Nature is not as predictable as we might like. Even things like weather will soften bring surprises. Today was a tragic surprise.
Mid afternoon the skies darkened. Thunderstorms were due in the evening, but without warning things went from dark to fury literally within minutes. A stem cell grew out of nowhere and moved almost directly over the farm! We only had maybe 15 minutes warming.
And a storm it was! Two episodes of high winds, drenching rain, and hail moved through. Each way only half an hour long, but they were intense. The weather monitor on farm clocked gusts of up to 50mph. Rain was so thick that we could not see the hills nearby. Miraculously the power stayed on, although the tree by the garage was bent over into the power wires.
There first wave passed with little damage, mostly just loose items thrown around. Nothing major. But the second wave...
As we stood in the kitchen watching the trees blown around and light stuff flying here and there... The greenhouse rolled by! Yes, the entire greenhouse. It had broken of the corner tie downs, jumped the fences, and went rolling across the garden. The path just barely missed the poor bees that were just rebuilding from their loss of comb to the twister a couple weeks ago.
As we watched, I realized that at the rate it was going, and holding mostly together, the entire structure was heading straight for our neighbors home. We had to somehow catch it! Hunter and I "suited up" in foul weather gear and headed into the storm.
While we were getting ready, the greenhouse stopped rolling in the middle of the zucchini patch. Why wasn't clear at first, but when we got out there it was obvious. The water hose had torn of the spigot when the structure lifted of the tie downs, and the house made a long tail speaking in the path. That tail somehow got caught in the third fence and hung tight. It hung in a good spot, next to a tpost near the bottom wrung of wire. That created an anchor that happened the rest of the structure from rolling. The impact was enough to bend the t post to about 45 degrees, but the water hose still held tight.
We decided to leave the hose connected and anchoring the broken structure, and simply broke down the tall lend pieces to make less of a sail. The lightening in close proximity made for quite the experience. The wind was calming by this time so we decided to leave it as is and see what else was damaged.
The new chicken resort suffered tarp damage, but otherwise nothing was serious.
There sad party of this story is that, after sitting unused for a couple years, we had just decided to raise heirloom starts in the greenhouse next year for our use and for sale. But... Alas, that's out now. It does not seem repairable . There might be some sections worth keeping for shelving or something, but it will never be a full greenhouse again.
Nature, the friend that demands respect.
Mid afternoon the skies darkened. Thunderstorms were due in the evening, but without warning things went from dark to fury literally within minutes. A stem cell grew out of nowhere and moved almost directly over the farm! We only had maybe 15 minutes warming.
And a storm it was! Two episodes of high winds, drenching rain, and hail moved through. Each way only half an hour long, but they were intense. The weather monitor on farm clocked gusts of up to 50mph. Rain was so thick that we could not see the hills nearby. Miraculously the power stayed on, although the tree by the garage was bent over into the power wires.
There first wave passed with little damage, mostly just loose items thrown around. Nothing major. But the second wave...
As we stood in the kitchen watching the trees blown around and light stuff flying here and there... The greenhouse rolled by! Yes, the entire greenhouse. It had broken of the corner tie downs, jumped the fences, and went rolling across the garden. The path just barely missed the poor bees that were just rebuilding from their loss of comb to the twister a couple weeks ago.
As we watched, I realized that at the rate it was going, and holding mostly together, the entire structure was heading straight for our neighbors home. We had to somehow catch it! Hunter and I "suited up" in foul weather gear and headed into the storm.
While we were getting ready, the greenhouse stopped rolling in the middle of the zucchini patch. Why wasn't clear at first, but when we got out there it was obvious. The water hose had torn of the spigot when the structure lifted of the tie downs, and the house made a long tail speaking in the path. That tail somehow got caught in the third fence and hung tight. It hung in a good spot, next to a tpost near the bottom wrung of wire. That created an anchor that happened the rest of the structure from rolling. The impact was enough to bend the t post to about 45 degrees, but the water hose still held tight.
We decided to leave the hose connected and anchoring the broken structure, and simply broke down the tall lend pieces to make less of a sail. The lightening in close proximity made for quite the experience. The wind was calming by this time so we decided to leave it as is and see what else was damaged.
The new chicken resort suffered tarp damage, but otherwise nothing was serious.
There sad party of this story is that, after sitting unused for a couple years, we had just decided to raise heirloom starts in the greenhouse next year for our use and for sale. But... Alas, that's out now. It does not seem repairable . There might be some sections worth keeping for shelving or something, but it will never be a full greenhouse again.
Nature, the friend that demands respect.
posted from Bloggeroid
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