Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Reachwood perfect.

Pretty early on in our time here, we knew we were going to want/need a greenhouse of some sort. It was pretty obvious that we weren't going to build a state-of-the-art glass greenhouse, so we opted for the next best thing -- a Reachwood-perfect high tunnel.  Reachwood-perfect is a phrase we've coined to describe something that might not be made perfectly or the most beautiful by most standards, but it functions, looks okay, and is a job that's finished.  I think the chicken tractor falls into this category.

At any rate, we found a NH based company that supplies you with a kit to build your own high tunnel.  Sounds easy, right?  Buy the kit, get the kit, put the kit together.  Simple. It shouldn't take too long (this phrase is no longer allowed to be uttered on our farm).

Here we go...

The building site -- alllllllllmost level.  It has to be level from side to side, but it can be on a slope end to end.  You can see that we started building this in the fall (2013).


All of this + some wood + a LOT of time = high tunnel.

First order of business, pound the posts 2 ft into the ground. The kicker -- they have to be plumb in all directions.

Get it!  The board is a guide to help us keep the posts spaced correctly and (hopefully) plumb.

Procedure -- post driver to get it started, sledgehammer to finish it off.

Naturally, we were well supervised.

We've squared the corners (at least 3 times), and marked level with the carpenter string.  All lined up and ready to be put in -- piece of cake....this shouldn't take too long. 

Son of a #$)@%*#!!!!!! We wanted to double check to make sure everything was spaced as it should be.  This happened at least 2 times.  By the time we got all the posts in and squared, we had pounded them in, removed them, and re-pounded them in at least twice.  

To get to this point, it is supposed to be a simple putting together of the pieces. You simply put the tops of the bents together, then slide them into the larger posts (the ones in the ground) and secure them with bolts.  Here's the kicker.  In all of our driving in, removing, driving, removing, driving we managed to dent one of the big posts in the ground (how this happened still escapes us).  As a result, we were unable to get one of the bents in all the way....this will come back to haunt us for the duration of high tunnel construction.

Ridge pole is up -- and clearly some time has passed since we started.  With the amount of snow we had this winter, it was almost impossible to get any work done on the high tunnel -- not to mention that we were busy plowing our road and cutting firewood in the snow.

Aaaaannnndddd....we're back!  Spring has sprung, and we're itching to get the tunnel done so we can plant seedlings in it.  We've framed one wall, put on the hip boards (shoulder height, why hip boards?!?!), baseboards, and we're ready to finish the walls and get the plastic on.  We are feeling so confident about the speediness with which we're going to finish the high tunnel that we got 2 yards of greenhouse compost so we're ready to plant!  Right.


One wall is done (save for the window at the top -- we want ventilation).   Yes, the door is purposely off centered....though I honestly don't remember why.  I'm sure it was totally logical.

Super sweet cedar door for $30 from a local junk shop -- love the hooks on the back.  We'll find good use for those.

Second wall is framed -- we're going to use plastic on this end since it is the sunny side of the house (not south, but the sunnier end).  Waiting for the greenhouse plastic set us back a bit, but it was worth it.


Plastic is on!  We got an old sliding door that we're going to put on hinges and on this end.

Baxter is inspecting the area for planting.  As the spring presses on, things are growing and growing in the tunnel -- and not the things we want to be growing in there...

Weeding has happened, extra earth has been added in the low spots, and we're ready to spread the compost.  

Spreading compost....and the door hooks are already coming in handy. :) 

More and more compost -- so delicious!

Warm compost on a cool day = oh yeah!

A little nest dug into the dirt just your size = oh yeah!
 
Compost is spread and ready for plants....almost.
 
Paths are lined with shavings to help fight off weeds.

Life is good -- and my hair is a situation.

Tomatoes were so desperate to get in the ground, we couldn't wait for the plastic.  We were repeatedly thwarted on putting the plastic up by crazy windy days.  Wielding 36 ft of plastic in high winds = recipe for disaster.

Planting peppers -- one particularly small seedling (attacked by...ahem...a certain dog with lots of grey fur) needed special attention and some TLC.
 
Giant roll o' plastic -- farm manager is ready for the challenge.

Are we up for the challenge?  Our faces aren't very convincing...
It wasn't that scary -- we like working together. It actually went way more smoothly than any other aspect of the high tunnel -- and way more smoothly than we thought it would.  It actually didn't take that long.
I love this shot.  My dad took all the photos of us putting on the plastic, and he totally nailed it with this one.
Almost done!
Roll the plastic down, and as quickly as you can, attach it to the hip board.  Another aspect that went relatively smoothly and quickly. :)
Attach the plastic to the ends, trim off the excess, and voilĂ ! 

It's a thing of beauty.

From another angle...

OK, just one more.
 
They're so happy -- if only I had a photo of them now! They're practically at the top of the tunnel.
The high tunnel will allow us to grow greens all winter long, and we'll get a jump start on the growing season early in the spring. There you have it.  We started last fall and finished this spring.  It shouldn't take too long....and it's totally perfect...for our standards.