluble salts should be
in a mid-range. Important to test houses if you have changes in use (putting chickens in there in
the winter, etc. can have a bug effect)
Have been doing SME for the past couple of years, less compost. Has been noticing better yields,
but more vegetation on tomatoes = more work. Dial back N if too much vegetative growth.
Note: it’s important not to load up on nutrients before growing winter greens. You will just fry
them and will probably need to reseed.
Tunnel Production and Marketing
Heron Pond Farm, NH. Andre Cantelmo
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Winter production between November 1st - February 8th. Goal is to maintain a constant supply
of greens throughout the winter. They have 8 houses, soon to be 10. There are 2 ways to supply
winter greens: (1) stock pile in fields maintain with covers (double up planting so it’s usable in
the spring and fall.) (2) Late seeding in field right before freezing. Seeds and hoops have to be in
before ground freezes. Maintain in the field with covers in the winter.
Venting: moisture is the enemy. You need to be able to get air in there when it’s snowy too –
the reason why roll up sides are challenging.
Seeding: Uses 8 beds across a house. Double up the beds on the sides so there is a 2 foot walk
way on the side. Grooms bed but the rototiller is too aggressive. They use a lawn roller, which
p. 6
High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
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helps with using a Johnny’s Harvester. Important: never seed and roll the lawn roller over it
(poor germination.) Uses the Jang seeder, also called a clean seeder.
Watering: Uses the mini wobbler. Uses really great germination, even watering. Wobblers
available through Rainflow. Drip systems work when you don’t want to overhead.
Aerating the soil: In between the plants after a first cut. You can’t go too deep and root prune,
but it helps increase soil temp and stimulates microbial activity. Plants recover sooner. Don’t
water right away.
Jericho Settlers Farm, VT. Christa Alexander
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4 houses 30’x96’. 2 houses 144’ long. 1 heated greenhouse for transplants. 1 movable house.
Low tunnels and snow: you have to tie down the ends very well. Reuse old greenhouse plastic
for low tunnels. Sometimes tunnels within tunnels. Inside plastic with ventilated plastic. It’s
important to get snow away from the house for light transmission.
Thye grow chickens in one greenhouse. They don’t have any other structure to house chickens.
Chickens add nutrients, but you can’t grow greens right afterwards. Use saturated media test.
They remove a lot of the bedding to keep nutrient levels down before the next crop.
Fall transition: Transplant fennel under tomatoes, rip out tomatoes and have fennel for
Christmas market.
Planting and Harvesting: Uses mechanical planting and harvest. 20 hours of labor for each
house (3 harvests). Uses a 16-row Sutton seeder ($8K?) and a band-saw plus conveyor type
harvester. Profit is about $8K per house. Be careful when you mechanically harvest not to cut
too deep and cut off the growing tip.
Plants new potatoes in March, they harvest in May. Good for CSA members. Also do lots of
different varieties for CSA. Escarole, etc. Can sell the most to the CSA with the least amount of
marketing.
Caterpillars and Other Tunnels
Windflower Farm, NY. Ted Blomgren
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When you get started you may have demand for the products, but you don’t necessarily have
the cash to put up big high tunnels. Caterpillar tunnels are a good compromise. The caterpillar
tunnels that they first set up have worked for 20 years. Caterpillars are 3 season structures,
they cannot take snow load.
Winter production relies on family labor, though in summer they have a bigger crew. Zone 4 in a
windy spot. 1200 CSA shareholders + 1600 other value shares (eggs, flowers, etc.) Deliver to NYC
(600 members in two drop off days.)
Caterpillar tunnels are more like low tunnels, even if they are about 6’3” tall at peak. They don’t
work well for every crop. There are many designs out there, and the designs have a lot to do
with what you’re going to put in them.
They use them for tomatoes and cut flowers. Cost per square foot to construct is $.85. Cheaper
than high tunnels, but you need to stay attentive.
Venting happens manually (by lifting up the sides). You must run them parallel to the direction
of the prevailing wind.
p. 7
High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
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PVC hoops (schedule 40 PVC is most robust.) 6 ml poly (can you 3 or 4ml poly, but you can get 5
or 6 years of use out of 6ml poly.) Can also use steel hoops.
Uses low tunnels, but not very many, for cut flowers and some squash and zukes in the field.
Sunflowers in caterpillar tunnels get to market 1 month early. Potentially a loss leader, but
generates traffic. Stock in a tunnel grows longer and is really the only way to grow it in the NE.
Works really well as a wholesale flower at a retail price.
Niche Crops in Tunnels
Raspberries, Chance McNiff, High Meadows Farm, Westminster
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Farm is owned by Howard and Lisa Prussak. Primarily a potted plant business with some field
crops. Use a 30’x90’ Harnois oval tech II. Roll up sides and roll up roof vent. Bought used for
$5,500. One layer of plastic lasts 4-5 years. (Unless you get hail.) Double inflated could last 5-6
years.
Soil Prep: Before putting tunnels up till in everything you have on the field. Used 1200 lb lime
and 10 tons of used potting soil. Used a bedmaker. 4 beds per house. Complete with drip line.
Ground cover between plants.
Raspberries: Primocane varieties, get mowed down to a nub every year. 4-6canes per foot of
row. Staking – every 8 ft, each side of the bed. Supposedly increases the yield by 50%.
Weedcontrol: regular weeding, black plastic.
Fertilizing: Daniels soluble fertilizer.
Pest issues: Spotted wing drosophila. Pick out all berries and spray Entrust. Spray again after 4
days. You can tell if a berry is infected by pulling it off the plant. If the white part on the plant is
still white, it’s a healthy berry. If it’s streaked with red and mushy it’s infected. Spider Mites:
Discoloration of leaves, bronzed dots, whole plant falls over. Green Stink Bug: looks very
different at very different stages of development.
Pros for raspberries inside the tunnel: You can always pick no matter the weather, season
extension, frost protection, preventative for airborne diseases.
Cons: Need shade cloth mid-summer. Use 50% mesh. Raspberries take up space for more
profitable crops.
Sweet Potatoes and Onions, Paul and Sandy Arnold, Pleasant Valley Farm.
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Sweet potatoes: Be careful about the speed you get things shipped (otherwise you run the risk
of having them compost en route.) Covington is a good variety. Direct planted from slips on May
25th with 9” in row, 27” between rows. They love the heat, they grow quickly. You can harvest
runner and sell them as vegetables. Planting on landscape fabric keeps runners from rooting
and reducing size of main plants. Harvest in September in order to have time to plant winter
greens. Wireworms led to compromised quality. 2000 lb., sold at $2.50/lb. In the field, you can
mow the greens, then run a bed lifter. Sweet potatoes love sand, really size up in field.
Spacing changes the size of the potatoes. 12” is normal, and makes a good average size. Plant in
a double row on the biotello. Harvest into the 20 bushel bin. Bins get put into a heated area to
cure. Curing (85-90 degrees for 5-7 days, then run it back down to 55 or 60 degrees.) Don’t cure
them for two long or they will start to sprout.
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High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
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Onions: Planted sets (Forum from Johnny’s. The larger the set, the larger the onion you get. The
larger the onion the more likely it is to bolt – mid November or Feb/March.) From seed (mid-late
august.) Dust sets or drench them before you plant. Water them in. They store well, taste like a
storage onion. Planted in mini tunnels and high tunnels in year 1. Would not recommend
working with mini tunnels for this purpose again. If you plant too close in the tunnel you won’t
get good sized onions. You also need air circulation. Reasons why you would grow onions in the
winter: Disease and pest resistance, leaves you more open space in the summer.
Ginger, Michael Kilpatrick, Kilpatrick Family Farm, NY
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Try to get it in March so it’s ready to put it in greenhouses in June. Put it in black trays with
soilless mix, put down Actinovate and then put soil on top and leave it alone. Does not like to be
wet. Put it in the “hot box” (80-85 degrees.) If you want to hold it longer in the greenhouse, you
can put it into 4’ pots. To transplant the soil needs to be 55 degrees plus. Dig a 6” trench in
greenhouse, 6” apart, rows 3-4’ apart in greenhouse. When plant, add fertility and Actinovate
again. Don’t water early in the season, other than the initial watering. Do lay 2 drip lines and
water later in the season. Late in the season (plants 4’ tall) the plants DO need a lot of water.
Hill when you start to see pink. Fertilize everytime you hill. Put down some gypsum (calcium).
Ginger is a heavy feeder, but not good at scavenging. Possible to foliar feed mid-season.
Alternatively, you can plant in buckets or bags (potentially less yield.)
Start harvesting after 4 months. Lift gently with the fork. Trip tops to 4” or less (you can dry tops
and use for tea.) Ginger has 2 week shelf life, or vacuum sealed for 4 weeks. Or freeze and sell
frozen. Baby ginger $20/# market, $15/# restaurants. 5-10# per # planted. Range, some 2-3#,
some 17.5#. You have to take care of it. Seed costs $8.50/#.
Leaf diseases: Bridging (top bends over). Fusarium (inside of root is darker, caused by excess
moisture.) Nutrition deficiency.
Contact info for buying ginger: Susan Anderson at East Branch Ginger.
[email protected]
Varieties for Tunnels
Lettuce, mesclun and mustards: Christa Alexander
Fall lettuce can hold in a cooler for 6 weeks. Plant a red leaf and green leaf. Paris Island for Green and
Red Oakleaf. HIghmowing trialed head and cutting. Bettany and Balsacheeka (sp?), Tango, etc. (Look at
High mowing trials.) Fall transplants for winter harvest. (Mini heads).
Mizuna (highest yields, over double other types.) Red giant doesn’t stay super red. Raccoon Spinach.
Use bulls blood beet greens (grow just enough to give a splash of color… more expensive seeds.) Minuna
(not a high yielder but good to add variety.) Greenwave.
Also throws in red Russian baby kale. Also sells the kale separate, not in a mix.
Head lettuce: Panise, Skyfos, Red Cross butter heads, Greenstar and New Red fire. Oscard. Red Tinge
Winter from fedco or turtle tree. Red salad bowl. 6” or 8” spacing depending on how big the head. Look
for mildew resistant varieties. Ruby streaks, golden frill (yield is low and seed is expensive.)
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High Tunnels Conference Notes – December 5th – 6th, 2012
Tokoyo makana is Corrie’s highest selling green, mix with bulls blood for a nice red and green. Lime
green, yield is impressive. You can’t go too tight with it, it grows superfast. Mild and tender like lettuce.
Carmona is a good red boston lettuce from Wild Garden Seed. Holds up well with cold and heat.
Escarole, Natasha, Dubison, etc. Take a little bit longer to mature than some head lettuce.
Spinach: Sandy Arnold
Some varieties do better with transplanting. Variety trial by High Mowing Seeds last year through the
winter. Highest producing was Pigeon F1, Space F1, Giant winter, Tyee, etc. Next was Palco, Racoon,
Renegade, Donkey, Corvair, etc. Look to the presentation on Vern’s website for the list of varieties they
used in their personal trials. Spacing makes a big difference. Direct seeded or transplants. Spinach
crown mite: Look for raggedy edges. You can’t see the mites. Top 10 varieties in our trials:
1. Raccoon (easy to pick even if it’s not one of the top producers.)
2. Space (highest for yielding.)
3. Lombardia (good yield and flavor in fall)
4. Reflect (survivor in heavy rains)
5. Samish (good yield and okay to pick, color is not as grand)
6. Giant Winter (early producer and just keeps going)
7. Emu (Early producer and okay color)
8. St Helens (fusarium indicator)
9. Samish (consistent yield and easy to pick)
10. Corvair (upright, easy to pick, nice green)
11. Donkey (dark and productive)
12. Regiment (High yields and nice green)
13. Red Kitten (Not the best yield, but pretty and heavy leaf)
14. Tyee (More savoyed ad less yield, but still good.)
From the audience: Avon from Ruffs (fast grower, upright, similar to Raccoon.) Bordeaux is another red
spinach, Red Cardinal is a good one.
Tomatoes: Jon Satz and Tim Taylor, Skip Paul
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Geronimo, Rubelski and Arbason are used by Jon.
Big Beef and Goliath in field. Only Geronimo in tunnel by Tim.
Tamamouromucho or Beo Orange as heirloom variety substitutes.
Grafting: Maxifort and Beaufort as rootstock. You have to control vegetative grown
(regenerative control) when using grafted plants.
Straight heirloom stocks: Striped German (taste delicious, breaks open.) Comment: heirlooms
don’t like water the same way other varieties, so if you have them planted in the same row you
could be in trouble. Also had trouble to SWD in only the heirloom. If you want heirloom flavor
without heirloom tomatoes, try the Tamamouromoucho or Beo orange.
Cherokee purple. Great white. Heirlooms have flavor and yield. Some of the great tasting ones
yield very low. Falencia is good, Great White is good, and Rose is good for yield and flavor.
Brandywine cracks too much. Black velvet from Harris is a semi-heirloom (hard as a rock and
delicious.) Stripped German can get too big. Persimminon from Seedway, but it peters out. 871
is nice, and you can get it untreated.
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