Know Before You Grow
Adding weeks to either end of your growing season can mean attaining a premium for having products available well before (or long after) other local growers. But the structures that make this possible–unheated plastic-covered “high tunnels” or “hoop houses”--can cost a lot of money, and they bring special management considerations that need to be understood in order to be profitable additions to your farm.
Target Audience
All levels: You will get the most from this course if you already have some experience successfully growing vegetables outdoors and are exploring high tunnels as a way to expand the season or improve plant quality. Information will be focused on using high tunnels in colder climates (US Climate Zones
4-6), but can be adapted to other growing regions. Farmers with no outdoor production experience are also welcome to join.
Course Objectives
By the end of this course growers will have the knowledge to do the following:
- Complete a basic site assessment and know when to bring in experts to discuss site limitations
- Make decisions to improve or maintain their soil health and fertility in the tunnel
- Select an appropriate high tunnel structure for your site, climate, and production needs
- Select and grow appropriate cold and/or warm season crops for the tunnel
- Employ pest control and trouble-shooting strategies for high tunnels
- Decide if high tunnels make economic, environmental, and social sense on the farm
Webinars
The bulk of the course happens on your own time, with discussions, readings, and assignments in Teachable, our virtual classroom. To add to the experience, webinars will be woven into the online interface of the course to allow you to meet on a weekly basis to learn from outside presenters, ask questions, and collaborate with other participants and the instructor to address your farm issues in real time. If you miss one, they are always recorded and posted for later viewing.
Webinar Schedule
Your Instructor
Rich Woodbridge is the co-owner and operator of McCollum Orchards & Gardens, a diversified fruit, vegetable and flower farm in the city of Lockport, NY that has been family owned since 1827. He is also the Agricultural Business Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County. Rich developed and runs their Beginning Farmer Training Program, a popular hands-on training program to help beginning and aspiring farmers achieve their farming goals. He currently serves as a regional navigator for Farmland for a New Generation through American Farmland Trust.
Students Testimonials
“The material covered everything I needed to know for both winter and summer growing. Knowing which crops grow the best during these seasons will help me maximize my profits.”
“This course was just what I needed heading into my first season with a high tunnel. Pretty sure I can make enough in one growing season to pay it off and generate profit after that.”
“The course was very helpful in thinking about construction of our tunnels and gave us lots of ideas of what to grow inside them and hopefully how to have success with our maintenance and harvest."