I’ve been thinking about a greenhouse. Our farm never had a greenhouse. We were a dairy farm. For the most part, the goal was milk. Yet, there were times when vegetables were a strong cash crop for the farm. Before my day, during the 1930s and 1940s, the farm grew fields of potatoes and other vegetables for market. My grandfather ran the produce market in Newburgh. Farmers brought their produce into the market and he shipped it down Storm King Mountain to New York City. Some of that was our own produce. And then there was the big summer garden run by a great aunt with green beans over the heads of the boys, of which my father was one. Yet, we never had a greenhouse.

I’ve been researching greenhouses. I applied for a grant from the USDA. Their rep came out to the field. We checked it out. I was suitable. The idea is to lengthen the growing season: get an extra month in the front of the season and an extra month at the end of the season. Regulations for the grant stipulate the plants must be planted directly in the soil. This is not for table growing, or heated trays. This is to expand the operative timeframe of the field-growth of vegetables close to the market in which they will be sold. It’s a national plan.

To qualify, the greenhouse must be the gothic type. A gothic greenhouse is more equipped to deal with our winters, with our Nor’easters, with our snow loads and ice storms, and more likely to survive our sometimes-violent summer thunderstorm winds. Gothic greenhouses aren’t just rounded pipe hoop houses but rather have a peaked top and more pronounced slopes to shed snow. It also has internal cross-bracing and wind-bracing not found in lesser designs. The last thing I need is to be worrying about structural collapse, I mean, usually, I build in stone. Three problematic storms so far this winter. No thanks!

The new stack of papers on my desk is all about greenhouses. Zimmerman greenhouses and Connecticut greenhouses and people started calling me from Canada greenhouses. Trusses and purlins and wigglewire and hipboards and channels. A whole new vocabulary is required. But, you know, when you are fortunate enough to land a grant, you happily involve yourself in the details. I need to know what I’m talking about. One savvy, local, old-timer dirt farmer cautioned me, “Remember they’re just trying to sell you metal by the pound.”

So, ok, truss screws versus metal clamps; metal framed greenhouse ends, or wood framed; channels with wigglewire, or tape with nails; metal hipboards vs. wooden; metal baseboard vs. wooden baseboard; hand-crank roll-up sides, or look for a solar powered kit; one sheet of plastic, or double sheets with a blower? With no electricity on site, how do you run the blower to keep the sheets of plastic inflated?

I am just striking the surface. I must finance everything until the final inspection and then, if I pass, I will be reimbursed---up to a point. How far beyond the limit of the grant do I want to extend myself? I mean the stuff you can buy has no limit. Blowers, fans, pumps -- it’s an industry!
I joined a Facebook group called High Tunnels for Beginners. A high tunnel is another name for a gothic greenhouse. It’s hard to keep it all straight. The comments have been enthusiastically helpful. People are good, debate is lively. I think I have decided what to buy. A Rimol 30’ X 96,’ “Nor’easter,” 2,880 square foot high tunnel with bows spaced every 4 feet. I’ve been on the phone with salesman Matt three times. One more call to go.

I made some money trading General Electric and Ford in their race from $9 to $12, and I cashed it in, and have the winnings available for investment and here we go, carnival time. So much to do this spring. Jeffrey Reichle, of Valley View Farms, and his dad, Jim, are going to help me put the erector set up in exchange for this year’s hay. They have worked on several greenhouses themselves, and some of you may recall Jeffrey’s grandfather, Julian, had the machine shop on Beamer Road. Julian was such a sharp guy he was called in to balance the giant turbines in the refurbished Walden Powerhouse on the Wallkill River high falls when the plant came back on-line. No-one else could get them to spin cleanly. Nice to have some mechanical genius in the family. I hope to tap into that.

Gotta make some calls now, spend some money to make some money. All my seeds are here in clean, well packaged, cardboard boxes, and now it’s time to get the greenhouse. I’ll keep you posted.