Late in 2022, we finally finished building the “high tunnel” at the farm. The HT looks like a greenhouse but differs in several significant ways. The first is that the HT structure is unheated and uses solar radiation only to provide cold protection during the winter. Another difference is that plants are direct planted into the soil rather than using pots or other containers and some type of manufactured planting medium. This gives the resulting harvest more a “home grown” flavor than you’d expect in a typical greenhouse operation. Finally, roll-up doors and a shade cover are employed to manage temperatures as we transition from winter to spring and summer. The main downside of the HT is that during the coldest months, the structure is unheated and suceptible to freezing. That said, there are no electric bills to worry about either.
So, you still have to plant with the seasons in a HT operation. The protection provided by the HT simply allows an expansion of seasons where the farmer can plant spring veggies about 1 to 1.5 months earlier than would be possible in an outdoor environment. This means the planting date for tomatoes gets pushed back to February 15 rather than April 1 and harvest can be realized by mid-may. This allows the farmer to sell produce when prices are still a bit higher than you might see during the middle of the production season.
This is the second season of tomatoes in the HT. The first year was a failure due to a maintenance issue at the critical fruit producing time. Unfortunately, I depended on a subcontractor to care for the plants during a critical time and they didn’t follow instructions. We harvested around 200 lbs of tomatoes. This was great for personal use but not enough to sell. This year, the plants were better cared for but we still made some basic mistakes. As of this writing, we’ve harvested around 600 lbs of beautiful, delicious tomatoes. We got 2$ a lb. initially but the price dropped quickly as our havest was late. The nursery delivered the plants late which pushed the planting until the 2nd week of March – a month late. The subcontractor installed the shade cloth too early which slowed the growth of the tomatoes, promoted leaf growth and limited fruit production. They also failed to follow simple instructions on other matters that hindered full production. A cool, rainy spring didn’t help matters. That said, it was a great 2 weeks of harvesting, processing and eating tomatoes. Fresh tomato juice was amazing but not amazing as the BLT’s.
BLST
Tomato & beet juice
This is actually a bacon, lettuce, spinach and tomato sandwich. I tried “Miracle Whip Lite” as a mayo subsitute. I was unsure at first but found that the lo-cal spread is quite good and keeps the sandwich below 5oo kcal. Fresh beets from a friends garden go well with fresh tom juice.
Weighed for an order
Below, notice that tomatoes are picked when starting to turn pink and allowed to ripen on the counter inside the farm kitchen. At left – The tomatoes are then weighed for customer orders or for processing into the freezer for soup, sauce or salsa.
Below, I brought 75 lbs back to Albuquerque to use over the next month. We should be enjoying BSLT’s through mid July. I won’t eat one with storebought tomatoes – It’s just not right.
Tomatoes 24
Processed tomatoes
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