Hi I'm Mike, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
We are almost done, a few steps left and granted they are big ones but soon Erin will be planting
in her brand new high tunnel as we continue the high tunnel build, on our Wyoming life
Welcome back to the project list, usually the list consists of things added to this
board behind me.
A list we keep in the shop of things that need done around the ranch.
Each week we cross things off the list and each week we add to it.
Its one of those fighting up hill both ways kind of things but without it, something could
easily slip through the cracks.
We have branding coming up very soon, and I have already started a new list of things
that I have to get done before we brand, we are going to try to squeeze in a few days
of vacation next week also and branding is scheduled for only two days after we get back.
This is a busy time with tight time tables and I can't say I'm a huge fan of it.
Like I said the project list usually consists of things on this board behind me, but for
the last few weeks, its pretty much consisted of on item on this list.
Erin's new high tunnel.
A high tunnel is kind of like a greenhouse but at the same time, nothing like a green
house.
Its only a single layer of plastic protecting the inside from the out.
With no heat it relies on the sun to heat the inside and keep everything inside healthy
and warm.
For most plants, its only a season extender.
Allowing Erin to plant earlier and grow certain crops longer inside the warmer environment.
We started this new high tunnel with the hopes that we could complete it within a couple
of weeks, we are beyond that now, over schedule and I'm sure over budget but we are getting
closer to the end.
This week we hit it pretty hard, after some weather delays.
With all the ribs in place and secured together its now time to start adding wood to the structure.
Our lumber is delivered by our local lumber yard and includes pressure treated 2x6's,
regular 2x4s and 2x6s and osb sheeting.
This lumber will make up our end walls of the tunnel and side rails, which we will get
started on first.
The bottom rail of lumber is called the baseboard.
This board is 2x6 pressure treated lumber.
It will be exposed to the outside elements, rain, snow and wind and pressure treated lumber
will hold up better against these attacks.
Because we can't get one that is 72 feet long locally, we are working with 16-foot
pieces.
That means we are going to have to splice boards together and in order to do that we
have to do a little planning.
We want our splices to fall in-between ribs of the tunnel, so the first board we put up
we are going to have to cut to make that happen, each rib is 4 feet on center and in order
to get this board to end in the center of two of them all we have to do is cut off 2
feet.
Then we are up and rolling.
This baseboard serves two purposes.
One is that it prevents the entire structure from sinking further into the ground.
With all the concrete that we used I can't see that of being much of an issue here but
if you were working in a soil that could become saturated and move its definitely something
you would want to think about.
The other purpose of the base board is to give the roll up sides something to rest against
when they are down, and to give a support structure for the roll up sides of the high
tunnel, we aren't quite there yet but soon we will be.
The baseboard goes together rather smoothly and we work down the line, breaking out the
clamps for an extra set of hands that I don't have.
At the end of the first side, Erin come over from where she was working in the gardens
to lend a hand.
The instructions tell you to put your anchors on before this step, however if you were building
your own high tunnel, I would say put on the baseboards first, that way you don't have
to take you anchors back apart to move them out of the way as you bolt the baseboard to
the frame.
With that side done, its time to do the other.
Very much in the same way, cutting our first board to length to stagger out our joints
and then rolling down the line.
Our next side board to install is what is called the ribbon board.
This will be another pressure treated 2x6 as again it will be exposed to the outside
environment.
This board is almost exactly like the baseboard.
The only difference is that it is up the side of the ribs on the tunnel.
5 feet 6 inches up to be exact.
I'm a big fan of using jigs to make my life easier, I hate measuring the same thing over
and over so I cut a couple of pieces of scrap lumber to help us with our distance, using
the base board as a starting point we can put these pieces in place and use them to
hold up the 16-foot 2x6.
Once again, we move down the line, bolting each piece of lumber into the frame of the
high tunnel.
This ribbon board will make up the top of the roll up side and will also be where the
plastic that goes over the top of the tunnel will be attached along each side.
With all of the side rails in place now we can splice them together, using the same lumber
and utilizing all of our scraps we can cut 3-foot boards to attach the splices together.
These boards are then attached to each splice using screws that are just a little bit too
long, but that's ok, we can grind them off later.
We screw through both sides to make sure the whole thing is secure and going to stay that
way.
Our next step in construction is to begin building the end walls but before we close
up the ends we want to get the soil inside the tunnel up to snuff and we start that part
of the project now.
Our soil here is naturally very sandy and we are going to amend the soil using aged
manure and peat moss.
First thing we do is bring in some extra soil to fill in any low spots.
Although most of this can be done with the bobcat, hand work is still needed with a landscape
rake to push the soil into the edges and even it out.
More top soil is brought in and then we can run though it to till those two components
together.
The next ingredient in our soil sandwich is manure.
Aged manure and compost.
This pile has been cooking for about 3 years it's a mixture of straw and manure that
will be perfect to loosen the soil.
Manure also produces increased soil carbon, which is an important source of energy that
makes nutrients available to plants.
Other benefits of manure include reduced runoff and leaching of nitrates in the soil which
is a problem that we deal with a lot due to the sandy nature of our natural soil structure.
The mixture of manure and compost is shuffled in from the pasture and piled close by, then
with the bobcat we start bringing it in.
Where it is deposited evenly across the area, then its spread by hand, just a little bit
to make sure there are no big chucks and could potentially deposit to much nitrogen in one
spot and after we are satisfied it can be tilled in.
The last step in soil amendment is peat moss.
Peat moss is added to soil to adjust the PH of our soil.
Our natural soil has a PH of about 7 which is neutral.
Tomatoes and peppers which Erin will plant in this tunnel, like a little bit more acidic
soil, so adding peat moss will bring that pH slightly more to the acidic side of things.
Peat moss is compacted into bales such as these, each at 3 cubic feet.
The nice thing is that it expands when you open it.
The bad thing is that they are pretty dang heavy.
The bobcat helps and we can open bags into the bucket, breaking up all the chunks and
then spreading it out over the soil.
Last but not least, we till it in.
Completing our soil structure and giving us a nice fluffy and nutrient rich bed for all
of Erin's new plants, begging to get in here.
And soon enough they will be in here.
All that is left is to build the end walls, that's the last big step, then its adding
plastic and roll up sides and that's pretty much it.
Erin can be planting and all those plants still living in the garage will finally be
out in the wild.
Well a very nice, controlled wild.
Kind of like a zoo for plants.
Maybe that's all gardens are….
zoos for plants.
Thanks for hanging in there with us, we are on the home stretch and when we are done,
the smiles will be wide and the drinks will flow, and we will move on to the next thing,
probably without missing a step.
Its live stream week so be sure to join us on Thursday night at 7pm mountain time.
We will have the winner our current giveaway going on for that FLIR ONE PRO thermal imager
and we will be taking your questions so we hope to see you there.
Until then, have a great week and thanks for joining us in our Wyoming life.
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