Another whopper of a day yesterday. Started bright and early with my run to town for grain. I was out of the house a bit later but for the weekend it was ok. It was about 5:45 am when I dropped the empty barrels at the first brewery as the sunrise was coming up.
Then I dropped into downtown and grabbed the 2 barrels that were waiting for me. I got them into the truck bed as it is easier that way not having them on the trailer. I hauled ass home and dropped the trailer as soon as I got on the farm. I parked the truck with the grain until later in the morning.
So I had the idea of using a guide for the hole cutting and I made it. I just cut two 6" holes spaced 1 foot apart in the wood. I put the handle on it then went to lay out the plastic.
The plastic got laid out but only 2/3 of it as I didn't have the space to go a full 20 feet wide.
Then I started cutting holes with the hole saw. I used the guide for the first few holes but it took too long to move it each time so it got tossed to the side and I just used my feet either side of the holes to hold the plastic down as I went.
The hole saw is the most perfect tool for this job and the 2 foot drill extension made it really possible. I was able to cut all 350 holes per sheet of plastic without having to bend over and and kill my back. When I would cut holes before I would have to bend over and use a blade to cut each and every hole. They were never consistent and the rows were never evenly spaced. Now the holes are right on 1 foot spacing and the rows are all evenly spaced at 3 feet.
I got the 5 rows of holes cut then had to move the plastic around so I could get to the last two rows.
It too me 40 minutes to cut the 350 holes of the sheet and gather all the cut out pieces into the bucket. I gathered the sheet of plastic up and hauled it into the garden.
I took a break after the first sheet to go empty the grain barrels. I went with easy and just backed the truck up to the sheep pen where I dumped the last barrels. The sheep were super stoked and the birds all found their way over to the pile during the day.
After a short break I went out to get the 2nd sheet of plastic cut. Each sheet took me less time than the first but not by much. The first was 40 minutes and the second was about 35 minutes.
Once the 2nd sheet was all cut I drug the thing into the garden and laid it parallel to the rows.
The last of the sheets got laid out and I began the cutting.
30 minutes later I had the 1050th hole cut for the day.
This is what the hole saw looked like once I was done. The teeth are all but gone on it but it still cuts plastic. For $15 this was the best investment in a tool I have made in a LONG time. It saved me many hours of back breaking work having to cut all the hole with a blade.
After lunch it was time to mark out the footprint of the greenhouse so I could set the garden rows off the south side of it. I used my tape measures to square the corners by measuring the diagonal and the sides.
Then I got out my string line and wrapped the perimeter with it to make it really stand out. The size is going to be 12 feet wide by 40 feet long.
The next battle became dealing with the irrigation. I had a lot to rework. I removed 5 rows of irrigation that were where the greenhouse will be. I changed a couple zones and removed the fruit trees from their own.
The greenhouse will have its own valve/zone to make it easier on me.
It's handy that I am able to just swap the lines around and make everything work.
I was able to get the irrigation hooked up for the rows by the grapes. I ended up not needing one of the rows of the plastic as I had 7 cut but only needed the 6. The evenly spaced rows are like a dream come true.
By this point it was almost 4pm and I was toasted. Sunburned, hot, tired, and ready for a beer.
I got the fire going in the pit and got meat out to thaw. It took the fire a bit to get going well but he added cardboard helped push it.
With the amazing weather I got the deck ready for us to use. Pulled the umbrella and stand out, got the cushions on the chairs, moved the small table down and the plants all got shuffled. It is now ready for the next 6 months.
The burgers went on the grill a bit after 6pm and once done we all ate on the deck in the warm afternoon sun.
After a desperately needed shower I headed out to soak for a while. I wasn't able to stay in for too long though as my skin was being a bitchy.
This morning Man Utd is playing and hopefully will win against AVL. Last day of the PDC is on this morning as well. I have the rest of the main garden to lay out the irrigation for and get the plastic all spread out. It's crunch time now and I have a huge load of work to get done.
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