One of the biggest projects we've tackled on our farm is the construction of a 30'x95' high tunnel that we purchased with assistance from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). NRCS is a branch of the USDA and has programs that help farmers implement conservation practices on their farms.
This tunnel took a lot of heavy lifting, thousands of screws and bolts and fasteners, and a ton of hours to complete. We definitely underestimated how long this would take to put together. We had to borrow a tractor with fork lifts to lift the roof arches in place. We also had to rent a lift so we could fasten the roof purlins to the roof arches. Plus constructing end walls and framing out doors and putting together the pulley system for the side wall curtains.
The last part of the project was to pull the end wall and roof plastic into place. This was also a huge under taking and required our whole staff to do. We had to wait for a calm day and even with a light 5mph breeze the plastic needed to be secured temporarily while we pulled it into place. This part of the project took longer than expected too and we even had to cancel our Thursday farmers market date due to how long it took. We've almost never canceled a market date!
We're glad this project is complete. The new tunnel will house some summer lettuce and our winter crops for our winter CSA. Then, next spring, the tunnel will house our early season beets, carrots, kohlrabi and more! We can't wait to start harvesting crops out of this new tunnel!
