New unique farming tool: Inglewood Farm opens seasonal high tunnel

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) -The Inglewood Farm opened its new seasonal high tunnel on Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. The seasonal high tunnel is a covered structure that is used to grow crops.

Building the seasonal high tunnel was a project developed by Inglewood Farm, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Trailblazers and the Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The ability to control moisture and temperature inside the tunnel allows farmers to extend the growing season.

“We’re really excited because this is going to give us an ability to get our normal field-grown market produce out to the market earlier, and it will also give us the ability to produce later into the fall and winter,” said Christopher Jarreau, the Crop Production Manager at Inglewood Farm.

Unlike a greenhouse, crops grown inside a seasonal high tunnel are actually planted in the ground. In addition to typical crops, Inglewood Farm will also use the seasonal high tunnel to experiment with more unique plants.

“We’re very interested in exploring specialty crops, crops that would give us higher productivity value per square foot, things like ginger, turmeric and medicinal herbs,” said Jarreau.

In the future, local researchers, growers and fellow horticulturists will have the opportunity to head to the seasonal high tunnel for educational programs.

“We want to use this high tunnel and Inglewood Farm as a teaching location for workshops and field days to educate new producers on how to use a high tunnel, existing producers on how to utilize the high tunnel, how to utilize irrigation systems within a high tunnel,” said Chad Kacir, State Conservationist with NRCS.

Those wanting to try some of the produce grown at Inglewood Farm can stop by the Alexandria Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Click here to report a typo. Please provide the title of the article in your email.

Copyright 2022 KALB. All rights reserved.