Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting one of our favorite guests here in Williamson. Terry Hudson, from Hudson Farms. Over the winter, as I mentioned in a previous blog, we had some trouble with our high tunnels.
Due to a huge storm, ice had fallen on the high tunnels and snow collected on it, which caused the high tunnel to collapse. We let the tunnels stay throughout the summer, despite the way that they looked, allowing for natural rainfall to water our plants.
Now, finally, as winter rapidly approaches, we have fixed them. And, as you can see from the pictures below, OSHA may or may not have approved of the conditions.
There are a few things that I have learned about high tunnels and I thought it would be worth sharing.
- Brace the tunnels for winter! Terry Hudson said this would be as simple as getting a few pieces of lumber to place under the PVC
- Order everything in bulk. Whether it be wiggle wire, screws, plastic or supplies for the drink line- you are always bound to need more of it at some time in the future. It ends up being cheaper to have it all shipped at once
- AM Leonard & Growers Supply are currently my Go-To suppliers for plastic, drip irrigation supplies, wiggle wire and channeling, but if you know of others that are cheaper please feel free to share ideas!!
- You can never have enough ladders. We do not currently own one for our for the garden, and so I am constantly having to borrow them. This will definitely be an investment next year
- Furring strips are your best friends during the winter. Screwing them on the backs and sides will help keep the plastic from blowing in the harsh winter nights
That’s all I’ve got for today. Maria Arnot in Williamson acting like an expert on high tunnels 🙂
Mark Walden here from Grow Appalachia central.
Maria sounds like you guys are trying to come up with inventive ways to solve your problem with the tunnels.
I/WE believe that there are some serious draw backs to using PVC as your main structural material. PVC is not designed to receive any structural load other than internal expansion. An alternative which will cost a little more is galvanized pipe – the same type of pipe used for chain link fence construction. This is the material Grow Appalachia uses to manufacture NRCS funded tunnels. The cost difference would easily be covered in the loss of one years plastic to collapse. As I am very clumsy- I would also caution using lumber to prop up the bows – if the ice and snow has built up on the tunnel and someone accidentally knocks out a support the collapse of the roof could be deadly. So please consider beefing the supports up -I just do not want anyone to get hurt. Thanks for the supplies recommendations… here are a couple we use and find the prices hard to beat. Martins Produce supplies, Liberty KY 606-787-9389 and Nolt’s Produce supplies Leola, PA 717-656-9764 they do not have websites but if you call they will send a detailed/priced catalog for free. If anyone has questions about high tunnels we have some great resource links on our tunnel page https://growappalachia.berea.edu/high-tunnels/ look on the right and there is a button labeled resources. Good luck and keep it growing!MW