Heated High Tunnel Lessons: What I Learned My First Year Growing Flowers in Zone 4B
About this episode
Dr. Liz Fiedler Mergen shares insights from her first year operating a heated high tunnel in Zone 4B Minnesota, discussing successes and challenges.
Takeaways Heated high tunnels create more control, but they also create new management challenges Crop planning and data tracking made recovering from crop losses much easier Overwintering flowers may be the key to earlier blooms and higher profitability Summary of the Episode This week, Dr. Liz Fiedler Mergen shares a transparent look at her first year operating a heated high tunnel in Zone 4B Minnesota. From grant funding and installation costs to propane failures and frozen crops, this episode dives deep into what worked, what failed, and what changes are coming next season. If you've considered adding season extension infrastructure to your flower farm or agritourism business, this episode offers practical lessons about costs, crop selection, risk management, and scaling production. Key Topics Covered: Heated vs unheated high tunnels How NRCS grants work for high tunnel funding Hidden costs of greenhouse and tunnel infrastructure Crop losses caused by heating failures Overwintering ranunculus and cool flowers in Zone 4B Planning earlier blooms for Mother's Day sales Scaling flower production strategically Managing inventory and storage for wedding flowers Save $25 on your…
People in this episode
Host: Dr. Liz Fiedler Mergen
Topics covered
- heated high tunnels
- crop planning
- data tracking
- overwintering flowers
- flower production
- risk management
Keywords
- high tunnel
- flower farming
- crop losses
- season extension
- profitability
- grant funding
- wedding flowers
Sponsors
CoolBot
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NRCS, Sunny Mary Meadow Coaching, Sunny Mary Meadow
Products: CoolBot
Places: Zone 4B Minnesota
More episodes of Rooted Agritourism
- How I Run Multiple Businesses With Zero Employees and Still Grow
- What Is Value-Added Agriculture? How Farmers Create More Income Without More Land
- How Liz Fiedler Mergen Built a Value-Added Farm Business from Grief and Grit
- Podfest Publishing Panel: Real Talk on Writing "Flowers Bloom Anyway"
- Crop Planning for a Flower Farm that Actually Works
- Flowers Bloom Anyway: Building Better Relationships in Life with Mark Hicks
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Rooted Agritourism podcast page.