Monday
Jan032011
Light at the end of the (low) tunnel
Monday, January 3, 2011 at 6:36PM
Ahh - spring in December... well, back to reality with the 22 degrees this morning. It was great while we had those 50 degree hours over the New Year! And we made sure to take advantage of that on January 1 by initiating repairs on the low tunnel.
The work began by digging out a bunch of the slush half melted snow that was still on top and around the edges. You can see although there is a lot less snow in this photo - there's still a fair amount.
One of the challenges here was the fact that the ground was super saturated with rain before all the snow - so the melting snow generated muddy, slushy COLD puddles.
Hands got wet - then very cold... but it was great being out in that warm air since we knew it was fleeting.
Once we got all the snow of the Agribond and from around the base - we then focused on breaking the stones and wood out of the ice so we could hopefully remove the covering for reuse in the future on other plantings. (it worked!)
We then decided we should take some time and reflect on the amazing oasis of green that was revealed under the hoop when we removed the covering and took this picture.
Pok Choi, Swiss Chard, Lettuce... as well as some diakons, radishes and baby beets and other greens for an early spring harvest.
The entire length of the hoop - from older plantings to barely sprouted seeds seemed to be in very good shape - even with the breech we were taking the warm weather opportunity to fix. COOL!
After the old covering was off we then took a little time to bend some additional hoops out of the 1/2 EMT conduit. As you can see from previous posts there was a fair amount of sagging between the hoops - and we wanted to play it safe.
After measuring out some fresh Argibond covering in the barn we brought it out to the hoop - if you have ever had a calm day and done something like this - you know what comes next... Yup - the covering came out and the wind picked up. Always.
After fighting with the wind we managed to get the new fresh covering pulled tight over the hoops and held in place by our fieldstone anchors. Next to apply was the plastic greenhouse film - the part of the equation that had been missing up until now.
Here I must admit Kelli asked 5 times if I was cutting the length long enough on the plastic... and I could have used an extra foot... but she won't read this here (right). Anyhow - we got the plastic cut and pulled over the tunnel as the winds and rains of 1/1/11 picked up. Still it was in the 40's and that was enough to keep me outside and happy.
And the question - does this work? Well - I'd say the pictures above are suggesting yes... the fresh Pok Choi Kelli added to her stir fry tonight sugests yes... and the fact that tonight after I closed up the chickens I checked on the hoop and even though it was a windy 24 degrees out... there were little thawed droplets of water on the underside of the plastic.
Yeah - this is the way to do it! Only regret in this experiment so far - we didn't plant MORE!
The work began by digging out a bunch of the slush half melted snow that was still on top and around the edges. You can see although there is a lot less snow in this photo - there's still a fair amount.One of the challenges here was the fact that the ground was super saturated with rain before all the snow - so the melting snow generated muddy, slushy COLD puddles.
Hands got wet - then very cold... but it was great being out in that warm air since we knew it was fleeting.
Once we got all the snow of the Agribond and from around the base - we then focused on breaking the stones and wood out of the ice so we could hopefully remove the covering for reuse in the future on other plantings. (it worked!)
We then decided we should take some time and reflect on the amazing oasis of green that was revealed under the hoop when we removed the covering and took this picture.
Pok Choi, Swiss Chard, Lettuce... as well as some diakons, radishes and baby beets and other greens for an early spring harvest.
The entire length of the hoop - from older plantings to barely sprouted seeds seemed to be in very good shape - even with the breech we were taking the warm weather opportunity to fix. COOL!
After the old covering was off we then took a little time to bend some additional hoops out of the 1/2 EMT conduit. As you can see from previous posts there was a fair amount of sagging between the hoops - and we wanted to play it safe.
After measuring out some fresh Argibond covering in the barn we brought it out to the hoop - if you have ever had a calm day and done something like this - you know what comes next... Yup - the covering came out and the wind picked up. Always.
After fighting with the wind we managed to get the new fresh covering pulled tight over the hoops and held in place by our fieldstone anchors. Next to apply was the plastic greenhouse film - the part of the equation that had been missing up until now.
Here I must admit Kelli asked 5 times if I was cutting the length long enough on the plastic... and I could have used an extra foot... but she won't read this here (right). Anyhow - we got the plastic cut and pulled over the tunnel as the winds and rains of 1/1/11 picked up. Still it was in the 40's and that was enough to keep me outside and happy.
And the question - does this work? Well - I'd say the pictures above are suggesting yes... the fresh Pok Choi Kelli added to her stir fry tonight sugests yes... and the fact that tonight after I closed up the chickens I checked on the hoop and even though it was a windy 24 degrees out... there were little thawed droplets of water on the underside of the plastic.
Yeah - this is the way to do it! Only regret in this experiment so far - we didn't plant MORE!
Reader Comments (2)
Eskimo farming!
Kinda - but it stays quite warm under the rows now that we have the plastic on. The other day it was 25 in the morning and when I looked at the hoop - it had water (not ice) under the plastic.