As the rolling hills of the Midwest gradually transition into the smooth mountains of Appalachia the temperatures start to change, and you reach a point where you realize the weather and climate are just different. That is the first thing that struck us when traveling from Cleveland, OH to Ash

eville, NC in January this past year. The differences in temperature are to be expected (of course) although a real snap of horrible weather in Cleveland, and a turn for good weather in North Carolina, made that juxtaposition all the more evident...for example, we had to shovel 12 inches of snow out of the back of our flatbed truck just to load in the material for The Culinary Gardener's High Tunnel; not 6 hours later we were in 58 degree sunny weather. 

Despite the seemingly pleasant weather, every evening we were there dropped below freezing, and the drastic temperature changes made it obvious how a High Tunnel could assist the farm in expanding winter production, or starting certain crops before an outdoor climate would support money making crops. 

The Culinary Gardener opted for our 30 ft. wide High Tunnel with some commonly requested add-on components. Among the list of components included in the structure we built for their farm:

• 4 Year 6 Mil Anti-Drip Greenhouse Plastic for the first layer, and 4 Year 6 Mil UVA Clear Plastic for the Exterior layer of Double Layer Inflated Greenhouse Plastic. Using a double layer inflated greenhouse plastic system helps create a better insulated structure. In order to keep an insulating layer of air between the two layers of plastic we installed an Inflation Blower Fan, as well as a Jumper Hose that can help move air from one side of the structure to the other side of the structure. 
• Superior ventilation for sides and ends. The sides come standard with Roll-up Sides with 7:1 Gear Box Operators, which included 30" Crank Handles for each side. For the end-walls, The Culinary Gardener went withthermostatically controlled options including an intake shutter and an ES Shutter Fan from J&D Manufacturing. These fans move roughly 7,000 Cubic Feet per Minute. Between the roll-up sides, and the end-wall ventilation, a more manageable climate can be maintained.

The above isn't an exhaustive list of everything that was a part of the structure, and all of the features that may help The Culinary Gardener execute their plans, however, it does provide a snap shot of what type of set-up they decided to go with. The structure dimensions they ultimately decided to move forward with was 30 ft. wide x 48 ft. long x 12 ft. tall at the peak. 

If you want pricing on similar structures or materials that were used within the structure outlined in this post please shoot us a message at info@tunnelvisionhoops.com or fill out one of our contact us forms here.