Dauphin County Demonstration High Tunnel
Milton Hershey School
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| The high tunnel located at the Milton Hershey School was erected
during the summer of 2000 by Penn State University as a demonstration
for the 2000 International Plasticulture Conference which was held
in Hershey, that fall. As soon as it was constructed we planted Tribute
(day neutral) strawberries and had a few berries for the conference
in the fall. The plan was to let the strawberries come into full production
the next spring. This plan was altered do to the rains that came and
the fact that the Horticulture Class needed to learn how to install
turf, thus I removed the strawberries and Jim Welsham, County Extension
Agent from Dauphin County, was able to teach the MHS students how
to install turf. Later the students were tested on small equipment
and turf installation in the structure. Neil Shank from SeedWay was
looking for a place to test tomatoes, and I wanted early tomatoes
for our students to sell at our roadside market. We installed trickle
irrigation and covered our raised beds with black plastic mulch and
planted tomatoes. The tomatoes were ready to begin harvesting when
we opened our market on July 5th.
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