The University of Minnesota Extension Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships  or RSDP and Tintah Beach Farm will co-host an open house Saturday, Nov. 22nd from 1-4 p.m to celebrate the completion of their farm-scale deep winter greenhouse.

Supported by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the project brings together small- and medium-scale fruit and vegetable growers in Minnesota to develop the next generation of innovative, sustainable winter food production technology.

Five farms across Minnesota were selected through a competitive process to partner with the University: Tintah Beach Farm in Thief River Falls, Honeydew Farm in Park Rapids, Chelsea Morning Farm in Two Harbors, New Story Farm in Hutchinson and Owl Bluff Farm in Houston.

The Tintah Beach Farm greenhouse was designed by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Sustainable Building Research. This greenhouse is heavily insulated and designed with a south-facing wall to capture solar heat in the daytime. This heat is drawn underground and stored in a thermal system for use at night to for growing crops throughout the winter such as brassicas, Asian greens, lettuces, and potentially some more exotic crops such as ginger and tropical perennial fruits.