I spent October 2024 building this high tunnel. A lot of times the hardest part of a project is getting started. After figuring out how, exactly, this would fit, I measured several times began setting the corner posts.

If you look at the irrigation layout video, you can see there used to be a maple tree where we put this tunnel. We didn’t initially plan to build a tunnel here. We like to say the tree sacrificed itself for the farm. (It also may have died years ago. We moved in after the trees had shed their leaves.)

For more photos of the build, including many of the helpful hands, check out our October 2024 gallery.

We were able to squeeze this 24’x48’ tunnel in front of our seedling tunnel. Originally, a maple tree was standing in this location. However, after we moved in, we realized the tree was dead, so we removed it and built our 4th tunnel in the last remaining space we had inside our deer fence.

This 24'x48' protected growing space fills in the remaining arable land inside our 1-acre farm and represents a 50% increase in our tunnel beds.

I began by plowing the sod, adding lime to raise the pH, tarping the soil to kill the grass, and then shaping the beds with a walk-behind tractor. I then measured and set the four corners, ensuring the rectangle was perfectly square.

Next, my friend Keith Hollister and my nephew Colton Kief helped pound the 26 posts into the ground, and I used a transit to ensure the structure was level, left-to-right. Once all the ground posts were installed, my friends Edward Stettinius and Ian Reid hoisted the bows into place and secured the center purlin along the length of the tunnel's peak. My friend Brody helped me add a couple more purlins along the length of the structure, Keith helped add corner bracing, my friend Billy helped install the baseboards, and I framed the two end walls.

Lastly, Keith and I installed the end wall sheathing, and Mark Townsend, Helana Zagami, and Doron Tadmor helped Shoshana Nachman and I fasten the roof into place. Knowing Helana, I left some of the 2x10 baseboards off, so she could use the framing gun to nail them together. As I suspected, she's a natural carpenter!

After the tunnel was built, we weeded the stale seedbeds; added compost; and sowed carrots, beets, red kale, and arugula. We'll harvest these crops from mid-winter through early spring, and then prepare the beds for our 2025 summer tomatoes.

A huge shout out to all of these wonderful and kind folks who shared their time and expertise throughout this build. Shoshana and I are so grateful to have this network in the DC-Baltimore area. Our farm would not look or function the same without all of the invaluable contributions from our community. Whether it's a breakfast delivery, light-hearted joke during a physically demanding task, an extra set of hands, or positive words of encouragement, we've been blown away by all the support we've received over the past two years.