Winter Greens from our High Tunnel

I can taste the fresh greens already! Why? Because the high tunnel is up and covered! It was a tough long process, but in the end we got it done.  We had to pull some long days, working into the night and starting before the sun came up, but when those greens are on the table, lightly dressed, we'll look back at all of the work with fond memories - I hope.  Mark and Harvey got us off to a good start, and Harvey hung with us through the project as electrician turned general labor, so we thank them both. The roll-up sides work great, but we have one other minor issue to work with on them, besides waiting on a new replacement temperature probe that the goats ate. Then the high tunnel will be auto-temperature controlled and the growing can start.

I've been so busy the past couple of weeks that I seem to just run from one task to the next which is great, and I love the work, but lately it feels like I go from one bump to the next.  We've been baling corn stalks for feed and for sale, but after about 30 bales I broke a couple of belts on the baler.  It looked like there was a rock that got between the belts and the baler so I ran to John Deere to drop the belts off to get them fixed and switched over to chopping stalks for a neighbor.  Then when the belts were done I switched back to baling only to run out of twine int he baler and have to run to town for more twine. Nothing major wrong, but every bump seems to make the jobs seem to run long.

The high tunnel is done! Okay, not actually done, but everything but the cover is on. Harvey DeGraw came over this week and wired the control box for the auto side curtains and we even tested the motors.  We missed the warm, sunny, windless days by one day, so we're waiting on a day that fits that description to pull the plastic over the top. Its been a long building process, but I think we're ready to go as soon as the weather cooperates.

Today I should be hauling corn for a neighbor.  He combined my corn for me and we did really well. The corn hybrids these days are amazing, the way that they can handle the drought and still produce a decent yield.  George will finish baling stalks today.  We should have well over 100 large round bales.