Greenhouse

Twenty-five glass houses, that are gutter-connected into one 439,900 sq. ft., 10-acre Greenhouse, comprise the complex. The complex also has a 14,520 square-foot mechanical room and fertilizer room which stores the boiler and water holding tanks for the greenhouse.

Greenhouse Specifications

Seventy-one glass houses, that are gutter-connected into one 1,055,760 sq. ft. (24-acre greenhouse), comprise the complex. There is also a 14,520 sq. ft. mechanical room and fertilizer room for the boilers and to store water for the greenhouse. It was constructed in 2003, first crop planted in November of 2003, with first harvest in February 2004. It has been in continuous operation from that time to present.

Glass

All glass is safety glass 4mm thick. There are approximately 1,920,000 square feet, or 43 acres, of glass in the roof, an additional 53,000 sq. ft. of glass in the sidewalls. The new additions contain 74,200 sq ft of double-walled polycarbonate in the sidewalls.

Heating

There are 2- 650 hp boilers that can burn several types of fuel. We use waste oil and diesel. We could also burn natural gas and beef tallow. These boilers produce approximately 63 million BTUs per hour. In 2010, we converted one boiler to a natural gas fuel source. We have switched our primary heating source to electricity, with the previous system acting in a backup role. This system was installed in stages in 2006, 2008 and 2009, with a total capacity of 7000Kw. The price of energy has made the previous system unsustainable for now. The boilers heat the water in the system to 190°F. This hot water is then piped though out the pipes located in the walls, ceiling, and floor of the green house. There is approximately 74 miles of heating pipe in the greenhouse and fertilizer room. These pipes double as a rail system to harvest and groom the crop inside the greenhouse. There is an additional 3 miles of water line in the floor in the head house that is heated by the same system. Ultimately, we hope to have several heating source options available to us in a given year and will have the ability to utilize whichever is the most economical in that given year.

Cooling

We white-wash the roof in the summer to reduce the radiation on the plants, and then remove it in the winter months. We have shade curtains that are used to reduce heat during the day in the summer months, and reduce heat loss at night in the winter months. It was replaced in fall 2009 with a new higher-efficiency screen to save much more heat in the winter, yet still allowing light penetration.

Ventilation

Vents are located along the peaks at even intervals to allow heat and humidity to leave the greenhouse during the summer months.

Irrigation

462,000 gallons of water is stored on site for use in irrigation. Water pumped in excess of daily use is recycled back into the system and cleaned and reused the following day.

Gutters

The crop is placed on Rockwool slabs on a gutter system that is suspended from the ceiling. Each gutter has space to intercede another crop into the present one, allowing for less downtime between crops.

Computer Controls

Every aspect of the greenhouse is monitored and can be controlled by a main computer. Temperature, humidity, sunlight quantity, carbon dioxide levels, and irrigation timing and quantities are some of the functions that are monitored and controlled with the computer. All of these are kept in balance under the watchful eye of the Grower.

Environmental Issues

Beneficial insects are used to control harmful insects where possible. Bumble Bees are used for pollination. All leach water is reclaimed. Runoff from the roof is contained in the holding ponds on either side of the greenhouse. These ponds will hold approximately 1 foot of water from an area the size of the greenhouse.

Packhouse

The Head House is a 100’ x 125’ x 20’ lined steel structure. The offices for the facility are located in this building, as is the Pack House. The Pack House is used to package and store all finished products until they are shipped from the facility. The heating system for the building is hot water in the floor. This is done to keep the humidity low and is better for the skins on the tomatoes than forced air heat would be. Inside this building an additional 4500 sq ft is walled and insulated and serves as a packaging and cooling room. The tomatoes are sorted with an Aweta 17 drop machine, by size and color. In 2009 a rotary dumping machine was added to increase efficiency and reduce damage to the unload process of sorting. All products are packaged for retail sale when they leave the facility.

In 2010 19,000 sq ft of storage area was added. This building will be used for storage, as well as packaging.

 

Original construction cost on the O’Neill facility was approximately 6.5 million dollars.