Situation: Farm family decides to grow vegetables to supplement their off farm income.  They set their plants after normal last killing frost in the spring.  Plants were well established for three weeks when a forecast of a freeze occurred two days away.  They consulted their local extension office and the ANR agent who had 50 years experience growing small scale commercial vegetables suggested constructing a low tunnel to protect the plants.

Collaborators: ANR Agent, Glen Roberts, ANR Assistant, Terry Bertram, KSU Small Farm Program, Danny Adams and the farm family.

  Using framing materials and tobacco canvas left over from other vegetable demonstration projects the local extension office personnel and the farm family partnered together for two days constructing a high tunnel to protect the frost sensitive tomato plants.  On May 9 the temperature got down to 25 degrees Fahrenheit in many of the area  tomato growers fields. There were three more consecutive nights where the temperature got down to less than 32 degrees.   Some lost all of their plants where others suffered partial losses and stunted plants.  The plants under the high tunnel not only survived but grew rapidly until the canvas was removed 5 days later.  These tomato plants yielded some of the earliest tomatoes in the area.  They were all sold at a good profitable price , even the lower quality ones.  This farm family learned the value of protecting their vegetable plants from late freezes. Due to the knowledge and experience that the ANR agent had they were also able to hands on develop the skills and knowledge necessary to build their own high tunnel to protect vegetable plants from a spring cold snap.