Greenhouse? Hoop house? Just some plastic over the plants?
Well, today it is cool. Not hot. Not cold. Just a bit breezy with a subtle hint of fall stirring about.
Because Pan and I no longer have New York City at our fingertips we aren’t part of the group that defines fall by Starbucks Standards (read: they brought back the pumpkin spice latte). Instead we are kind of measuring fall by the temperature of the soil in the garden as well as the length of daylight. Because both are in decline it is time to start thinking about what is next for our garden.
After a long, bountiful, harvest season, the beans are about *kaput*. The leaves are starting to wilt and the beans are not nearly as plump as they were a month ago. But I can’t say enough about their generosity this season. We have given away almost 12 bags of beans while still managing to eat them at least three times a week and even blanch and freeze some. So, this weekend we are going to pull up the remainder of the pole beans and prepare the soil for a new project.
Let me preface by saying we eat a lot of lettuce. Between sandwiches and salads we consume really more than I care to pay for at the grocery. So it only makes sense that we should plant even more lettuce. Thus the need for a greenhouse…or a hoop house…or something similar. I am just not sure how to build this affordably or how to even plot this project. So naturally (despite my “real” job) I have spent most of my day thinking about how this garden project is going to “go down.”
I do hope that I will have some solid choices made by tomorrow. However, if you have any suggestions out there in blogger land, please do let me know!
September 29th, 2009 at 10:02 pm
Hi Drew
It depends rather on what size hoop house you have in mind but if you have a look at my site http://www.veggiecare.com it could give you some ideas. We tend to favor something that is easily moveable for normal vegetable garden use, which, judging from your remarks would probably suit you too. Fixed structures like glasshouses are great for getting seeds and seedlings going for early transplantation but it doesn’t sound as though that is your primary objective. With a hoop house you can get your plants going earlier and harvest later than just in the open ground. Plus you get all sorts of other benefits too.
If you have any questions or want further information about constructing them, email me. We have tried a quite a lot of types so we claim to have reasonable experience.
All the best
John
September 30th, 2009 at 10:05 am
Drew, I think I am going to make something like this http://westsidegardener.com/howto/hoophouse.html for my rows I have six rows that need to be covered so I will probably make three houses that will cover two rows each? pvc is cheap 1$ or so for a 10′ length and it is easy to work with, Plus I already have a huge piece of plastic to cover it with. I am going to design it so that it can be taken apart and stored in the shed for years to come. I will take some pics and send it them to you once it is finshed. Thanks for your inspiring me to garden some more I really enjoy it and needed a push to keep doing it. Best, Justin