March 8, 2012 - People in Texas don't always know what to think
about the plastic-covered "high tunnels" that Russ Wallace
manages for Texas AgriLife Extension outside of Lubbock.
Sometimes they ask him how his "wind tunnels" are doing. Others
compliment him on his greenhouses. "We get plenty of wind in
Lubbock, but they are not wind tunnels," Wallace said. "They're
not exactly greenhouses, either." To the untrained eye, high
tunnels, or hoop houses as they are sometimes called, look a lot
like greenhouses. The fact that they are used to grow fruits and
vegetables reinforces the notion, but high tunnels are not
heated and don't have electricity or cement floors. The crops
are planted directly into the soil or in raised beds. Growers
can even drive a small tractor right inside. Texans can be
excused for not knowing what to call high tunnels. In a country
that is tenth in the world in the number of high tunnels in use,
Texas ranks near the bottom in the number of high tunnels being
used in the United States. Wa