November is the month of gray lead sky and bare trees we call stick season in Vermont. Though still beautiful it can be a bit melancholy. But not here this year. We started tearing down a small cold frame in order to rebuild in a different location so we can put up a new 30 x 80 foot high tunnel. In July,I received a letter from the USDA natural resource conservation service for this high tunnel, which was totally unexpected. Now I can have a high tunnel devoted to dahlias.
This was also bittersweet because it meant I had to restructure the farm to maximize field space. Change is always unsettling but after talking to my greenhouse builder we came up with a plan that would work. 
The field is a mess with mounds of dirt packed down soil from machinery. Which is heart wrenching watching my rich, fertile, top soil I have built over the years to be pushed aside. In order to make the site level and drain water away properly it has to be done. Due to rain rain and more rain the area is 6″ deep mud making it more difficult to build when its not raining. But it is coming together quickly when its not pouring rain.
So my motto has become. “By ripping this up we can build it better” We will have more flowers earlier in the season with the more field space under plastic. 
More : Anemones, Ranunculus, Lisianthus, Dahlias. Which is pretty exciting. We would love to hear your high tunnel building stories below.
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