Maine tomato grower finishes second (18 acre) greenhouse

[jpak]

http://www.wgme.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.me/36c1fcd2-www.wgme.com.shtml

MADISON, Maine (AP) -- New England's largest greenhouse tomato grower is celebrating the first crop of tomatoes grown in its newly constructed greenhouse.

Backyard Farms built its first greenhouse in the central Maine town of Madison back in 2006. The second glass-covered greenhouse is 18 acres, giving the company a total of 42 acres of greenhouses.

<snip>

Since its first crop in 2007, Backyard Farms says it has grown more than 40 million pounds of tomatoes for sale across the Northeast.

The company hired 75 new employees this summer, bringing its work force up to 200.

<more>

[Gormy Cuss]

1. Is this the cluster tomato outfit?

I had some in May when I was home and the family was raving about the availability of local tomatoes for so many months... as you know the state is at the end of the produce supply line and getting good quality product that isn't locally grown is a challenge.

[jpak]

3. Yup - and we now can get Maine produced vine riped tomatoes all year round

:thumbsup:

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. Made possible by the Sable Island gas field...

...off the coast of Nova Scotia.

[jpak]

4. Made possible by Madison Electric Works, thermal blankets, the sun and the Kennebec River

:evilgrin:

They're adding a biomass cogeneration plant too....

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. +10!

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. They're burning propane for now...

...and that's a byproduct of the Sable Island field, at least the propane in the northern third of the state tends to come from there.