It’s Lovely Weather for a Hoop House

Here's a shot of our hoop houses under this afternoon's fresh blanket of snow. Inside, we've got lots of lettuces, kale, chard, cabbage, beats, peas, and any number of herbs. I hope to have a greenhouse someday but for now these cold frames are working well.

The hoops are made of 1/2" diameter PVC (a terrible product if you live downstream from an irresponsible manufacturer) pipe which is a light, strong, flexible, rigid, inexpensive and basically perfect material for making low arches in between rebar stakes. Three hoops and pairs of stakes are set within a 4' x 8' rectangle of 2-by lumber. The hoops are covered in a

thick sheet of transucent, "greenhouse" plastic - one can purchase it usually at a local nursery. If not, check online this is a 12 mil plastic. Here's a shot of how some of our goodies looked just before Thanksgiving. Snow is a great insulator, so everything should be okay after the storm, but I do wish we'd harvested that cabbage back when Nate had is hands on it!

The PermaDesign Weblog, with Nate Downey and Melissa McDonald!

It’s Lovely Weather for a Hoop House

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