Greenhouse Repair After Wicked Wind

After a brutal winter, the last few days before spring have been cruel. Last night wicked winds blew in hard from the north and ripped apart my dad’s primary greenhouse. The plastic cover tore from the sides, the end walls buckled, and the new heating system froze solid. John, Colleen, and Patrick worked into the night to rescue whatever potted plants could be moved, but the early season crops are all dead—frozen in the ground after a blustery night in the teens. It was a big blow to the farm, to my dad. It was also the second greenhouse that the winter has claimed.

For 332 years my family has farmed the same land in Newburyport, Massachusetts. After decades of unfavorable events (NAFTA, eminent domain land takings, a hard-hit economy, etc.) my dad is struggling just to hold on to the farm. He grows non-GMO veggies without pesticides and harsh chemicals dumped into the world. He raises hens for their eggs and lets them grow old when they stop laying. He has even signed over development rights to conservation groups so the farm may never be developed. But a lifetime of defending against things non-farm have left him unable to repair from this damage.

Today I ask for your help. It’s early enough in the season to recover the year, but he can’t do it without his greenhouse back up and running. The first crop’s a loss of several thousand dollars that can’t be recovered, but the greenhouse’s frame is still solid and true and can still be rebuilt. It needs double-wall plastic, new ends made of plywood, and repairs to the heat and irrigation systems, all costing at least $3,000. With your help, I’d love to give him the chance to rebuild and move on.

I'll post updates of the project to my blog and facebook page, of course.

Thank you.

-Justin Chase
www.OutdoorsByCracky.com
www.facebook.com/OutdoorsByCracky