Doubling greenhouse tomato yields and beyond using automation with Drew Cramer of Ghost House Farm in Michigan

On this week’s podcast we talk with Drew Cramer of Ghost House Farm in Michigan about how he more than doubled his greenhouse tomato yields through good management and automation. Automation makes the difference between just controlling the temperature in a greenhouse and controlling the climate. And controlling the climate is what creates a growth-promoting, disease-discouraging greenhouse environment. In this interview we get nerdy to talk about the management practices Drew used and the ways he managed the climate for increasing yields and decreasing disease over time. We talk about how he used pulse irrigation and humidity control together to reduce diseases and seconds. We also discuss the small-scale biomethane digester they’re using to turn their greenhouse prunings into fuel. We also focus on how much cucumber grafting has increased their yields, what they’re grafting cucumbers to, and so much more in this wide-ranging interview filled with greenhouse tips. Connect With Guest: Website: ghosthouse.farm Instagram: @ghosthouse.farm Podcast Sponsors: Huge thanks to our podcast sponsors as they make this podcast FREE to everyone with their generous support: Tilth Soil makes living soils for organic growers. The base for all our mixes is NOP-compliant compost, made from the 4,000 tons of food scraps we divert from landfills each year. And the results speak for themselves. Get excellent germination, strong transplants, and help us turn these resources back into food. Try a free bag and learn more at tilthsoil.com/gfm. Nifty Hoops builds complete gothic high tunnels that are easy to install and built to last.  Their bolt-together construction makes setup straightforward and efficient, whether it's a small backyard hoophouse, or a dozen large production-scale high tunnels- especially through their community build option, where professional builders work alongside your crew, family, or neighbors to build each structure -- usually in a single day.Visit niftyhoops.com to learn more. Farming is hard. Running it shouldn’t be. Tend helps you plan your season, map your farm, and track every task from seed to sale. No spreadsheets, no guesswork, just seamless workflows. Tend is the all-in-one farm management platform that brings together planning, field mapping, fulfillment, real-time inventory, sales, labor, traceability, and accounting in one easy platform. Built for small market gardens, CSAs, and large diversified farms. Get started with a free account at Tend.com. No credit card required. If you grow for market, you know performance is everything. That’s why so many farmers are turning to Burpee’s Farmers Market. Dedicated to professional growers, Burpee is now offering non-GMO seeds in larger quantities – bred and selected for standout flavor, strong yields, and the kind of visual appeal your customers crave. Burpee’s been doing this for 150 years, and they’re still creating new varieties with growers like you in mind. You can check out the full lineup at Burpee.com/FarmersMarket. There are a lot of farm sales platforms out there, but there’s only one that’s cooperatively owned by farmers. That’s GrownBy — your all-in-one solution to simplify farm sales. GrownBy makes online farm sales easy and affordable; setting up your shop is free, and you only pay when you sell. Join over 900 farms who have already signed up for GrownBy, at grownby.com. For more on veg and flower market farming, subscribe to Growing for Market Magazine!