Growing in Wyoming means getting every last bit out of the growing season that you possibly can. We use high tunnels to both extend our growing season and help protect our in-ground plants. These are where we grow most of our great seasonal produce like tomatoes, peppers, squash and watermelon.
What is a High Tunnel?
A High Tunnel, or hoop house, is similar to a greenhouse in many ways, although it typically only helps extend the growing season instead of allowing year-round growing like a greenhouse. High Tunnels are typically unheated and the plants are usually grown directly in the ground, as opposed to in some form of containment.
Even without heating or the same insulation as greenhouses, High Tunnels do a good job of trapping heat to keep your plants warm. This means we can plant earlier and harvest later, thereby extending our growing season.
Why use a High Tunnel?
Another great question! As we’ve mentioned, we live in Wyoming. Our beautiful state is great for many things – but making it easy to grow plants is not one of them. There’s a (relatively) short growing season, plus the usual elements that farmers worry about no matter where they are.
As mentioned above, High Tunnels are a great season extender so we can get more produce out of a growing season. Additionally, they help protect our crop from elements like wind and hail storms.