Pathways ForwardWhen to start, plant and harvest each crop in the high tunnel and the outdoor beds, lined up with Saturday market days. It goes with the proposed Butte market-garden team plan. The shaded column is for a team to fill in during the season, and the next year's annual report compares what happened with this plan.
2027 market dates are estimates. The 2026 Butte Farmers Market ran Saturdays from May 16 to October 10, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on West Park Street in Uptown. The 2027 dates below follow the same pattern: May 15 to October 9, 22 markets. The separate Butte Winter Farmers Market meets on selected Saturdays at the Elks Lodge; check its dates each fall.
2027 is an outdoor year. Montana NRCS funds tunnels only on land already producing food sold directly to consumers, so a new team grows and sells from outdoor beds in 2027 and applies for a tunnel that fall. The tunnel column is the plan for the first full tunnel season, likely 2028.
At about 5,500 feet, Butte has roughly 12 frost-free weeks in a typical year, and some years a frost comes in July. Cool-season crops (greens, peas, roots, brassicas, potatoes) are the backbone outdoors. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and basil are a gamble outdoors and belong in the tunnel. That is why a tunnel is worth more here than in most places.
These crops pay well at market but do poorly or can't be grown outdoors in Butte. Tunnel space is limited, so give most of it to the top two. The price check line is for the 12–14 group to fill in from Butte market prices in 2027.
Spinach, salad mix and baby kale fill the booth on opening day in May and in the fall, when little else is for sale, and they carry over to the Winter Farmers Market. Cornell ranks winter greens with tomatoes as the most profitable tunnel crops for retail sales. Spinach sweetens in the cold and can overwinter for spring sales.
Why tunnel: outdoors, nothing can be sown until May and growth stops in September. Inside, with row cover, greens can be sown in March and harvested into November. This is also the first crop a newly built tunnel can grow.
Price check: ________
Cornell's research ranks tomatoes, with winter greens, as the most profitable tunnel crops. A Missouri Extension budget for a 2,000 sq ft tunnel assumes 15 lb of marketable fruit per plant, sells 75% at retail for $3.30/lb, and nets about $4,000 after all costs, with a break-even around $1.79/lb. Butte's season is shorter than Missouri's, so expect lower yields and plan with Butte records.
Why tunnel: outdoors here tomatoes rarely ripen before frost. In the tunnel they go in around late May under row cover and pick from late July into September. Choose early and short-season varieties and trellis them tall; in Cornell's example, trellising raised yield from 6 to 7.8 lb per plant.
Price check: ________
Climb a trellis, so they produce a lot per square foot of floor. Tunnel-grown cucumbers are straighter and cleaner than outdoor ones, and in Butte few outdoor growers will have any.
Why tunnel: cucumbers stall in cold nights, and Butte nights are cool all summer. Grow parthenocarpic (seedless, no pollination needed) varieties bred for tunnels.
Price check: ________
A dependable market seller, and it's easy for the youngest team members to help harvest. Plant it in small blocks between tomatoes.
Why tunnel: basil blackens below about 40°F. Outdoors in Butte that happens most of the summer.
Price check: ________
Bouquets carry a high price for the space and draw shoppers to the booth. Snapdragons tolerate cool weather and suit Butte best. Lisianthus is slow and fussy but brings premium prices.
Why tunnel: tall, clean stems depend on shelter from wind and hail. Buy plugs; don't start them from seed.
Price check: ________
Baby ginger sells for $7–25/lb, about $8 of sales per square foot in warmer places, but it needs soil above 55°F for 4–5 months, and a Butte tunnel may give it only three. Cornell found colored peppers only marginal for profit because they take so long to ripen. Grow a few plants, track hours and sales, and decide from the records.
Why tunnel: they all need warm nights for most of the season, and even the tunnel may not supply enough of them here.
Price check: ________
These figures come from other states' markets. Treat them as starting points for the season business plan, not promises. Sales at Butte prices are what count.
"Indoors" means seed trays under lights in a house or shop. Tunnel dates assume a tunnel with row cover available inside. Outdoor beds should have row cover (frost cloth) on hand all season. Fill in the shaded column as you go: actual dates, weather, problems, pounds harvested, sales.
| When | Market | High tunnel | Outdoor beds | What actually happened |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | Order seed and flower plugs. Plan beds and spacing. Draft the season business plan. Keep snow off the tunnel cover. | Order seed and seed potatoes. Map beds and rotation. Choose short-season varieties. | ||
| February | Start snapdragons indoors late in the month. | Start onions and leeks indoors. | ||
| March | Uncover overwintered spinach. Sow salad greens and radishes under row cover once the tunnel soil thaws. | Beds are usually frozen or snow-covered. | ||
| Early–mid Apr | Start tomatoes, peppers and eggplant indoors (about 7–8 weeks before tunnel planting). Harvest the first tunnel greens. | Start early brassicas (kale, broccoli, cabbage) indoors. | ||
| Late Apr–early May | Start cucumbers, basil and melons indoors (about 4 weeks before planting). Keep sowing greens every two weeks. | Prepare beds once soil can be worked. Sow peas and spinach as soon as the soil thaws. Harden off brassica starts. | ||
| Mid–late May | May 15 opens (est.), 22, 29 | Sell tunnel greens, radishes and overwintered spinach from opening day. Plant tomatoes late in the month once the tunnel soil stays near 55°F, with row cover on cold nights. | Sow lettuce, radishes, carrots and beets. Plant potatoes. Transplant brassicas under row cover. Hard frost is still likely until about May 21. | |
| June | Jun 5, 12, 19, 26 | Plant cucumbers, basil, peppers and melons in early June. Prune and trellis tomatoes weekly. Open the sides on sunny days (keep below about 90°F) and close them at night. | Frost watch until about June 13, and some years into July. After mid-June, sow beans and set out squash under row cover. Radishes, lettuce and spinach for sale. | |
| July | Jul 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 | First cucumbers and basil. First tunnel tomatoes late in the month. Snapdragons bloom. | Peas, lettuce, kale, beets, carrots and new potatoes. Harvest garlic (if planted fall 2026). Sow the last quick crops (radishes, salad greens) by mid-July. | |
| August | Aug 7, 14, 21, 28 | Peak tomatoes, cucumbers and basil. Start fall greens in trays early in the month; sow tunnel spinach late in the month. | Broccoli, cabbage, beans and zucchini if the season allows. Keep row cover ready: 1 year in 10, frost comes by August 24. | |
| September | Sep 4, 11, 18, 25 | Transplant fall greens by early September. Close the tunnel at night to keep tomatoes going; pull them when production falls off. Outdoor growers are done, so tunnel tomatoes sell well. | First frost around September 5; cover or pull tender crops. Harvest potatoes, carrots and beets (carrots sweeten after light frost). Plant garlic late in the month. | |
| Early Oct | Oct 2, Oct 9 closes (est.) | Row cover over greens. Clean out tomato and cucumber vines. | Hard freeze around October 1. Finish garlic planting and mulch it. Cover crop or mulch empty beds. | |
| Oct–Nov | Winter market (selected Saturdays) | Harvest spinach, salad mix and kale for the Winter Farmers Market. Growth slows as days shorten; leave spinach in to overwinter for spring. | Beds put to rest. Clean and store tools. | |
| December | Close the tunnel for winter; clear snow from the cover after storms. | Write the annual report: plan vs. actual, what to change for next year. |