High Tunnel Winter Vegetable Production Workshop to be Held Saturday, March 5, in Boulder

Two Colorado State University researchers will conduct a workshop on organic vegetable production during the winter months. Frank Stonaker, director of CSU’s Specialty Crops Program, and research assistant Dan Goldhamer will offer the presentation from 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, March 5, at Cure Organic Farm, 7416 Valmont Road, Boulder.

The presentation will include details on organic winter vegetable production in high tunnels. High tunnels, also known as hoop houses, are a low-cost, easy-to-build type of greenhouse which provides a protected environment to significantly extend the growing and harvest season of a farming operation. With the proper selection of hardy crops, additional protection from floating row covers and successive plantings, year-round harvests are possible.

Winter production offers increased profitability due to low initial investment while keeping workers employed on the farm throughout the winter months and maintaining a local market presence.

Specifically, this field day will deal with previous research conducted at CSU as well as initial results from a current Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education funded research project dealing with winter vegetable production in high tunnels throughout Colorado.

The presentation will focus on the production of five crops: carrots, mache, spinach, radish and lettuce. In addition, the presentation will address other issues such as design considerations and management strategies. A tour of Cure Organic Farm will show participants the year-round uses of high tunnels. A question-and-answer session with Stonaker and current organic producers who are using high tunnels for winter vegetable production will follow the tour. RSVPs are not required.

For more information, contact Frank Stonaker at (970) 491-7068, (970) 420-2972 or Frank.Stonaker@colostate.edu or Dan Goldhamer at (413) 687-8050 or dgoldhamer@gmail.com.

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