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 Tacoma 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 Proctor Farmers Market (North 27th and Proctor Streets) ran 39 Saturdays in 2025, from March 29 to December 20, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., plus a winter market on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of January through March. The 2027 dates below follow the same pattern: March 27 to December 18, with winter markets in January, February and early March. Check the market's published schedule each winter.
2027 is an outdoor year. Washington 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.
Tacoma's problem is not a short season but a cool, wet one. Greens, peas, roots, brassicas and potatoes grow well outdoors most of the year, and kale, leeks and some roots overwinter in the ground. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and basil struggle outdoors because summer nights stay cool, and fall rains bring leaf diseases. The tunnel's main job here is heat in summer and shelter from rain in winter.
These crops pay well at market but do poorly outdoors in Tacoma. 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 Proctor market prices in 2027.
Spinach, salad mix and baby kale fill the booth in March, November, December and at the winter market, when little else is for sale. Proctor runs nearly all year, so a steady supply of greens earns money most weeks. Cornell ranks winter greens with tomatoes as the most profitable tunnel crops for retail sales.
Why tunnel: outdoors, winter greens survive but are battered by rain, splashed with mud and eaten by slugs. Under cover they stay clean and keep growing. 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. Tacoma summers are cooler than Missouri's, so expect lower yields and plan with local records.
Why tunnel: outdoors here tomatoes ripen late, and late blight spreads fast on wet leaves once fall rains begin. In the tunnel they go in around late April and pick from early July into October. 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 they come in weeks earlier.
Why tunnel: cucumbers stall in cold nights, and Tacoma nights are cool well into June. 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 and sulks in cool, damp weather, which is most of a Tacoma spring and fall.
Price check: ________
Bouquets carry a high price for the space and draw shoppers to the booth. Snapdragons tolerate cool weather and can bloom early in a tunnel. Lisianthus is slow and fussy but brings premium prices.
Why tunnel: tall, clean stems depend on shelter from wind and rain. 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, which a Tacoma tunnel may just manage. 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 outdoors in Tacoma they rarely get them.
Price check: ________
These figures come from other states' markets. Treat them as starting points for the season business plan, not promises. Sales at Tacoma 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. Keep row cover (frost cloth) on hand for spring and fall cold snaps, and slug control ready in wet weeks. 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 | Jan 9, 23 (winter, est.) | Harvest overwintered spinach and salad greens for the winter market. Order seed and flower plugs. Plan beds and spacing. Draft the season business plan. | Harvest overwintered kale and leeks. Order seed and seed potatoes. Map beds and rotation. | |
| February | Feb 13, 27 (winter, est.) | Sow salad greens, spinach and radishes. Start snapdragons indoors. | Start onions and leeks indoors. Sow peas and fava beans late in the month if the soil isn't waterlogged. | |
| March | Mar 13 (winter); Mar 27 opens (est.) | Start tomatoes, peppers and eggplant indoors early in the month (about 7–8 weeks before tunnel planting). Harvest tunnel greens and radishes for opening day. | Sow spinach, peas and early lettuce. Plant onion sets. Start early brassicas (kale, broccoli, cabbage) indoors. | |
| April | Apr 3, 10, 17, 24 | Start cucumbers, basil and melons indoors early in the month. 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. Frost is possible until mid-April or later. | |
| May | May 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 | Plant cucumbers, basil, peppers and melons early in the month. Prune and trellis tomatoes weekly. Open the sides on sunny days and close them at night. | After mid-May, sow beans and set out squash. Outdoor tomatoes and basil are a gamble until nights warm. Sell greens, radishes and peas. | |
| June | Jun 5, 12, 19, 26 | First cucumbers and basil. Keep the tunnel vented (below about 90°F) on warm days. | Peas, lettuce, spinach, beets and early carrots for sale. Succession-sow lettuce and radishes every two weeks. | |
| July | Jul 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 | First tunnel tomatoes early in the month. Snapdragons bloom. | Harvest garlic (if planted fall 2026) and new potatoes. Sow or transplant fall and overwintering brassicas (kale, cabbage, purple sprouting broccoli) and leeks. | |
| August | Aug 7, 14, 21, 28 | Peak tomatoes, cucumbers and basil. Start fall and winter greens in trays late in the month. | Beans, zucchini, broccoli and carrots. Sow winter salad greens, spinach and overwintering onions late in the month. | |
| September | Sep 4, 11, 18, 25 | Tomatoes keep going; close the tunnel at night as nights cool. Tunnel tomatoes sell well once outdoor plants get blight in the fall rains. | Harvest winter squash, potatoes and carrots. Fall rains usually return late in the month. | |
| October | Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 | Pull tomato and cucumber vines when production falls off. Transplant winter greens and spinach into the tunnel. | First frost possible from about mid-October. Plant garlic. Cover crop or mulch empty beds before heavy rain. | |
| November | Nov 6, 13, 20, 27 | Harvest spinach, salad mix and kale. Growth slows as days shorten; row cover inside on cold nights. | Harvest overwintering kale, leeks, cabbage and roots left in the ground. Watch for slugs. | |
| December | Dec 4, 11, Dec 18 closes (est.) | Greens for the holiday markets. Leave spinach to overwinter for the January winter market. | Kale and leeks as weather allows. Clean and store tools. | Write the annual report: plan vs. actual, what to change for next year. |