Warming up!

So in that last post, Maryellen was referring to the fact that the greenhouse plastic has gone up!

The greenhouse house has two layers of plastic, each of which are 48' x 96'. The plastic comes in these big rolls that weigh between 200-300 lbs. The way you get the plastic on the house is to hoist a roll up to the top ridge pole on the frame, tack one end of the roll to the endwall, and then two people climb up on the frame (like a jungle-gym), and walk the roll along the length of the ridge pole (all the time balancing your body on the purlins), until the plastic is unrolled. And then you do it again with the second roll, which is a little harder, because you have to try and work on top of the first roll. Once both the rolls are unrolled, everyone pulls the plastic down the sides, and battens it down to the hip boards and baseboards.

If it sounds a little hairy, well, that's because it was. Our friends Richard, Kurt, and Tom (of Tom, Dana, Ethan, and Emma fame) came over to help, and it wouldn't have happened without them. Richard has eight of his own greeenhouses, so he largely directed the operation and he kept our confidence up. Kurt and I were the ones climbing across the top with these heavy rolls, and Tom and Richard secured the ends and bases.

Afterward, I covered the endwalls in plastic and put a door in. There is still a lot of work to do (i.e., putting in heat, thermostats, vents, etc.). But I have to be honest -- for some reason I am surprised each time this project moves ahead another step. I am just psyched that we have even come this far.