In our family, shopping is often referred to as "hunting and gathering." Sounds like more fun, right? Actually, I believe one of my daughters (known to family insiders as "Girly") came up with the phase to make shopping sound more appealing to the males in the family.
I'm not much of a shopper. I remember once going out to buy a new pair of winter boots. I went to the nearest shoe store, bought the first pair of boots I tried on (they were on sale!), and was back home in about 45 minutes. Barb looked at me and said, "That's no fun. You just don't know how to shop." But here's the proof that she was right... 10 years later I still have, and wear, the boots.
On the other hand, what could be more fun (for a guy) than a trip to a home improvement store for lumber, pipe and screws? If you read Chapter 1, you already know the answer: five trips to the home improvement store for lumber, pipe and screws!
Some of my extra trips were because of details I forgot, like the hinges for the doors. Some were because of "audibles" - design changes in the middle of the project. And one design change turned out to be a very bad idea that cost yet another trip and a couple of days extra work. More on this in the next chapters as a share my lessons learned.
Back to my hunting and gathering. As I said in Chapter 1, I bought almost all my supplies at Lowes. This is not an endorsement of one home improvement center over another - over the years I have spent a lot of time and money at Home Depot and Menards, just to name a few. However, Lowes has their corporate offices in the town where I work, and they employ a lot of people in our area. And their store is the closest to my house, making multiple trips less of a hassle. Isn't it nice how this all works out?
There was one item on my shopping list that I forgot to mention in Chapter 1. In my research and planning phase, I learned that it was a good idea to install two layers of plastic, with a small fan to blow air between the two layers. This creates a layer of air that acts as insulation and helps hold in heat during cold winter nights. In addition, the fan "inflates" the structure and holds the plastic taut, which reduces the potential for damage from high winds.
Alas, when I got to Lowes I discovered that they did not carry a fan that would serve this purpose. This called for another audible. I decided I would get the first layer of plastic installed, thus protecting our plants from the first threat of frost, and order a fan. When it arrived, I would install the fan and the second layer of plastic.
So first thing Monday, I began researching fans. I pulled out my favorite farm supply catalog, from a company in Iowa called FarmTek. Their catalog, dare I say it, is farm porn. To a hobby gardener like me it is also a bit overwhelming. So I pulled up their website and began searching for "greenhouse fans." What came up were large fans for ventilating huge greenhouses like the ones in my dreams. So I used their online chat feature and found that what I wanted was an Inflation Kit which was available for $151.95. Now this is probably a great fan at a great price, but it was a bit more than I was hoping to pay. I kept searching.
I found a fan at the Greenhouse Megastore for only $52.00 plus shipping. But I was confused... the product photo only showed a fan, but the installation instructions at a link provided on the product detail page showed a whole kit, with brackets and hoses. I was pretty sure that for $52.00 I was only getting the fan. I was also sure that I could figure out a way to make this work. I was correct on both counts.
But more about that in the next chapter, as I share some of the methods I used to assemble my hoop house, including at least two that were REALLY BAD IDEAS. I bet you can't wait!
In the meantime, below are links to the two fans mentioned above, in case you are interested.
Peace and Blessings,
Alan
Greenhouse Megastore
1644 Georgetown Rd
Danville, IL 61832
888-281-9337
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/
FA-IB Inflation Blower, 60 CFM for $52.00 plus shipping
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/inflation-blower-50-cfm/greenhouse-film-accessories
Installation Guide (which shows parts you don't get for $52.00 - which is ok in my opinion)
http://www.igcusa.com/Technical/INFLATION-KIT-ASSEMBLY.pdf
FarmTek
1440 Field of Dreams Way (Off Highway 20W)
Dyersville, Iowa 52040
Phone: 1.563.875.2288
http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/home
Air Inflation System for Greenhouse Film
Item# 110094 $151.95
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