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Brewster Fresh Produce High-Tunnel produces early tomato crop


		July 11, 2012

Pat and Doreen Haberman of Brewster stand inside the high-tunnel greenhouse that is used at Brewster Fresh Produce. They have opened for the season, and invite people to tour their operation on Sunday, July 22.	That first taste of a sun-ripened tomato fresh from the vine is a summertime treat for many people!

That first taste of a sun-ripened tomato fresh from the vine is a summertime treat for many people! Most gardeners wait with great anticipation as they watch the tomatoes grow and the skin begin to ripen. Brewster Fresh Produce opened their doors on Monday morning with delicious, ripe tomatoes available to their customers. At Brewster Fresh Produce this year the first ripe tomatoes were harvested on June 23rd. But the achievement of that early pick date has been the result of much planning, the construction of a high-tunnel, and tending the tomato plants with great care. Pat and Doreen Haberman, owners of Brewster Fresh Produce, located just 3.7 miles north of Brewster on Nobles County 1, chose to plant the high-tunnel with tomato plants due to the fact that most varieties of tomatoes ripen later in the growing season. “Being able to offer our customers sun-ripened tomatoes is important to us and if we can offer them early, that's all the better,” Pat stated. The high-tunnel at Brewster Fresh Produce is 90 foot by 25 foot in size. This is the second year that Habermans have planted in the high-tunnel. A high-tunnel is similar to a green house structure except that the plants (or seeds) are planted directly in the ground. This year, the Haberman's high-tunnel is home to 290 tomato plants, 5 cucumbers, 5 jalapenos, 14 muskmelons, 15 watermelons, and a few carrots. The tomatoes were started as seeds in the Haberman's house on February 13th. They were moved to the greenhouse on March 3rd, and then planted in the high-tunnel on April 17th. Typical planting dates for southwest Minnesota for tomatoes are between May 15th and 20th. On May 24th, the Habermans introduced bumble bees to the tomato plants for pollination. “One might think that just by planting one month earlier than normal is why high-tunnels have earlier harvest. Yet that is just a minor portion of it,” Pat stated. “Much of the phenomenal rapid growth is from the major increase in 'growing degree units'. Growing degree units are the measure of temperature factored by the duration of time. Minimum and maximum temperatures are applied to this equation as well. Typically the minimum of 50 degrees is used as most plants grow very little at this temperature. It is not uncommon to acquire 0-20 growing degree units per day during late May. In the high tunnel, however, we get more GDU's than this almost every day by noon.” For the remainder of the story, please see our print edition or check out our electronic edition website at http://eedition.tricountynewsmn.net. Call 507-793-2327 or email tcnews@roundlk.net for more information.