Extend Your Season!

Season Extension in the Midwest was created as a place for farmers to go and learn about the many new and exciting growing opportunities in season extension.

You will find everything from articles by the leading names in organics and high tunnel growers to the latest events, conferences and workshops along with pictures and stories about farmers who are currently using season extension in their growing operation.

If you have any resources, ideas, links or pictures to add and share, please do not hesitate to contact us at angie@mosesorganic.org

This website was made possible through funding from Sow the Seeds / Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, in cooperation with Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) and Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA).


News and Upcoming Events

April 2013 - New Program - The Minnesota High Tunnel Network & Diease Survey
A recent grant awarded to University of Minnesota by the USDA through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, now allows the state’s high tunnel growers to receive accurate diagnosis of diseases of tomato, pepper, eggplant and related plants at a highly discounted price. Growers can submit their samples during the 2013 and 2014 growing seasons to the University of Minnesota’s Plant Disease Clinic at a price of only $20/sample (normally $100). Click here to learn more.

April 2013 - New Collection of How-To Resources from SARE
Season Extension Topic Rooms are a one-stop collection of dozens of guidebooks, curricula, webinars, bulletins and other how-to materials to help farmers, educators and researchers across the country implement effective season extension strategies. Check them out here.

February 2013 - Minnesota High Tunnel Conference - held in Brainerd, Minnesota. Click here for more details.

October 2012 - Iowa State University research - high tunnel study on season extension in lettuce by Assistant Professor Ajay Nair in the Department of Horticulture. Watch these videos to learn more about his research! Videos: Lettuce high tunnel study & Lettuce season extension with row covers

October 2012 - Hennepin High Tunnel Workshop
Click here for more details.

July 2012 - New Video on Season Extension from the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension
Becky Sideman from UNH Cooperative Extension shows how to extend a growing season in New Hampshire. Click here to watch the video.

April 2012 - New Resources for Rainwater Catchment Systems for High Tunnel Irrigation
A potential problem for Iowa fruit and vegetable growers can be turned into a liquid asset, thanks to a one-year research project conducted by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Click here to see full news release.

March 2012 - News Release - Thinking about High Tunnels?
Growers May Be Eligible for Planning and Financial Assistance through NRCS. Click here to download the news release.

Revised High Tunnel Production Manual for Commercial Growers
The 2010 Revised Edition of the manual is now available on the UM High Tunnels website. Hard copies are not available at this time. Information about availability of hard copies will be updated on the site. Also, UM High Tunnels is on Facebook. Follow us for up to date information, events and discussions about high tunnels.

Short video on USDA High Tunnels with Dep. Sec. Merrigan and White House Chef Sam Kass

Additional online resources available to compliment past high tunnel pest management webinar series and cover crops webinar series from the Great Lakes Vegetable Work Group website. Plus check out this article from the U of M extension site,"Cover Cropping to Suppress Weeds in Northeast US Farming Systems."

November 2010 - Hoophouses Increase Farm Income
USDA Farm Blog - "...Hoophouses just might be the answer to extending the growing season and increasing growers’ incomes. With funding from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), professors at Michigan State University (MSU) are studying hoophouses and teaching farmers to use them to extend the farming season...more


    

    

Learn more about hoophouse construction on The Hoophouse Blog by Adam Montri.

Read further description of the types of eligible hoophouses in this
NRCS Fact Sheet (PDF, 108 kb).