Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[dhondt <dhondt@eircom.net>]

First I weld a ground frame that does not need water pipe cover. 6, 8 or 9 meters length and 4 wide with an extra connection every 2 meters of the length. Then I make a top bar 1 meter longer than the length of the tunnel so that we end up with a sloping overhang at the end. And then 6 meter lengths of rebar are welded on in the middle to the top bar every meter. I put a 95 cm of water pipe over every section before welding on the next length. After that is finished I put sections of 3/4 '' water pipe almost (to keep the plastic away from the point I will be welding) 3 meter long over all the "legs" still flat on the ground at that stage.
Next stage is to bend all the legs slowly so that the ends of the legs touch the frame and then I weld the end of the legs on the ground frame.
You can bend 1/2'' rebar with a jerk and then it will stay bend but if you do it slowly it remains under tension and stronger.
The last legs are only 1/2 a meter from the next uprights so that the ends of the tunnel are slightly bent downwards.
After that I make a doorway with more water pipe covered rebar.
Then we use small lengths of water pipe slit open length wise to finish the legs and the top bar and doors. You need to keep some space or you will be burning a lot of plastic with the welding.
To keep the plastic cladding in place we use 1'' water pipe slit open length wise that fits like a very tight glove over the 3/4 '' pipe. This is only necessary around the doors.
A 4 meter wide tunnel with 6 meter long "legs" is almost 2 meters high. If you want a higher tunnel it is probably easiest to make the frame less wide instead of making the legs longer. I have done that with one 4 m wide tunnel but we then needed some vertical supports in the middle of the tunnel, welded to the top and the ground frame at the bottom.

All this weighs less than 100 kg so it can be easily moved by 4 people. And with the plastic in place these tunnels have withstood near hurricanes.
John

On 13/11/15 14:58, herb farmer wrote:

5645FAAF.6000506@lobo.net" type="cite">

Sure sounds doable. I guess the rebar is bent to the right curvature & stays that way, & there can be several good reasons to be able to move it.

On 11/12/2015 11:48 AM, dhondt wrote:

5644DEEF.8050404@eircom.net" type="cite"> I made the first tunnel like this almost 20 years ago and it is still standing with the original plastic although one of our dogs made a big hole in a corner of it. We were building a barn at the time and the weather was atrocious and I needed a quick shelter to be able to weld and paint in the dry. That tunnel was 9 meters long. High tensile rebar steel comes in 6 meter lengths here so there was a bit of welding involved in this too.
Advantage is that the tunnel frame can be moved with a very few people in one piece. Place tunnel frame where you want it. Dig a foot and a half deep trench all around half a meter away from the frame and in that the stretched plastic sheet is buried. The whole tunnel will bend a bit in high wind but it springs back up to its original position.
One of the first things I did when we moved now a year ago is build 6 of these tunnels.
John

On 12/11/15 03:42, herb farmer wrote:

56440AA5.2020603@lobo.net" type="cite">
 GREAT. I can always learn more.

On 11/11/2015 3:34 PM, dhondt wrote:

5643C277.70608@eircom.net" type="cite"> A bit cheaper than what I build here out of 1/2''rebar covered in 3/4 '' water pipe. Even with that our tunnels (4 by 8 meters and about 2 meters high) get a rough life in high winds but we utterly depend on them for tomatoes, cucumbers and many other crops that would not produce outside.
We also use "low tunnels", called cloches here, consisting of two metal bars bent in a letter A shape that take a sheep of corrugated clear plastic(8 foot long). The legs of the letter A push about a foot into the ground and this can easily be moved to another spot. Several units can be put out in a closed line and with a perspex door at each end are quite wind proof.
John

On 11/11/15 13:40, herb farmer wrote:

5643453B.3000108@lobo.net" type="cite">

Make an Easy, Inexpensive Mini-Greenhouse With Low Tunnels

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/garden-tools/mini-greenhouse-zm0z13fmzkin.aspx?newsletter=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=11.11.15%20MEN%20DIY%20eNews&utm_term=DIY%20eNews

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland

_______________________________________________
Livingontheland mailing list
Livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/livingontheland