Hello Darlyn, I have about 1.5 acres of Haygrove tunnels, which I use to cover strawberries, raspberries and cherries. There is another company called Viking, who make similar, so-called Spanish tunnels. They are good structures, but not suitable for covering crops in winter, when winds are stronger and shelter is poorer, nor are they suitable for very windy places. We get quite a bit of wind in Ireland, but I have located my tunnels in a relatively sheltered spot on the farm. However, during the summer, we got an unexpected gale, which lasted for about 4 hours, and which came close to knocking the tunnels. A guy about 50km from here, who was in a more exposed area, failed to keep all the tunnels ventilated (you ventilate by pushing the plastic up onto the roof of the tunnel, or down into the gutter if it is very windy, and he ended up with them crashing down onto his two acres of nearly ripe cherries, which were left a mess of tangled steel, branches and plastic. And because it was raining at the time, the cherries were lost. I would recommend these tunnels as a cheap(er) method of covering crops, but not suitable for places that get wind when you need to have the crops covered. Usually, our wind comes in winter, when we remove the plastic, as the plants do not need cover then, and that suits us fine. Good shelter in the area can help a lot. Because the tunnels are on a leg about 3 - 4 feet high, and the wind can blow under, temperatures do not get too hot underneath. The tunnels are as much for rain protection as temperature gain. Con Traas The Apple Farm Cahir Ireland
-----Original Message----- From: apple-crop@virtualorchard.net [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: 13 August 2007 22:03 To: Apple-Crop Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Apple-Crop: sheltered apple trees Listers: Have a look at "high tunnels" now manufactured by several berry growers in England after developing them for their own crops - raspberries, cherries, strawberries. They are marketed as Haygrove Tunnels. Sorry, I am short of time or would try to pull up their website. Just Google Haygrove. Here in the Pacific Northwest I find similar structures sold by Wilson Orchard Supply of Yakima, WA. They are put up and taken down depending on the crop and the season. I have yet to talk with anyone who has wind experience with them. After our 14 windstorms last fall-winter, I am a bit reluctant to try them. They can be covered with plastic, net, shade cloth. I want to talk with a structural-tensile engineer (B.C. Dome, etc) consultant in my area first. Darlyn Del Boca N.W. WA --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard <http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent "official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for the content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The 'Apple-Crop' LISTSERV is sponsored by the Virtual Orchard <http://www.virtualorchard.net> and managed by Win Cowgill and Jon Clements <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. Apple-Crop is not moderated. Therefore, the statements do not represent "official" opinions and the Virtual Orchard takes no responsibility for the content.
