For those of you who listened in to the KUNR Nevada Newsline last Friday and were interested in the suburban hoop house I mentioned, here are the pictures and some basic instructions.We’ve used this structure for a couple of years, covering it with bird netting from spring through fall. This is our first year using it for harvest extension, and it has been pretty successful. We harvested parsley, sage, arugula, radishes, and carrots, really just about everything I’d planted correctly, until about the first week in December. There’s still stuff in it but mostly what we’ve learned we don’t really like, chicory for one.
I’ll plant more cool weather crops into the hoop house starting late February-early March to see what we can get at the beginning of the growing season.
Using technology to extend the growing season is a great way to increase the amount of food you grow in your own yard, and Nevada farmers are using this technology to bring local food to us for much of the year. Watch here for really exciting growing/farming classes planned for this area, geared toward farmers and backyard farmers.
Please contact me if you need additional help.
Our raised beds are about 20 inches high. Drill holes large enough to sink a one-foot rebar rod so that it stands vertically and deep enough so the rebar will not pop out under pressure. The rebar should be placed intermittently along the length of the bed, about 2 to 2 1/2 feet apart, down both sides and directly across from each other. Take a piece of PVC and slip it over a rebar rod, then bend it and slip it over a rebar rod directly on the other side of the bed. You should have an arch over the width of the bed. Determine how tall you want your hoop house to be, then cut each piece of PVC to the needed size.
Install these clips, using screws, every foot or so around the entire bed, about 4-6 inches below the top of the raised bed wall, and spaced about 1 to 1 ½ feet apart. These clips are available at Home Depot in the safety section for about 27 cents a piece, so buy lots just in case. You should leave enough space between the top of the bed and the clip so that when the sheeting is installed it hangs down below the top of the bed.
When you have all of the hoop supports up and the clips installed, cover the entire structure with agricultural grade plastic sheeting. It should be long enough to hang well below the clips, all the way around. We bought sheeting from Peaceful Valley because that’s the only place we knew of at the time, but if we find we need to buy again we’ll try to find someplace local. These products are agricultural so not available at the average nursery. You can see the structure in this picture.
Cut the sheeting to size, leaving enough sheeting hanging past the clips so that it is necessary to role the edges up to the height of the clips. This is really important because the clips will not hold onto the plastic when it’s windy unless there is a rolled edge for it to hang onto.
Once the size is correct, roll up the bottom edge of the sheeting and insert it into the clip. The green plastic tips must touch through just the single layer of sheeting, rather than holding on to the roll.
Make sure the sheeting fits snugly all the way around. Cut a couple vents in the upper ½ of the sheeting for ventilation and to allow the wind to pass through. Use these huge standard office supply document clips to secure the sheeting to the PVC – use as many as you feel is necessary. Be careful with these because they can rip holes in the sheeting.
Once the size is correct, roll up the bottom edge of the sheeting and insert it into the clip. The green plastic tips must touch through just the single layer of sheeting, rather than holding on to the roll.
Make sure the sheeting fits snugly all the way around. Cut a couple vents in the upper ½ of the sheeting for ventilation and to allow the wind to pass through. Use these huge standard office supply document clips to secure the sheeting to the PVC – use as many as you feel is necessary. Be careful with these because they can rip holes in the sheeting.
Check your hoop house frequently to make sure everything is still in place, especially when weather is expected. We’ve lost the sheeting only once, when I didn’t clip the plastic in correctly after harvesting some arugula.
