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Old June 15, 2016   #32
PureHarvest
Tomatovillian™
 
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Mid-Atlantic right on the line of Zone 7a and 7b
Posts: 1,369
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Hang in there for the long haul Cole. You know things will turn at some point. You got back up plants, or can you clone a bunch of your ones that are looking like winners?
May absolutely sucked here too.
18 days without direct sun almost seemed impossible, but we went through it.
Every year its something seemingly new but is probably from the same old long list of, "welcome to farming".
Not that it puts you at your market with red fruit, but just remember you are not going through it alone.
Word from some folks around here is that tomatoes are super late and are not gonna be plentiful. If it is the same for you, you should be able to sell out each week when you do get fruit, and maybe get a better price.
Plus, if nothing else, you will have picked up more experience for next year and will be that much wiser.
I am still 2 weeks later than I planned but the restaurants are not gonna get local tomatoes from anyone else either. My little tunnel is loading up with green fruit, and Lord willing, I should be able to beat just about every local grower thanks to my tunnel. Hope to harvest for sales at the beginning of July.

I ordered my 30x72 high tunnel today (got approved for the NRCS high tunnel grant) and am going to use it for a spring/summer crop next year instead of turning it into a heated greenhouse for this winter. I'm doing double plastic with the hopes that I can get started really early and get tomatoes to the restaurants way before anyone else and expand and lock in my customers. I am going with automated roll up sides and mechanical shutters at either gable end so I can be away and have it vented early on when cool mornings go on to be hot days.

Last edited by PureHarvest; June 15, 2016 at 03:17 PM.
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