Under perfect blue skies and warm temperatures, I volunteered a couple of hours labor on Saturday to help the Trust for Working Landscapes and a local farmer deconstruct two large greenhouses for relocation on another farm.

When I arrived the crew was re-attaching the frame supports in order to give the structure enough stability to be taken apart.

The basic idea was to get on the tall ladders, detach the cross beams from rib-to-rib and then pull the sides apart. Working on a ladder 15+ feet high, my known incompetence with all things construction and the general limited knowledge of how to bring the structure down safely made the first couple of minutes a bit, um, nerve-wracking (at least for me).

I, and the team, eventually got the hang of what we were doing and the rest of the ribs came down quickly, easily and safely.

I had to leave before the work was completed but I suspect there’s more yet to do on the deconstruction front and certainly there’s work to be done on the other end too.