TOMATOES IN THE SNOW

GROWER’S LOG, 11.12.13 The addition of a high tunnel to an organic farming operation has innumerable financial benefits ranging from season extension of marketable crops to ease of production and labor costs. Here at The Dahlia Farm however, what we find most exciting is the complete juxtaposition of the normal farming curve. This year’s addition of our passive solar temporary building has enabled us to have summer bouquets of May peonies (hydra-cooled) and August dahlias side by side – a first in 50 years for us! It has also given us spring gladiolas, near-winter lettuce and Halloween dahlias. The coup-de-grâce however is this morning’s harvest: tomatoes in the snow! It is indeed financially beneficial to add at least one of these greenhouse structures to nearly any farming operation, but it is a spiritual trompe to any seasoned grower to finally have a laugh at nature… even if for just an hour.