High Tunnels R Us? (Gang of Four)

Every time I talk about the high tunnels on our farm with someone who is not a grower, I have this little voice in my head saying, "Who named these things 'high tunnels' anyway?  Everyone is thinking it's a hole in the ground and they just can't quite fathom why I would be so happy to be growing produce in one of them."

In any event, it seems as if high tunnel repair and construction have been a thing this Fall with us.  First, we received all kinds of wonderful help to put new plastic on our older building.  Among those helping were some of our Gang of Four friends along with CSA members, Wartburg College students and others interested in our farm.

On September 25, we rolled on down to Blue Gate Farm to help them with their new high tunnel building.  The short story - they had another one, but the wind huffed and it puffed and it blew it down.

the vertical poles were already in place when we arrived

There are always parts to jobs like this where just having enough willing people is what is needed for some success.  The ribs of the building come in three parts that needed to be put together.  Once they were together, we could move them into position so they were lined up with corresponding verticals.

They be strong people!  Nice work Jennie and Jill.

Like many things, it took a bit for us to figure it all out.  But, once we did, things started moving fairly quickly.  Most of us have been involved in building/repairing this sort of thing before, so we aren't clueless.  On the other hand, we don't put these things up EVERY day, so there is always a little bit of a "re-learning/re-discovery" curve that needs to be climbed.

Oh, maybe they aren't so heavy - Rob's helping to carry one.

We put up four ribs first just to get the process down.  After that, we just got the ribs constructed and moved them all into place. 

Put the tall guy on the ladder.  Good idea.

Sometimes, it the rib didn't want to settle into the vertical.  As a result, Tammy was able to get an interesting series of pictures.

Right side is in, now for the left.

Jill is amazed.  Rob's feet are actually OFF the ground.

Mark says, "I bet I can get my feet further off of the ground!"

Hey!  Bending your knees is CHEATING!  No fair!

After struggling a bit with the third rib, things got progressively easier as we figured out tricks to make things go smoother.  If you look closely at the picture above, you can see that Jill is holding a three-pound hammer.  It can be a pretty good persuader.  That, and Rob learned how to throw his weight around with a bit more authority?  Whatever, it worked out pretty well.

Look Jill, I don't think bent knees should count against me.  I clearly got further off the ground.

Hey Sean, did you see Mark?  He cheated to show Rob he could get his feet further off the ground.

Apparently, Sean did not care too much about that drama.

Once the ribs were in place, we needed to start attaching purlins and bracing for the ribs.  Happily, GFF had some scaffolding that they could bring down, which helped at least a little bit as we started work on that. 

The hardest part with all of this is the distance we all have to travel in order to do these projects.  We made excellent headway, but we all wish we could have gotten further on the project.  Nonetheless, we also know from experience that every little bit of help gets you closer to your goal.