Rolling Thunder

Rolling Thunder (RT) is a movable greenhouse that was built in 2014 and purchased from Rimol Greenhouses. It has a simple design with a metal frame and single layer of 6 millimeter greenhouse plastic on all walls. We have roll-up side curtains on the North and South walls for ventilation control.

The house is on tracks so it can roll to cover two locations, RT East and RT West. RT West has five 40’ wooden raised beds, and RT East has six 44’ permanent hilled raised beds without wooden frames. We utilize raised beds in this area due to the high water table on our farm. This house adds about 5 degrees of warmth from the outside temperature, which allows us to transplant summer crops in early May. We move the house manually once a year and alternate which area, east or west, we plant warm season crops which allows for better disease and pest management. We also utilize RT to maximize winter production.

There are countless ways to utilize a moveable greenhouse. Our standard rotation moves it once a year. In the summer, Rolling Thunder will be growing summer crops. In early fall of that year, summer crops come out and we transplant winter greens. Those are harvested throughout the winter. In the spring of the next year, more greens or roots are seeded. Then in May, the house is moved and the greens that were seeded in late winter are reaching maturity and can withstand outside temperatures. Meanwhile, the house is now covering empty ground where summer crops will be transplanted for that year.