Weathering Change: High Tunnel Retrofits

Automatic Roll-up Sides, Ventilation, and Wind Bracing

UNH Extension’s research and education high tunnel is 20 years old and scheduled for retrofits this summer.  Join us for a twilight meeting to see what changes we made and hear the rationale behind why we made them.  We plan to install automatic roll-up sides connected to a low cost controller, reposition and replace weathered wooden hip-boards with metal channel lock, replace failing HAF fans, and add wind bracing.  The changes are designed to make the tunnel more labor efficient, resistant to extreme wind events and improve ventilation and humidity control for better plant disease management.  

The changes we chose resulted from a months-long series of conversations and brainstorming between Extension and Rimol Greenhouse Systems.  A representative from Rimol will be actively engaged in our discussions at this meeting.  If you are considering your own tunnel retrofits or automation, come with your questions and ask our presenters about your project!

This event will be held inside and outside the high tunnel behind the farmstand, (located across the street from the office building at the Grafton County Complex). Please dress appropriately.  

Presenters:

• Heather Bryant, UNH Extension Field Specialist, Food and Agriculture, based out of the Grafton County office
• Jonathan Ebba, UNH Extension Field Specialist, Landscape and Greenhouse, based out of the Strafford County office
• Rimol Greenhouse Systems Representative

Cost:

• This is a FREE event.
• No registration required.

Accommodations:

• If you need an accommodation to participate in our programming, please contact Heather Bryant, Heather.Bryant@unh.edu, (603) 787-6944, prior to the event. Given ample time, we will make any reasonable effort to meet your needs, including language access services if requested, which will be provided free of charge.

Another Event in This Series:

• Weathering Change: Efficient Irrigation for New Farmers - May 26, 2026