Farmer John and the Tajik Goat Herder have been hard at work on the high tunnel. Their first step was to unload all the pieces from the delivery truck. Everything was unloaded in a wide spot in the road across from the farm.
Next, they had to figure out how to get these long pieces across the creek. The poles were much too long for the truck, so they strapped them to the four-wheeler and pretended they were knights in a jousting match.
Next Farmer John had to figure out where the high tunnel would be. He measured out a patch near the other gardens and tilled the soil. He decided to till this with the tractor because it will be hard to get the tractor inside once the structure is built. We will probably use walk-behind tillers when we plant inside the tunnel.
These are the poles that had to be driven into the ground to anchor the structure. We had a lot of help to install these. It takes a combination of a stake-driver and a sledge-hammer to sink them 5 feet into the ground. After driving 38 poles there were a few sore muscles, a couple blisters, and one broken 8 pound sledge hammer.
The next step was putting up the arches. So far, this has been the most satisfying part of the project.
After the arches were in place, the cross-braces had to be attached. This part was more of a challenge because the guys had to be on ladders. We may need to borrow or buy a much taller ladder soon. There are purlins which run the length of the ridge of the gable, which is about 16 feet high.
Farmer John is waiting on the re-shipment of a few pieces. He'll continue construction once they arrive.
Wow! Another fine farm project. Way to go Farmer John and Goat Herder Patrik...and photogrpaher and scribe Farmer Mollie. The high tunnel is huge!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the previous comment. This report gives a good idea about the construction and size of the place! It is much larger than I ever expected.
ReplyDelete