Deep winter greenhouses help farms thrive in winter
Owl Bluff Farm is a small but mighty organic vegetable operation led by Carrie Calvo. What began with selling at a farmers market stand has grown to serve local groceries and restaurants, connecting the local community with fresh ingredients.
Calvo partnered with Extension’s Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships (RSDP) to build a farm-scale deep winter greenhouse. Sunlight that warms the air during the day is then stored underground in thermal mass materials like soil or rock. The energy is released slowly to keep the greenhouse warm, even on the coldest winter nights. Since 2017, RSDP has worked with University partners and growers to refine the unique design. This allows year-round production without high energy costs, and adds resilience for farmers and food systems facing climate uncertainty.
The latest phase of research includes Owl Bluff’s greenhouse, along with four more currently under construction. The University of Minnesota’s GEMS Informatics Center helps equip structures with continuous monitoring systems to better understand performance and production potential.
Highlights
- Tesmer Farm Safety Day Camp welcomed more than 240 fourth-graders to the Caledonia Fairgrounds, where students learned about on-farm safety at 15 stations, including topics such as tractors, water, and hazardous plants.
- 4-H’er William C. will pursue pre-med and music at the University of Chicago after earning the Pace Scholarship. He established an EMT training program that now reaches 26 students across Minnesota, and aspires to become an ER doctor.
- U of M Farm Family of the Year: The Meyer family
- SuperShelf: La Crescent Food Shelf
- At the event “Water in the Driftless: Beautiful and Vulnerable,” Master Gardener volunteers taught about water-wise gardening and what makes the region’s Karst geology unique. Information included strategies to conserve water and minimize polluted runoff to protect wetlands, rivers and lakes.
- RSDP impact: With support from a CERTs Seed Grant, the city of Houston positioned itself as a forward-thinking small rural community that reduces its carbon footprint and encourages visitors who already embrace EV technology to explore greater Minnesota.
Houston County office
Extension has 14 regional offices supporting all 87 counties in Minnesota.
Houston County partners with Extension to deliver practical education and research you can use at home, at work and in your community. More about Extension in our county.
About the Minnesota 87 project
Spend time in any Minnesota county, and you will almost certainly encounter University of Minnesota Extension. Our faculty and staff, volunteers, participants, alumni and partners are woven into the fabric of rural, urban and suburban Minnesota life. This project showcases Extension in action through photos, stories and a sampling of the many ways Extension has touched the lives of people in every county.