A New Project or How to Eat an Elephant

You will never guess what we have in our back yard.

It is something I have needed for a long, long time and hopefully it is something that will help save my sanity from the grasshoppers that have infested our place for the last 3 years.

OK – it’s not therapy but that might have been cheaper in the long run.  HA!

Here’s a clue.

It fits on a flat bed trailer and looks like a bad accident.

Or a giant jigsaw puzzle.

Have you figured it out yet?

From this photo only one thing is obvious to me – whatever it is –  it’s going to be a challenge. 

Ahhh!!!!   Another new project – I must be crazy.

I haven’t finished Nadine yet and now we have this sitting in our yard.

 It’s a hoop house – basically, a plastic covered greenhouse without additional heat.

South Dakota is one of the states chosen for a pilot program with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQUIP).  EQUIP is split into several conservation programs – water projects, sage grouse protection and one for hoop houses.  There are other ones too but these are the main 3 we hear about in SD.   This program is meant to encourage the organic production of vegetables and specialty crops by helping ranchers and farmers purchase hoop houses on a cost share basis.  It’s a wonderful idea and we were one of the lucky ones who qualified this year.  We have heard there hasn’t been much interest in this program so it may be one of the programs cut with the new budget.

For the last few years I have been trying to sell vegetables at the local Farmers Market and fall festivals.  The demand is defiantly there – especially for fresh veggies grown organically.  Everyone has been very encouraging and very eager for more than I can produce – especially when we have to share with millions of grasshopper so hopefully this will help.

That is – if – we can get it put together.

There seems to be a lot of pieces…

Lots and lots of pieces…

Big pieces and lots of little bitty pieces…

So many pieces that Hubby seems a little overwhelmed at times…

But at least Julio (the cat) is there to help.  Even though he doesn’t have thumbs, Julio does what he can – like rubbing against your leg and letting you know that he loves you even if you’re an idiot and can’t understand what the instructions are trying to tell you.  It’s OK. 

It’s good to have warm, fuzzy friends.  Sometimes you just need a warm, fuzzy hug.

For me it’s easier not to look at the whole project because that can send me running home to my mommy or down to the corner bar.  Instead I tend to break the big jobs down into lots of smaller jobs.  Instead of one big job – we have about 583 small jobs to do before I can plant seeds.  Then it’s not quite so scary.

Especially when you have good help – last night our neighbor, Paul and I were in charge of unloading the trailer and counting all the parts.  Today Hubby digs in the new water line and installs the hydrant.  Then it’ time to lay it out on the ground with stakes and string so it’s square (actually rectangular) and then we start digging post holes for the ground stakes. 

 Just like the old saying:

“How do you eat an elephant?”

“One bite at a time.”