WB’s Note: I grew up on a Biodynamic/Organic farm in northern New Jersey. Part of the difficulty of growing crops outside is the mostly inclement weather. There are just too many variables at work to make farming anything less than controllable. Lack of sunshine, oft inclement weather- hail, snow, rain, insects, all contribute to short growing seasons and lack of a good investment harvest. To the commercial grower, outdoor growing can be rewarding, or it can be a loss of an entire grow, and you should pick which one is more enticing. I would pick the one with the most comfort for the investors. Which means, don’t mess it up or they are coming for their investment, as in right now! One of my fascinations in commercial growing is something that I saw in Arizona. It was a vast greenhouse, originally manufactured in Holland for growing tomatoes and tulips. What was being grown in this “Dutch” greenhouse was far from tomatoes and flowers. It was nearly three hundred thousand square feet of ultra-high-end cannabis and with the nearly 350 days per year of natural sunshine, this vast greenhouse earned it’s keep in short measure.
Allison Kopf is also intrigued by greenhouses and farming. If you read on, you’ll discover her passion for growing facilities and why we should embrace the sun.