
The first bed to be covered with a polytunnel, 150 square feet of a broadcast-sowing of lettuce made in early September. Shown in the photo are the first row of rebar tunnel-supports, and the first of what will hopefully be many little clearcuts of salad throughout the winter.
Clement Colombain, my dear friend and the second handsomest man on Quadra Island, came over this morning to help me design and construct the first of four polytunnels. My many talents do not extend to the dark, mysterious realm of construction and engineering, and when confronted with a building project I generally rely on plastic twine and wire as my main tools and techniques. If the wire and twine don’t do the job my usual response is “f–k it I don’t need to build that bulls–t anyways” and I abandon the project forever. Needless to say, having Clement by my side during the initial stages of polytunnel construction helped immeasurably. Also, his delightful wife Sophie and three lively children showed up partway through the project and made us a delicious lunch with vegetables from the farm. Sometimes everything works out perfectly, and this was one of those times.

Clement using 2″ screws to affix the one-by-four support lumber to the pipe, and Sophie harvesting lettuce for lunch. I was taking a photo and not doing any actual work.

the first set of one-by-fours attached to the hoops. The span between hoops is about ten feet, and the sag was corrected later with wooden stakes driven into the bed and attached to the lumber halfway between each hoop.

the main tunnel frame with the Nassichuk Integrated Sag-Prevention System (NISPS) (patent pending) installed

The almost-complete tunnel. Tomorrow it will be tensioned, the sides weighted down with wood, and additional protection against wind installed.
Tagged: Construction, Fall and Winter Vegetables



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One Comment
Fancy!
E