High Tunnels or Hoop Houses

The educational materials listed on this page are about High Tunnels or Hoop Houses.

A high tunnel or hoop house is a covered structure used to achieve season extension, or commercial fruit and vegetable production outside the usual growing season. Common vegetables to grow in high tunnels include tomatoespeppersleafy greens and lettucesstrawberries and brambles. Getting started with commercial hoop house farming requires a fairly modest investment in a structure, along with knowledge of high tunnel vegetable production, such as management of nutrientspestsirrigation and temperature. Visit SARE’s High Tunnels and Other Season Extension Techniques topic room for detailed information on hoop house plans and hoop house construction, as well as other management topics. You can also find information about sustainable commercial greenhouse production in the High Tunnels and Other Season Extension Techniques topic room.

If you are interested in season extension through high tunnel farming or gardening, the resources on this page can help. Dig deeper for information on how to build a high tunnel or hoop house, how to manage vegetable and fruit production in one, and ideas for marketing

Showing 1-20 of 26 results

A field of flowering canola

Sustainable Production and Use of On-Farm Energy

Using solar or wind energy or producing biofuels from crop feedstocks and anaerobic digestion helps farmers achieve energy independence while improving profitability and reducing fossil fuel emissions.

link to Integrated Pest Management in Alabama video

Integrated Pest Management in Alabama

  Organic vegetable growers in the Deep South face a constant battle with pests. In Alabama, new information is leading to better crop protection and more profitability, thanks to the work of Ayanava Majumdar, Alabama Extension entomologist and Southern SARE state coordinator. As a SARE state coordinator, Majumdar is tasked with bringing sustainable agriculture information […]

the inside of a high tunnel

Abundant High Tunnels Provide a Community Boost in West Virginia

For years now, small-scale vegetable farmers have been turning to high tunnels—cheap, unheated structures similar to greenhouses—as a cost-effective way to extend the growing season and their on-farm income stream. But while high tunnels were popping up throughout many cold Northeastern states, in West Virginia they were not. Until 2008 that is, when West Virginia […]

Agricultural innovations series fact sheet

Sustainable Pest Management in Greenhouses and High Tunnels

From 2007 to 2009, Cornell researchers in New York used a SARE grant to study the efficacy of biological insect control in minimally heated greenhouses and high tunnels or hoop houses. This fact sheet reports the results and provides detailed advice on how growers can use natural enemies to manage insect pests in minimally heated greenhouses and unheated high tunnels.

Education Innovation cover for Winter Storage Options for the Northeast featuring processing harvested vegetables

Winter Storage Options for the Northeast

To help farmers in the Philadelphia area learn about various winter storage options, the nonprofit Fair Food conducted site visits of well-established winter storage operations in Pennsylvania, Vermont and Quebec.

Kansas State high tunnel video series

Kansas State High Tunnel Video Series

This video series was developed by Kansas State Research and Extension, and includes segments on the following topics related to commercial high tunnel or hoop house production: Overview | Design | What to Plant | Basic Management Considerations | Intensive Management | Resources

Vegetables All Year in Northern New Mexico

Thanks to the effort of two New Mexico State University faculty members and a SARE grant, the farmers of northern New Mexico are finding that vegetables can be successfully grown year-round in high tunnel greenhouses.  Del Jiminez and Steve Guldan of the Alcalde Research Center received a SARE grant to construct different designs of high […]

construction of a high tunnel

Constructing a High Tunnel

This Rutgers University website includes a 61-image demonstration of high tunnel construction, with detailed information on site selection, design, cost and crop management.