From the field: The high tunnel is going up
Hannah Alden, Reporter, The Record-Review This week will be an exciting one on the farm as we get our high tunnel put up. I have been looking forward to this project since we first moved here last year.
A high tunnel, a structure with end walls and hoops covered with plastic, is similar to what many people would classify as a greenhouse. Although when I think of a greenhouse, I imagine something with permanent walls and more of a solid structure, a lot of people use the terms interchangeably.
This installation will be a very important one for my vegetable operation. As I’ve wrote about before, without a high tunnel I have been trying to manage all of my seedlings living inside our garage and a tiny backyard greenhouse. While I’ve figured out some ways to make the current situation work, there’s a lot that can go wrong, mostly because the young plants aren’t getting the proper light and temperature changes.
Unfortunately due to this, I have lost some plants and also haven’t been able to keep up on my seeding schedule as I’d hoped because we simply don’t have enough room to accommodate everything at once. A high tunnel will alleviate these issues and I’m very excited to move plants into it when it’s complete.
In addition to a sheltered area for seedlings, the high tunnel is a great way to extend the growing season. If I’d been able to build the structure last year, I’d already have crops planted in the high tunnel. In the spring, if the weather isn’t ideal to begin outdoor planting on time, farmers can get things started in the high tunnel. With that same idea, once the weather starts getting too cold at the beginning of winter, there are crops that will still thrive in the high tunnel.
Putting up this structure will not be an easy feat, but I’m lucky to have a resourceful group of family and friends coming to help. I’m also grateful to have been awarded a Natural Resources Conservation Service grant to aid in the funding of this project.
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Last week I spent some time photographing Edgar High School students participating in the school’s Community Service Day. Students spent a good portion of their day doing things like washing fire trucks, helping with yard work and creating hats for cancer patients.
It’s always inspiring to see people joining together for a cause. Many of the students I saw were enthusiastically participating in their projects. I was told this is the second year they’ve done a Community Service Day, but that the hope is to keep it going as an annual occurrence. I will be taking photos later this week at a similar event in Marathon. Students there will be participating in Better World Day with activities like building bat houses and doing trail clean up.
