We finished building the high tunnel yesterday!  Now we can focus on taking care of the plants we already have growing inside the high tunnel and also getting our winter crops in the ground.

I have been busy starting with soccer two-a-days but I will post pictures of the completed high tunnel soon.

Had to post this picture that I took during the sunset last evening.  This might be the picture I submit to the photo contest at FarmTek.  I was trying to get finished building the high tunnel but it looks like I will miss their photo contest deadline by about 4 days.

I started working on hanging the North door on Friday but I didn't get finished.  I had the door screwed down across the top but I didn't have the sides attached, so I fastened the sides to the posts with bungee cords, to get us through Friday nights wind and lightning storm.

It looks like I took this picture during daylight but actually I took the picture the same time we had a flash of lightning...

Without lightning...

I started back to work on the North door, Saturday morning.  I was 9 screws away from finishing the installation of the door and my drill bit snapped and what was left of the drill bit jumped over and went through my right hand, in the back of my hand and out the front.  I hate going to the hospital, and I wouldn't have gone this time either, but I couldn't remember the last time I got a tetanus shot.  It doesn't hurt, it's just a little sore.

We got the cover over the top installed yesterday.  We couldn't have been able to do it without the help from my wife Rene, son Spencer, my Mom and Dad and my Uncle Mike and Aunt Lynda.  It took 3 tries to get it over the top and secured, we didn't have much wind but even a little bit played havoc with the big sheet of plastic.

As you can see, we have a bit of a yellowjacket problem.

This is how full the trap was after being up for only 5 hours.

I got the 6x6 posts and beams bolted together and yesterday I got the South door installed.

I have been making some major improvements over the past couple weeks but I haven't been posting the updates to the blog, so I will post a few pictures here and try to give a little explanation to each one...

 Spencer and I installed the baseboard along the two long sides of the high tunnel.

 I got the 4 ground anchors attached and buried.

 I did a 2" deep notch in the 6x6 posts to set the beam for the 10' tall doors on the ends.

 The tractor made it possible for me to set the 20' long 6x6 by myself.

 I was pretty relieved to get this beam in place, but I couldn't find the brackets to secure the ends.  They were 4x4 brackets anyway so I ordered larger brackets to use on the 6x6s.  It will take a couple days for them to get here.

 I installed the ribbon board and the two runs of U-channel.

I got the 6x6 brackets yesterday afternoon so I got right to work this morning.  It seemed like several things were working against me today.  First, the left 6x6 post had a twist in it so I had to take the beam out of the right side and square it into the notch on the left side, so I can install the bracket and then pull the beam back into place and take the twist out of the post.  Second, it hasn't rained in 4 weeks, it decided to rain today, I'm not complaining, we need the rain but it could have come at a less stressful time.  Third, just as soon as I got the beam out of the right post and squared into the left post, I was walking to the house to get the drill set up and ready to drill the holes for the bracket and set the lag bolts... THE POWER WENT OUT!  Couldn't have happened at a worse time, I have the tractor holding up the loose end of the 20' beam and I need to be quick about securing the left side in the beam pocket.  Instead of using the big drill to get through this quickly, I have to drill out the holes with the cordless drill (with the battery dying) and then set the lag bolts with a socket and ratchet, I got the bracket installed after nearly an hour and pulled the beam back into place on the other end, taking most of the twist out of the left post.  Now it is on to getting the other bracket installed and then setting the beam on the other end of the tunnel.

My goal is to be finished with this project by August 17th.  Soccer season starts on August 19th and I will be too busy to work on building the high tunnel.