Seasonal high tunnels support conservation and new farmers

Young farmers Katie Doyle Smith and Paul Swegel of Pork Hill Farm supply vegetables to Carroll County, New Hampshire, where the growing season is short but the demand for local, organic produce continues to grow. In order to address this challenge, Paul and Katie applied for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)’s Seasonal High Tunnel Initiative through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

The program provided cost-share funding for a high tunnel, where Katie and Paul produced greens, such as kale and bok choy, well into February for a multi-farm Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). The high tunnel enabled them to tap into markets that would have otherwise been out of reach.

“It is amazing that 300 tomato plants in the high tunnel can produce the same yield as the 1,200 tomato plants growing outside,” Katie explained. “Growing in the high tunnel takes up less space by growing vertically, helps regulate water usage, and we can produce more marketable tomatoes for essential wholesale markets."

Click here to read more about the program at the blog of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, sustainableagriculture.net