Grant money is available to a limited number of Minnesota farmers to build winter greenhouses for growing fresh produce.
The opportunity, supported by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s AGREETT program, is available through the University of Minnesota Extension’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP). RSDP seeks one specialty crop farmer in each of its five regions to partner on passive solar greenhouse research and education. Similar structures – called deep winter greenhouses – have been built in the program since 2016. To date, farmers have been able to profitably grow a variety of salad greens that are sold to direct market consumers.
“The new farm scale deep winter greenhouse design is optimal for farmers who want to expand their growing season to produce crops for their customers throughout the winter while limiting the use of fossil fuel heating. This is a great way to generate revenue for your farm in what is currently the off-season,” said Director of Programming, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships Greg Schweser.
The greenhouses absorb heat from sunlight, providing a low-cost, low-carbon winter food production system. The structure is built with a south-facing, angled glazing wall that captures heat from the sun. Heat is stored in an underground thermal mass of soil or rock and dissipates into the above-ground planting area at night. By relying primarily on solar heat, the farm-scale deep winter greenhouse enables farmers to grow crops using only minimal backup heating from delivered fuel or electric heat.
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