Additional resources

Model Business Plan for
Season Extension with
Hoophouses
David Conner
C. S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems
Michigan State University
Exstension Bulletin E-3112
June 2010

Year-Round Vegetable Crop Production Schedule for Michigan Hoophouses
Adam Montri
Hoophouse Specialist
Michigan State University
Adam's Hoophouse Blog
admontri@msu.edu

Kathy Fusilier demonstrates the best way to stack tomatoes at the family's new home-based farm market in Manchester.

About the project

Funders

The National Research Initiative of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service
grant number 2006-55618-16922

Michigan State University Extension

Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station and Project GREEEN (Generating Research and Extension to meet Economic and Environmental Needs)

Producer

David Conner
Assistant Professor
C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems
connerd@msu.edu

Video & Web Production

Newslink Associates LLC
Mason, MI
info@newslinkassociates.com
517-349-4752

Special thanks to:
Casey Williamson for videotaping the Moores in Engadine

Chickens in the hoophouse at the Weltys in Omena, MI

Five Michigan farmers share their stories

Hoophouses are unheated, passive solar greenhouses that can extend the growing season for fruits and vegetables in cold climates. The National Research Initiative of the USDA in collaboration with Michigan State University provided grant funding to explore how farmers in the state of Michigan are using this new technology.

In alphabetical order:

The Fusiliers of Manchester, MI - Integrating hoophouses into large-scale production

The Moores of Engadine - Making the most of hoophouses in the Upper Peninsula

The Rumples of Whitmore Lake - Cultivating a new niche

The Spencers - Hoophouses in agri-tourism (click here for the video of their Farm Chef Scott Schornak)

The Weltys - Changing the way we eat

View Hoophouses in Michigan - USDA/NIFA Project in a larger map