In the Pacific Northwest the winter and spring months tend to be very wet and cold which creates difficult growing conditions for our fruits and vegetables. In 2000 we began to experiment with growing tomatoes and strawberries inside a greenhouse. The experiment went very well for us because we were able to keep the plants warmer and out of the cold rain and winds. We were able to plant our tomatoes and strawberries in early spring and start our harvest about 6 weeks earlier than our traditional outdoor plantings. The plants grew faster, bigger and we achieved a greater yield per plant than the outside tomatoes. The ability to control the environment inside a greenhouse has many advantages. We greatly reduce the use fungicides and we are able to control harmful pests so we can virtually eliminate the use of pesticides. Inside a greenhouse we able to conserve water because we significantly reduce the amount of evaporation compared to our outside crops. The strawberries and tomatoes that are grown in our greenhouses have outstanding flavor because the warmer temperatures help to activate the sugars in the plant which creates a very sweet fruit and enjoyable fruit.
