What an exciting weekend, we got the greenhouse nearly built! And it’s a good thing, too, because we’ll be needing it to start seedlings very soon.
Saturday morning we were at the farm before 9 am to be there for our delivery of lumber and pvc. The greenhouse is 18′ by 32′. We built the ribs out of 1.5 inch sched. 40 pvc pipe.
We started by running string to square up the frame and decided not to worry about making the toe boards level as long as they were square and straight. We were on a deadline! We pounded 2′ rebar stakes into the ground on the outside of the 2×6 toe boards. 20′ pvc sections were glue together and then cut into 28′ lengths for the ribs. With Adrian’s help we were able to get the nine ribs up before sundown Saturday – clamping them to the insides of the toe boards and driving in 2×4 stakes to keep the toe boards from rolling in. We also go the purlin in place.
Saturday night was cold, dark and clear. We warmed our hands and bellies with some crockpot lentil stew and played Skip-Bo until an early bedtime.
Sunday morning was frosty and cold, a half moon hanging overhead in the early morning sky. We waited for the sun to hit the yard before getting started. We put the toe boards on the front and the back and staked them. Then we set to framing up the ends.
It took a little bit of work to figure out the specifics of what we were going to do and exactly how – but once that was settled it was smooth sailing. I didn’t even throw anything at Randy. Once we had out system worked out, framing up the second end took a fraction of the time.
We finished up with a little time to relax, clean up, and unload the van before hitting the road just after sunset – satisfied by an extrememly productive weekend and looking forward to the days very very soon when the farm will be home.
