Look at that sunset from last night!!
Summer is in full swing here! I heard reports last night that it is actually "the hottest summer on record"- not sure how true that is, but I can confirm: it is hot!!.
As you know if you're been following us for any length of time, we are setting up a high tunnel that we got a grant for. We'll be sharing the Step by Step process of clearing the land (see post below),
Layout (today's post), and other aspects of the setup.
The land is fruiting with abundance and it encourages us to continue planting perennials! We've been loving eating some of the thornless blackberries (on second year canes) and blueberries (planted this year!), all the while trying to stay cool.
It's been beautiful out though as evidenced by the gorgeous blue sky!
Today in High Tunnel news, we finished clearing the land in the last week, and Ini's been "de-rocking"- that very technical Ozark land-practice....
The High Tunnel parts are laying in wait and we are getting closer each day to assembling them, but first we need to layout the high tunnel and drill holes for posts....
This is the Auger Ini went to town early this morning to rent so that we could actually drill up to 3' deep and set the high tunnel side wall posts into concrete. We've dug enough holes on this homestead to know that this auger will be well worth it!! We have it for the weekend, so we're trying to work smart and fast to get what we need to get done finished (and maybe a few other post holes dug here and there ;))!
We need to dig 18 holes for the high tunnel!
Here is a view of the annual garden (with a hedge of Persimmon, lemon balm and yes some "weeds" that the high tunnel will abut. Just to the right of this pic is where the high tunnel is going (for some context.)
Ini also picked up a magnetic level. This will come in handy!
We put these two of these posts in the ground as our 2 main points at 30 ft apart. Then we used a triangulation method to account for the hypotenuse (high school math! more on this below!)....
It's crucial that the layout is done right. To make sure we are square, we use our high school math skills.
Just about the only thing we use from this period is this simple trigonometry. The basics is a 3-4-5 triangle, where the square root of the long side is equal to the square roots of the other two side combined (A²+B²+ = C²). You can use this ratio to make right angles and correctly square the layout. Luckily the short side is 30' so it made the layout a little easier.
After a few back and forth with the 100' measuring tape, we had equal measurements from corner to corner. We then drove corner posts and ran a string line. Next up is marking a spot every 6' for the sidewall posts and to get digging!
As we were doing this today, I found my first arrowhead!
I've been looking and looking for arrowheads basically every time I'm outside so to look to the ground and see one as I was holding the tape measure today was such a pleasant surprise. Ini found one last week while he was digging for potatoes (actually he found a spear point!), but I'll save that for another post! It's very cool to be on our land connected with ancient indigenous humans who also frequented this space.... It brings another sacred element to our connection with the land and brings up questions about their lives and what the land must've been like...
Ini was pretty stoked for me.
Stay tuned as we drill the holes and set the posts in concrete!
Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a great weekend!
