Washington state and high-tech greenhouses that can grow organic vegetables all year round — if that isn’t a match made in heaven, what is?
Hong-Bin Yhang, general manager of Green Sun Inc., is convinced he can make it happen. This winter, he is bringing over two large 7,000 sq. ft. greenhouses from China to a lot he’s leasing at Creviston Valley Farms in Longbranch. According to Yhang, the greenhouses don’t need any external heating to keep the greenhouse warm enough to grow vegetables during the Western Washington winter. They only need the sun.
“We have a climate for him that’s pretty easy to design a greenhouse that doesn’t need external heat. He claims it will be a piece of cake here, even without the sun (during the winter),” said Mike Fowler, director of China Trade and Investment Program at World Trade Center Tacoma. “None of the greenhouses that we’ve seen (in America) can do it.”
According to tests he performed in China, Yhang’s idea is working out pretty well. During winter, when temperatures would average 14-28 degrees Fahrenheit outside, the temperature inside the greenhouse would remain cozy, going no lower than 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Yhang said he could effectively grow vegetables as low as 53 degrees Fahrenheit, so there’s even some wiggle room.