New Low Tunnels and an Update

The new low tunnels are done. And one has been planted with heirloom melons, lettuce and salad mixes, and herbs. This is what the new tunnels look like:

I've also been getting the sub-irrigated planters ready and the tomatoes and peppers that I started inside are really taking off. I should be able to put some of the pepper and tomato plants out in the second tunnel within the next few days.

Hoophouse and the Snow

We had about 4 inches of very heavy snow last night and I awoke to this sight:

I don't know how extensive the damage is yet. When the snow melts I'll be able to check it out, but I'm starting to think that I need to rethink this. Between the heavy winds that we've had lately and the snow I'm not so sure that a hoophouse is the way to go here on the Palmer Divide. I think that I may redesign the beds to incorporate low tunnels instead.

I'm so glad that I hadn't planted anything in the hoophouse yet.

Seed Starting - Tomatoes and Peppers

Here are some pictures of my seed starting set up. The metal rack I purchased from Lowe's on sale at half price. The 4 foot shop light with grow bulbs I've had for several seasons. The seeds are started in recycled plastic takeout trays.

Some of the tomato plants need to be repotted. I think that I'll take care of that today.

Covering the Hoophouse

It was a little windy today but I managed to get the hoophouse covered.

Also, I've put together a few more subirrigated planting buckets in addition to the ones that I had last year.

I may be able to get some seeds planted in the hoophouse in the next few days.

Raised Beds in the Hoophouse

Yesterday I finished leveling the raised beds that I made of old 2x4's. If the weather cooperates I will fill the beds with soil mix today. I was unable to find the size sheet of clear visqueen plastic that I needed for the covering for the hoophouse locally so I had to special order it online. It should be arriving sometime next week. This is what the hoophouse looked like this morning.

 
We had a little snow overnight. Springtime in the Rockies!

Hoop House

We've installed the pvc ribs for the hoop house. It's based on the instructions from The Westside Gardener http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html . I've laid out the 2x4's that I'm using to make raised beds in the hoop house. The ground has already been rototilled. Here are pictures of what we have now: 

When the beds are finished and filled with planting mix we'll cover it with 6mil clear plastic sheeting.

Compost Tumbler

Just finished building the compost tumbler. It was based on several plans that I found on the internet. The internal portion of the tumbler is from http://www.dixiegrilling.com/tumbler.htm. I used a 32 gallon Rubbermaid trash can for the bin and some old redwood 4x4's for the base. Here's a picture of the finished tumbler.