Hi I'm Mike, today on the project list we continue working on the new high tunnel, we
will take a look at what we have completed this week and get a little further on a project
with a deadline on our Wyoming life.
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and the hard work behind it.
When it comes to work on the ranch you can find some of it on the board behind me, the
project list.
On this board we keep track of what needs done around the ranch, we cross things off
and we add to it but for the next couple of weeks we are concentrating on just one project.
The new high tunnel build.
Erin, my wife and market gardener is expanding her empire and this spring we are building
a brand new high tunnel.
Its 30 feet wide and 72 feet long and it's a ton of work to build.
The whole thing isn't horrible complicated.
Its made out of mostly 2-inch pipe but there are a lot of pieces and a lot of prep work
to be done before it really even starts to look like a high tunnel.
Erin uses her high tunnel to extend the growing season around here, our last frost date is
in late May and by October its cold to grow anything and garden season is done.
With the high tunnel she can take advantage of the shelter and the suns warmth to extend
the growing season up to 2 months on each end of the season.
In fact using the high tunnel she can now grow year round, producing spinach, radishes,
onions and carrots even in the coldest of winter months.
In order to keep growing her farmers market business there is only one way to do that
and that is with more gardens.
The logical place to start is another high tunnel, this will allow her to use one high
tunnel for more winter growing and the other for summer production without having to end
production early in one high tunnel to get ready for winter.
The plan is to plant summer crops in the new tunnel and some shorter to maturity crops
in the old one, that way the old tunnel can be ready in September to start growing crops
that will live over the winter.
But, I'm not gardener, that's Erin's department.
I am a builder, at least for the time being.
Turns out I'm a little bit of everything, builder, plumber, electrician, vet and manual
labor technician are all titles that can fall under the broad term of rancher.
Over the past week we have been finishing a bunch of prep work for the new tunnel.
The dirt work is near complete, we have a pad that is almost level, but more importantly
its packed in.
Once we have the base of the new high tunnel built then we be able to bring in more soil
and manure and get the garden inside ready to go but for now this is all we need for
dirt work.
We have started building the rafters that are going to go up soon, supporting the whole
structure.
We have been building them in the shop to make sure they are straight and level buy
building them on the shop floor.
Once one is completed we take it outside and pile them up.
We still have quite a few to build but we aren't to that point yet where we need them.
They are great thing to work at night and if the weather isn't cooperating but today
its beautiful out.
So we can get started laying out the building.
Our new building is 72 feet long and 30 feet wide and will be placed 30 feet from our existing
high tunnel.
The space in-between will create a microclimate that can be gardened as well.
Erin is out this morning to give me a hand in determining where exactly the corners of
the new high tunnel will be.
This is a crucial step and everything that we do past this point will rely on us getting
this part right.
Our new building has to be perfectly square, meaning the corners all have to be at 90 degrees,
if not then not only will it look weird but the plastic we lay over it at the end of the
project will buckle, it wont be strait and it will cause weak points in the structure.
We start by deciding where our first corner is going to be.
We measure 30 feet off the old high tunnel and drill a hole in the ground with the auger
mounted on the bobcat.
In this hole we will be placing our corner posts which will support the structure
Today we are going to be using a transit to get our elevations for our corner posts as
well, placing them all at the exact same height.
I actually went in with a neighbor and friend and together we bought this transit a few
years ago.
We share it and the arrangement works great as we both have use for one occasionally but
not enough to buy one ourselves.
A transit basically shoots out a laser beam from a rotating base, its picked up by the
sensor attached to this measuring stick that can help us figure out elevations based on
our initial reading, which we are going to take and the corner of the existing high tunnel.
Our posts after they are in the ground will be exactly 1 foot above grade, or the level
of the ground.
Based on the beeps from the transit we can tell if we are too high or too low and when
we get a solid tone we are dead on, that is the height that we need our corner posts to
be at.
We will measure it one more time to make sure we are still at our 30 feet from the existing
high tunnel and once we know that we are we can go ahead and add some concrete to the
hole and cement in the post.
Erin makes sure the whole thin is level and we can move to our next corner, this one 72
feet away.
Which we measure lengthwise, the off of the existing high tunnel again, giving us our
other corner.
We punch another hole, then measure again, checking our height of our post, making sure
everything is in place before adding more concrete and water and giving it a permanent
home.
Those two are the easy ones, our next one take some math.
We need a square building and the only way to guarantee that is to use Pythagorean Theory.
Think back to high school really quick and I'll try not to make either of our heads
hurt.
A squared plus B squared equals C squared.
We are 30 feet wide, 72 feet long.
And that makes our diagonal measurement 78 feet.
We measure it off again and now we know where our next corner goes.
The fourth corner goes in the same and now we have our corners for the new high tunnel
in place.
We let those set up for the day.
Along the long side of the tunnel are going to go 17 more posts.
But because we already have our ends set we can use string to mark the top of the posts
and the line in which they need to be placed.
The next thing on the list is to drill 17 new holes for the posts.
Using a string line we can mark a straight line in between our end posts.
A can of paint allows us to transfer that line to the ground and we can start marking
the placement of our holes.
One every four feet always the way down the side.
Because I'm buy myself now I will just a piece of wood to the space I need and use
it as a guide for marking where the holes are going to go.
Then using a stake I am going to make a small hole in the dirt where each post will go.
After firing up the bobcat again, the auger slides neatly into the holes I made with the
stake at keep it where I need each post hole.
Back in the shop I'm going to make another jig for holding the posts as we cement them
in.
They are 4 feet on center so a board with notches for the posts at 4 feet will make
sure I keep my spacing correct.
On site, I run two more string lines.
One more at the top of the posts and another on the backside.
This will ensure that each all the new posts we put in will be at the right height and
that they are all in line.
Each hole will get a 50 lb bag of concrete, of which we have just bought 64 bags to complete
this project.
17 are unloaded and put in place.
Using the jig we built position each post 4 feet from the last, check for level and
concrete them in.
All the way down the line.
Once this side is done its time to repeat for the other side, this time on the other
side.
But I'll spare you that.
Next week when we continue the project list, hopefully we will have a whole lot more done.
This is still the ground work, next up we will set up some high wind anchors to really
secure this sucker for the Wyoming wind load.
Then it will be time to start installing rafters, supports, end walls, roll up sides and the
cover.
There is a lot left to do and our time table may be behind but that's ok, the boss will
only yell at me and I'll take the heat.
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and of course more videos coming straight from the ranch.
Can't wait to see you.
Until next time, have a great week and thanks for joining us, in our Wyoming life.
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