A New Skin Needed

In 2010, we put up our first high tunnel as part of a PFI field day.  We had plenty of help that made the experience go well (and relatively quickly).

Suddenly, it is 2016 - and the plastic is over 6 years old.  We've been incredibly fortunate that it is still intact (for the most part), but it would be folly to try to get one more Winter out of it. 

So - we are trying to get people together Sunday morning (early), September 11 to help us put a new skin on this building.  If you are interested, please send us a note and tell us that you are willing to help. 

Please contact us and let us know you will attend.  If you just show up, you (and we) may be disappointed.  Why?  Well, if we don't hear from enough people, we may cancel.  Your arrival in that case might be a bit awkward.

Why Sunday morning?

Well, there are some critical weather factors that come into play.

1. There can't be wind.
2. We really don't want to do this when it rains
3. If it gets too cold, pulling plastic isn't a good idea either.

It just so happens that Sunday AM should be sunny, with low wind.  Temps will be in the 50's, which is acceptable, even if you might personally find it chilly as compared to recent temperatures.

Rob and Tammy will be working on Saturday to pull off the old plastic and do some repairs prior to Sunday.  There is also some setup to do - such as setting up some scaffolding and finding ladders and materials so the process on Sunday morning will go smoothly.

Of course, if the weather changes OR if we don't get enough help OR if there is an unforeseen problem, we will have to reschedule.  But, the weather forecast for this time period hasn't changed for days and we'll do everything we can to avoid the unforeseen problem.

The real variable here is the number of helping hands.  Two people cannot do it.  Probably the absolute minimum will be eight.

These high tunnels have been an important part of our farm for some time now.  They provide us with on-farm crop insurance of a sort.  This year, the field tomatoes have taken a major hit, but, our high tunnel tomatoes are going strong.  Without them, we would likely be apologizing to our customers that we don't have much for tomatoes this year.  And, that fresh spinach many of you love in April?  Well, that's part of what these buildings do for us (and you).

Thank you for considering our request for help and we hope to see some of you on Sunday.